D 14.8 Points a game, tops in AFC

[WaterfallJumper]

I wanna see how this defense play's when our offense struggles. I am still worried about the lack of pressure.

Buffalo. We gave up all of 16 points -- yeah, I was disappointed, too, since that's a below average showing for this defense.

 

[Wheelman]

FYI Jabaal Sheard is #2 in the league in hurries tied with Aaron Donald and only Melvin Ingram is ahead but Sheard and Donald have only played 5 games, Ingram has played 6

This doesn't surprise me at all. I was just thinking to myself after watching the Browns game how Sheard has been beating his blocker a few times this season. He's played well!

 

[JMC00]

The Patriots are #2 in the afc in pts allowed

Actually #1 in the AFC by 13 points or 2.5 points per game. #4 overall in the nfl which 2 teams above them have only played 4 games.

Minnesota (5 games)- 12.6 ppg
Philly (4 games)- 12.8 ppg
Seattle (4 games)- 13.5 ppg
NE (5 games)- 14.8 ppg

 

[JMC00]

Buffalo. We gave up all of 16 points -- yeah, I was disappointed, too, since that's a below average showing for this defense.

The only TD given up was on the 1st drive after that they didn't get into the red zone again.

 

[TheGreatestEVER]

Anything is better than the 2011 Superbowl defense

 

[mosslost]

I wanna see how this defense play's when our offense struggles. I am still worried about the lack of pressure.

they only gave up 16 to Buffalo when the Offense gave them ZERO help.

 

[jimnance]

Points for:

Cardinals - 9th
Dolphins - 28th
Texans - 32nd
Bills - 14th
Browns - 29th

That matters too, as do a lot of other things. If it was just about points, we could lie to one another and pretend that the 2011 defense was a middle of the road squad.

Of course. All stats need to be taken in context, which is my biggest gripe with some posters on this board. The Pats have not yet faced a lot of high-powered offenses. Really the only way you can get an accurate fix on what stats mean is at the end of the season.Sample size is still too small. The pats will be facing some very good offenses. But this was a top 7 defense last year and I think they have better personnel this year. Time will tell.

 

[Froob]

Anything is better than the 2011 Superbowl defense

Ultimately it was the offense that lost that SB.

 

[Deus Irae]

Of course. All stats need to be taken in context, which is my biggest gripe with some posters on this board. The Pats have not yet faced a lot of high-powered offenses. Really the only way you can get an accurate fix on what stats mean is at the end of the season.Sample size is still too small. The pats will be facing some very good offenses. But this was a top 7 defense last year and I think they have better personnel this year. Time will tell.

The 2015 Patriots were 10th in points allowed, 9th in yards allowed, 9th in first downs allowed, 20th in interceptions, 20th in turnovers, etc.... How does that translate into a top 7 defense?

 

[PScottman]

Also have they used mingo as a pass rusher?

Yes, he played a lot in the second half of the Cleveland game. Got 100% stonewalled in the pass rush.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I haven't had any complaints about the pass rush. Yeah, there are plays where the QB has a bunch of time back there, but that's the NFL. Offensive linemen are good, and unless you're willing to make a Broncos-sized investment in your pass rush (draft and cap), you're not going to get pressure all the time.

This is a really small sample size, though. Through 5 games, PPG stats say as much about who you've played as anything. Leading the AFC in points allowed says as much about the Texans, Browns and Dolphins as it does about our defense. Let's revisit in two weeks and see if this stat holds.

What's been interesting to me is seeing this defense perform as kind of an inverse of where we were not that long ago. There was a stretch where the Pats gave up lots of yards between the 20s, but made up for it by tightening up in the red zone and forcing turnovers. Now they're looking like a D that doesn't force many turnovers but is great between the 20s, which prevents their weakness in the red zone from being magnified. This may be a product of who they've faced, though. With The Dolphins, Texans, and Browns, the clear gameplan against them is to keep the play in front of you and force them to string together a long drive against you. I expect we'll see the same strategy against the Bengals.

 

[pdangle]

Points for:

Cardinals - 9th
Dolphins - 28th
Texans - 32nd
Bills - 14th
Browns - 29th

That matters too, as do a lot of other things. If it was just about points, we could lie to one another and pretend that the 2011 defense was a middle of the road squad.

