What happened to the defense? Was this defense ever that good this year?

[captain stone]

Jesus are we doing this again?
The patriots are the #1 defense in the nfl in points allowed which is, other than takeaways, where they are 3, all that matters.
If the Patriots defense isn’t then there are few, or no, good defenses.
No defense shuts down every opponent in every game, and all defenses are better against bad offenses than good ones.

Stop it.

 

[Guts]

Maybe the Bills just played better than our defense. The Bills are a good team you will lose these games if you don't bring your A game and we didn't

 

[Ring 6]

Stop it.

Stop what, making sense?

 

[captain stone]

Stop what, making sense?

Stop claiming that ours is the 3rd-best defense in the league.

 

[Wax Frog]

I find this “don’t force the other team to punt or turn over the ball defense” fascinating.

Gallows humor! I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but I've developed a taste for it the last few years.

 

[Lavictoire]

Judon plays great but I see him doing Ravens-type extracurricuar things that will draw a penalty. I saw him give Allen a shove after a play and cringed expecting a flag but thankfully it didnt come. I see other similar stuff he does. It is stupid and can extend an opponents drive and lose us a game. Where is our coaching? We were so disciplined at one time. Is Bellichick wanting the media and team to like him now?

 

[Ring 6]

Stop claiming that ours is the 3rd-best defense in the league.

It’s #1 in points allowed and #3 in takeaways. By all means go ahead and name 3 that are better. It will be interesting to see how giving up more points is better.

 

[slash83]

This was one of the more embarrassing efforts I’ve seen from a BB coached team. Couldn’t even force the bills to sniff a punt. Converted 3rd and long after 3rd and long, was so frustrating to watch.

 

[masterbouncer]

To play soft zone D# your LBs have to have a sense where they have to cover the area and be at least fast, we have Bentley and HT, the one doesn't belong in a starting formation and only should play in obvious running plays if your other LBs are all down and the other is just done, haven't seen so slow LBs in the league since 1960s.
Its ok to have one big slow ILB to use for obvious running plays but thats not what they do, Bentley is a starter for them, the Bills have like non existing running game and the Pats D-Coach has the idea zone coverage with the 2 slowest professional LBs in the entire league are good suited for that. The Bills took adventage of it and moved the chain with ease all the time, first and 9-10 yards by attacking this weak LB group.
Kudos to Van Noy he was the best LB out there yesterday, by far.

Looking to the FA we have the only one I would keep next to JCJ is Philips (most probably both will get money thrown out to them by Dolphins or other ex-Patriots coach). No to HT, McCourty only for vet minimum and one year, Bentley only for vet minimum and if they plan to use him only as rotational player on obvious running plays.

If BB decides to keep JCJ than highest prio has to be to get a press corner from the draft Gardner or someone who really can play man coverage as well to go back to cover-1, as they used to have with Gilmore and JCJ.
Also a big NT like Davis would be a high prio next to Barmore in the IDL.
Another LB or two that are actaully fast, can cover and can tackle would be great, some modern day LBs, no 1960 big dude stoping runs and moves like 1 mile per year over the field.

 

[borg]

Josh Allen's skillset is a problem for NE

Because they fear his mobility.....
-The NE pass rush was neutered because "contain" was a priority (a priority that failed)
-The NE pass defenders played mostly zone to face Allen, again fearing his Allen's mobility
-Lack of pass rush gave Allen and receivers bonus time to find holes in the zone, usually underneath
-NE gifted (surrendered to) Allen all the short passes he wanted....and wretched NE tackling allowed Buffalo to move the chains at will
Buffalo......+10 minutes in Time of Possession....0 punts

Who knew it was impossible to bring Singletary to the ground

With all the time in the world
And pathetic NE tackling
And zero turnovers
Frankly, Buffalo should have scored 45+
------------------------------------------
Briefly on O......
NE's lack of speed on offense was glaring today
Meyers, Bolden, Harry, and Henry are glacial, and that's not an exaggeration

 

[Ollie]

Todays loss was not on the defense. The offense just didn’t do enough. Key drops and turnovers is what hurt us.

