childofpudding Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 On 1/24/2018 at 12:04 AM, Carmen Cygni said: Doesn't matter when you only allow 6 rushing TDs all year long. This upholds their defensive philosophy. OK, that's fine. But they allowed 24 passing TDs, which was tied for 12th most in the league. That doesn't fit their defensive philosophy. On 1/24/2018 at 12:04 AM, Carmen Cygni said: Absolutely. SoS means nothing. You play your schedule and focus on what you can control. Nothing else matters. SoS does matter. It's harder to play better teams. That's not controversial. On 1/24/2018 at 12:04 AM, Carmen Cygni said: "By playing a conservative defensive style and forcing an opposing offense to make relatively more plays to drive down the field, that offense has more chances to make a mistake like allow a sack, commit a turnover, make an errant throw or drop a pass, etc." . . "Going one step further, we found that, in seasons for which the Patriots were particularly good and / or lucky at producing turnovers, the points / yards discrepancies are particularly strong. Even after accounting for these two effects, however, there does seem to be some aspect of the Patriots’ defenses that finds a way to preferentially prevent points more so than yards, relative to that of other NFL teams. This preference could arise from, say, a focus on good tackling, or adeptness at limiting big plays. A more diverse data set could perhaps address these and other possibilities, but for now, let’s simply ascribe it to a BbDB philosophy. " http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/teams-nfl/afc-east/new-england-patriots/2017/02/01/new-england-patriots-bend-dont-break-defense-myth-reality/ But they haven't been that good at generating turnovers this year. Ranked 25th. They also haven't been particularly good at stopping big plays. Ranked 18th in 20-yard+ plays allowed, and 21st in 40-yard+ plays. However, there is some merit to the bend-but-don't-break argument. While the Patriots are dead last in yards allowed per drive, they are 6th in points allowed per drive. Why? One of the main reasons is their RZ defense, which is ranked 4th in TDs allowed per RZ drive. They have shown an ability, even if it may have been against mediocre/bad defenses, to clamp down in the RZ. There are other significant reasons why they're allowing the 6th fewest points per drive. Opponents have the 4th fewest number of drives. Part of that is NE's defense giving up a lot of yards and then clamping down, but another substantial reason for that is the ability of NE's offense to lead long drives that also score points. NE's offense has had the most plays/drive, the most yards/drive, the most points/drive, and the 4th most time/drive. That allows the defense to have to stop the opposition fewer times per game, as well as keeping them fresh so they can play at their best. Another is that opponents have the worst starting field position. That's a credit to their offense turning it over rarely (2nd in fewest turnovers, 3rd in TOs/drive, 3rd in INTs/drive, 5th in fumbles/drive). Turnovers lead to the opponent having better field position, almost without exception. Also, the offense also either scores or gets enough yards in each drive to allow their ST unit to pin the opposition on punts. Their kickoff unit is also superb, typically a touchback or a short KO where the coverage unit gets the returner down before the 25. TL;DR: I disagree with some of my fellow Pats posters. I don't think the defense is mediocre. I think it is a borderline top 10 defense, a bend but don't break defense that has benefited from strong offense and ST units. Complementary football is the main reason why they're 5th in scoring defense this season. While that's always been true to some extent, I think it's a lot more true this season. Last season, for example, I thought the Patriots defense was a bit underrated, with people saying they were mediocre despite having the #1 scoring defense. I thought they were top 5, and showed it during crucial moments in the playoffs. This season is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pats#1 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Danger said: DVOA can be used, but it has to be used in conjunction with the good old eye test. It's a combination of everything, simple stats, advanced metrics, eye test....and when you put all of it together, I'd say it's pretty safe to say the Pats defense doesn't scare anyone. I think they are an average defense with good fundamentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Just now, Pats#1 said: It's a combination of everything, simple stats, advanced metrics, eye test....and when you put all of it together, I'd say it's pretty safe to say the Pats defense doesn't scare anyone. I think they are an average defense with good fundamentals. The Pats defense is a good example of the sum being greater than that of the collection of individual parts. They have good chemistry. Sure there isn't really a super star of sorts, but they work well with one another. Do they "scare" me as an Eagles fan? No, but they should absolutely not be overlooked, they're a solid unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pats#1 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Just now, Danger said: The Pats defense is a good example of the sum being greater than that of the collection of individual parts. They have good chemistry. Sure there isn't really a super star of sorts, but they work well with one another. Do they "scare" me as an Eagles fan? No, but they should absolutely not be overlooked, they're a solid unit. Oh absolutely, they aren't a trash defense by any means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ForTheThumb Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 5 minutes ago, Danger said: The Pats defense is a good example of the sum being greater than that of the collection of individual parts. They have good chemistry. Sure there isn't really a super star of sorts, but they work well with one another. Do they "scare" me as an Eagles fan? No, but they should absolutely not be overlooked, they're a solid unit. ^ Perfect description. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Is this the GDT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pats#1 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 46 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: Is this the GDT? I hope not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBowl=best Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 On 1/22/2018 at 5:01 AM, 7DnBrnc53 said: Eagles are the better team, but do they win? I don't know. It is going to come down to the mind, where NE beats teams. If they win, they're the better team. If not, then they are NOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.