I noticed the first of these 2 stats right after the game and I've been waiting almost a week to see if someone in the media, or even on this board report on this. The second one was somethng that's been bothering me for a long time and I said WTF, since I was starting this thread, this would be a good as place as any to include it.
1. 21 - TWENTY-ONE - XXI - 7x3
Those are the number of points that the Pats defense allowed a historically good offense that averaged over 40 ppg over the last 8 games, INCLUDING 2 playoff games, And I've almost heard nothing about that fantastic accomplishment.
When you think about it, it says so much about the way BB/Patricia have created this defense. Remember Ryan had a 144 QB rating, and a 78% completion rate. Their running attack averaged around 6 ypc. And on the 3 drives they did score on, they moved down the field like a hot knife through butter. Plus they were 3/3 in the red zone.
Pretty underwhelming if you want to write something complimentary about this defense. So how did it happen. Well there were several reasons I can offer. First the offense WAS movning the ball for most of the game against the Falcons, plus they got an extra possession with the pick six, so in the end the Falcoms only saw the ball for about 24 minutes in the game. So that was part of it. But it doesn't tell the whole story. The Pats D was 7 of 8 on 3rd down in getting off the field. So that was good. But quite frankly I can't really explain it. In fact I started this thread with the hope that in the discussion that follows we might explore this more.
It was so typical of so many of BB's defenses. They look like crap, but when the clock reads 0:00, the opponent has a lot fewer points than you'd expect. Back in 2011 when the D was hisotically BAD, they somehow ranked 17th in scoring D. Certainly not great, but much better than you'd have expected.
What is ironic here is how these 2 defenses will be perceived after this game. The Pats D, filled with no names, will be thought of as still suspect. A defense that Atlanta carved up and ran on at will. They will ignore the spectacular 3rd down numbers. They will ignore that most of the 100 odd rush yds Atlanta picked up came early and in big chunks, and that one of the reasons the Atlanta was throwing it in the end was that in their last 5 or 6 tries, they'd been pretty much stuffed. (I recall seeing that in another thread). Plus in the end Atlanta ended up with only 240 net passing yds.
On the other hand, the Atlanta D will come out of this game with the reputation as being dymanic and fast with a great future. It will be a very positive perception. This despite the fact they gave up almost 580 yds of offense. They allowed the Pats to complete 50% of their 3rd down conversions, and most importantly allowed the Pats score the last FIVE times they had the ball, when all they needed was ONE stop to win the game. All this while the Pats offense was helping out by committing 2 TO's, around 4 dropped passes, a few missed open receivers, a pick 6, and their worst pass blocking game of the year.
BOTTOM LINE - The Pats defense was better than it was perceived, and their defense wasn't as good.
2. The 2nd stat is in response to some of the commentary I've read and seen. Hear it is:
6 out of 7.'
That is the number of drives that Tom Brady has orchestrated in the 4th quarter when they were behind or tied in superbowls. And the ONLY time he didn't do that was in 2004 when he led a 4th quarter drive to put them up 10 late in the game. That's his WORST clutch performance.
In all the discussions about who is the greatest and most clutch, people forget that in the Pats 2 superbowl losses, Tom Brady took his team from behind late in the 4th quarter to put them ahead with under 3 minutes to go. THAT stat is AMAZING. Joe Montana might have played in 4 superbowls and had one great end of the game drive. BUT Brady had done it SIX times. Who is even close to that. IIRC Manning has done it once in an AFCCG in 2006. He's NEVER done it in a superbowl. In fact in his 2 superbowl wins, he was just a passenger. In the loss, he was a major reason at the end.
The more I think about it, this might just be the most spectacular Brady stat of them all.