They didn't stop the Bills once. That has to have something to do with the defence. It's the first time since Bill has been here that's happened. That is on the D

 

[Nunchucks]

The pass defense was never great, they just looked good against bad qbs

 

[archstanton543]

They didn't stop the Bills once. That has to have something to do with the defence. It's the first time since Bill has been here that's happened. That is on the D

Yes they did. The Bills turned the ball over on downs on the 1-yard line.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Josh Allen's skillset is a problem for NE

Because they fear his mobility.....
-The NE pass rush was neutered because "contain" was a priority (a priority that failed)
-The NE pass defenders played mostly zone to face Allen, again fearing his Allen's mobility
-Lack of pass rush gave Allen and receivers bonus time to find holes in the zone, usually underneath
-NE gifted (surrendered to) Allen all the short passes he wanted....and wretched NE tackling allowed Buffalo to move the chains at will
Buffalo......+10 minutes in Time of Possession....0 punts

Who knew it was impossible to bring Singletary to the ground

With all the time in the world
And pathetic NE tackling
And zero turnovers
Frankly, Buffalo should have scored 45+
------------------------------------------
Briefly on O......
NE's lack of speed on offense was glaring today
Meyers, Bolden, Harry, and Henry are glacial, and that's not an exaggeration

...and we cant play MtM b/c we do not have the personnel

 

[fair catch fryar]

Sounds like the same old story. A defense that couldn't stop a runny nose on 3rd and 4th downs, but we always had Brady to make up the difference. The ceiling is high for Mac, but he's gonna take some lumps. I just hope he learns from them. I never put my expectations above 1 playoff win for this season. Winning the AFC east would be nice, but that hope took a beating yesterday. Bills and Chiefs are looking like the teams we thought they would be at the beginning of the season.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

This was one of the more embarrassing efforts I’ve seen from a BB coached team. Couldn’t even force the bills to sniff a punt. Converted 3rd and long after 3rd and long, was so frustrating to watch.

No argument with your sentiment, I just wish that it was a case of the team choking. After reading the WEEI article on BB's perspective on the issues yesterday, he is playing his phycological games to pump up the teams confidence. “I think there were a lot of things we did well, we just didn’t do them well enough, often enough," The Pat's win through team execution which would seem to make the disruption to practice routines from COVID more impactful than a team like the Bill's. My fear is that the Pat's are hopelessly overmatched going into the playoffs. That would be disappointing but better than anyone should have expected to start the season.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Josh Allen showed why the Bills gave him a $288 million contract. Some unbelievable throws, some incredible escapes from the pocket and only one dumb throw that was dropped by our star corner. We really missed our slot corner, J Jones to cover those crossing routes from a quick wideout.

 

[ivanvamp]

Newsflash: When you're playing weaker opponents, you tend to do better. When you play quality opponents, you tend to struggle more.

Yesterday the Pats' defense was awful beyond belief. No Buffalo drive (except their kneel downs at the end of each half) ended prior to getting into the red zone. That's amazing.

The Pats got ZERO pass rush. The one or two times they kinda sorta got pressure, Allen just bolted through the wide open lanes vacated by Pats' pass rushers. He also made some amazing throws, to be honest. This was Josh Allen at his best. So give him some credit. He made a ton of great plays yesterday.

But Myles Bryant couldn't cover anyone. He got torched. And JC Jackson, as great as he's been all season (and really, his entire Patriots career), dropped an easy INT that would have likely changed the game completely. They had a bunch of chances to make stops and couldn't get one. It was so frustrating to watch.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

this is how other defenses must have felt playing against Brady all those years. A quarterback in the zone and in total command. That's what Josh looked like to me yesterday. He just looked totally comfortable. Defense did what they could, but needed help from the offense and/or special teams... and didn't get it.

 

[ivanvamp]

Nothing, they picked on a CB/WR matchup that favored them and had to make like 5 4th downs. Also defense was once again put in bad field position most of the game. I guess Detreich Wise was missed. He was kind of a force in that game up in buffalo.

They were also unlucky on some things. The 2 dropped picks by Jackson that would have taken 14 points off the board for them. Collins getting taking out of the tackle that would have stopped Allen on 4th that would have taken another 7 off. Barmore getting drawn offside on 4th & 7 that was 100% a false start (Center clearly moved his head and didn't snap because he had to wait for a WR to go in motion) and would have made it 4th & 12 and they probably kick a FG

There was also the whole ref thing where apparently Pats guys shaking their head in the direction of a bildos player was taunting, yet the bildos constantly flexing, jawing back at Pats players and fans was 100% fine.

Late season byes are terrible you are rolling and then you take a week off and then come back out of sync and it snowballs. bye before thanksgiving after halloween are the most optimal IMO.

Obviously there was the late Jackson dropped INT, but when was the other one?