Of course. All stats need to be taken in context, which is my biggest gripe with some posters on this board. The Pats have not yet faced a lot of high-powered offenses. Really the only way you can get an accurate fix on what stats mean is at the end of the season.Sample size is still too small. The pats will be facing some very good offenses. But this was a top 7 defense last year and I think they have better personnel this year. Time will tell.

Yes, although if one is going to such rankings to minimize (adjust?) the ranking of the NE D, you must first remove the games played against the D (ie defensive beatdowns) before you compute the rankings. And, due to the fact only 5 games have been played it will have a pretty sizable impact. Just as a rough estimate say 2 or 3 spots. So it would look more like:

Cardinals - 6th
Dolphins - 25th
Texans - 29nd
Bills - 11th
Browns - 26th

and conversely,

NE #3 to #6.

 

[Wheelman]

Of course. All stats need to be taken in context, which is my biggest gripe with some posters on this board. The Pats have not yet faced a lot of high-powered offenses. Really the only way you can get an accurate fix on what stats mean is at the end of the season.Sample size is still too small. The pats will be facing some very good offenses. But this was a top 7 defense last year and I think they have better personnel this year. Time will tell.

You play who you play though. There's only one high powered offense on the schedule. The squealers.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Here's another way to look at it. The Pats have the second lowest number of red zone opponents opportunities per game, averaging 2.0 red zone chances per game, trailing only Baltimore's 1.8 per game..
While it be great to lower the number of times opponents score once they get there, the fact remains that opponents ARE NOT getting into the red zone versus the Pats as often as they are versus other teams.. Granted the opponents to date haven't been juggernauts but lets see what happens once Cinn and Pitt are in the books....

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Opponent Red Zone Scoring Attempts per Game on TeamRankings.com

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Weird. I thought that a defense's purpose was to stop other teams from scoring points. Huh.

I'm weird about the team scoring the most points being the winner too though.

 

[mosey threetupu]

I can see them coming into their own around Thanksgiving if the CB's can improve a bit.

 

[jimnance]

The 2015 Patriots were 10th in points allowed, 9th in yards allowed, 9th in first downs allowed, 20th in interceptions, 20th in turnovers, etc.... How does that translate into a top 7 defense?

Easy. Like I said before, its context. Points allowed is how i rank a defense. Technically, the pats were at 10th with 315, BUT the jets 9th 314, houston 8th 313, arizona 7th 313-these teams were basically all the same-EXCEPT-both houston and the jets had crappy offenses, were in more close games in the 4th quarter than the pats-who often had large 4th quarter leads and therefore gave up a lot of meaningless garbage-time points. So the pats D was clearly better than both the jets and texans. arizona scored a lot like the pats so we'll keep them ahead. but then minny at #5 gave up 302 points, not even a point a game better than the pats. vikes were medoicre on offense, 16th in scoring-and were again, like jets and texans, in many more close games in the 4th quarter than the pats. If you look at the total picture-and that means including how productive your offense was-theres no question pats had a better defense than jets, texans and vikes. That puts them at #7. you cant just look at raw stats. they have to be quantified.

 

[JMC00]

Here's another way to look at it. The Pats have the second lowest number of red zone opponents opportunities per game, averaging 2.0 red zone chances per game, trailing only Baltimore's 1.8 per game..
While it be great to lower the number of times opponents score once they get there, the fact remains that opponents ARE NOT getting into the red zone versus the Pats as often as they are versus other teams.. Granted the opponents to date haven't been juggernauts but lets see what happens once Cinn and Pitt are in the books....

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Opponent Red Zone Scoring Attempts per Game on TeamRankings.com

But the thing so far with the Pats defense is unlike some of those other teams Pats have only allowed 1 non-red zone TD (a 25 yard pass) and 2 non-red zone FGs. So basically if you don't get into the red zone you are not scoring on them.

 

[jimnance]

But the thing so far with the Pats defense is unlike some of those other teams Pats have only allowed 1 non-red zone TD (a 25 yard pass) and 2 non-red zone FGs. So basically if you don't get into the red zone you are not scoring on them.

And that is HUGE. The pats are not giving up big plays. Its only 5 games, but if they kept that up, Id gladly live with their current red zone defense, although i believe that will improve.

 

[Uptown]

And that is HUGE. The pats are not giving up big plays. Its only 5 games, but if they kept that up, Id gladly live with their current red zone defense, although i believe that will improve.

On point!