The final score of yesterday’s anticipated game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers made it seem a lot closer than it felt. Coming off the bye week, the Patriots appeared flat and rusty. Ben Roethlisberger led a calculating open drive for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a lead that they would not relinquish for the entire game. Tom Brady’s offense could not get any sort of momentum going and New England lost its second game of the season, falling into a tie for first place in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills.
New England’s defense has constantly been under scrutiny and yesterday was no exception. On Saturday, they placed Ras-I Dowling on season-ending injured reserve. They were once again without the services of Jerod Mayo. Earlier in the week, Coach Bill Belichick surprisingly released veteran cornerback Leigh Bodden. Despite injuries and personnel changes, one theme has remained consistent each week with this defense. They are highly vulnerable to the pass attack, averaging 323 yards allowed in the air through seven games. Roethlisberger operated with ease yesterday, piling up 365 passing yards while throwing for two touchdowns. Even when the New England pass rush was able to pressure Big Ben, more often than not he found open receivers.
Granted, this is an aspect of the game Roethlisberger has always excelled at over the years. Nonetheless, the Patriots secondary had little in the way of answers to stop Pittsburgh’s aerial assault yesterday. They did get credit for an interception, but it was on a terrible pass from Roethlisberger, and it was essentially the only mistake he made all day. The Steelers were 10/16 in third down situations. Of those ten conversions, three were over ten yards (11,12, and 15). Though seldom used, the Steelers backfield combined for 97 yards on 21 carries. In this aspect, the Patriots defense played fairly well and the longest Pittsburgh run was just 18 yards.
But just how bad was New England’s defense yesterday? When you look at their overall numbers, it is easy to see why they have been a constant scapegoat. Consider this though, the CBS broadcast team pointed out that the Patriots had been down in yesterday’s game for almost as long as they had been down in their first six games combined. New England’s offense has been so good that for the vast majority of the season, they’ve been able to play with the lead. That usually means opposing teams have to play catch up and playing catch up in the NFL means throwing the ball.
That may account for some of the overall story, but yesterday the Steelers played (and passed) with the lead. They made 23 of their 29 first downs on passing plays. New England clearly has a lot of work to do here. Taking away Roethlisberger’s creative ability doesn’t change the fact that the Patriots still have a weak pass rush overall. While the secondary doesn’t get a lot of help in this sense, they still have failed to limit yards and the length of opposing team’s drives. However, to say that the Patriots defense lost the game yesterday would be wrong. To say that they failed to keep their team in the game while being down would also be wrong.
They did allow Pittsburgh to get into the red zone five times, but the Steelers only converted those opportunities into touchdowns twice. As bad as it seemed, the Patriots went into the locker room at half time down by just seven points. The defense held the Steelers on four second half drives to just two field goals, and that was after being on the field in the first half for over 21 minutes. If you had told me the Patriots would hold Pittsburgh to 25 points before the game, I can guarantee I would have bet that New England would win, which means you would now have my money.
We need to face facts. Tom Brady and the Patriots offense weren’t just anemic they were awful. It is difficult for New England fans and commentators to wrap their minds around the idea that Brady can have a terrible game. Yesterday should serve as sufficient proof that this is possible. He put on a show last time he was at Heinz Field. Credit the Dick LeBeau and the Steelers defense for coming up with a game plan that basically shut down not just Brady’s favorite receiving targets, but also his ability to create rhythm. New England had just 14 first downs yesterday and five of those came because of penalties. They attempted only 12 running plays against a team that has been susceptible to run this year.
I’m not trying to suggest that this Patriots defense is good. They are ugly, but effective. Yesterday was a perfect example. There were errors, yes, and they looked awful defending the pass, yes, but they still held Pittsburgh to just 23 points. In the second half, they gave Tom Brady plenty of time to mount the comeback, but instead, found themselves on the field for another 18 minutes. Getting blown out raises concerns, but that did not happen yesterday. For all the yards Pittsburgh gained, they still came away with few points, relatively speaking. This has been a common theme. Though being last in the NFL in yards allowed per game by a wide margin, they rank 17th at 22.9 points allowed per game.
New England’s defense is not quite as bad as many are making them out to be. The numbers from yesterday’s game make it easy to pick on them, but through seven games it should be pretty clear that the Patriots live and die by the offense. In their Week 3 loss to Buffalo, Brady had far from a great game (by his standards) throwing four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Yesterday he wasn’t able to establish any consistency. Most of the credit there belongs to Pittsburgh, but the point is any team that is able to stifle Brady will give themselves a chance to win.
If the Patriots lose a shootout in which Tom Brady doesn’t throw any interceptions, then there may be cause to raise concerns. But Belichick defenses have a knack for getting better over the course of the season. So far, when the offense isn’t mowing through the opposition, the defense has been able to keep their team in the game. Chances are good that this trend will continue. There’s plenty of football left, folks.
Sources: ESPN.com
I think Brady played well against the Bills. He threw four picks but a couple of those were lucky deflections and his passing yards and tds made up for them. The pats defense was unable to stop the bills offense (in the second half).
ReplyDeleteHow bad is the bills defense? bad. but the fact that they sacked beck 9+ times, picked him twice, and allowed 0 pts yesterday without kyle williams or shawne merriman gives me hope. the skins suck though and they too have a lot of guys out with injuries. i think next week's game against the jets will define the bills as a team.
I have a feeling that the Pats are going to do a number on the Giants next week. After a pretty bad loss against a rival like Pittsburgh, my guess is that an angry New England team turns it on and takes it out on whoever their next opponent turns out to be. The NYGiants in this case.
ReplyDeleteRitchie
Lopez, I kind of agree with you but kind of don't. I think the Patriots only managed 10 points in the second half of that game, although you are definitely right that the D could not hang with the Fitzpatrick and the Bills offense whatsoever. Losing Merriman is tough, but I'm not sure we'll know the full extent of his loss until the Bills face a better offense than the Redskins or Jets. I would say the test would come against Dallas after the Jets game, but after the stinker they put up last night I don't know.
ReplyDeleteThe Patriots responded well to their last loss. That doesn't bode well for the Giants, especially because this time they don't have to travel to California.
How bad is the patriot's defense? really sam, you even need to ask this question. The answer is bad. like really bad. like godawful bad. but that isn't the relevant question. Everyone has known that their defense is bad since day one. The real question is this: Is the patriot defense worse than their offense is good? And unfortunately for Pats fans the answer was provided by Eli last night, and it is worse. Loss at home. Loss after bye. Loss two in a row for the first time in forever and a day. These are not good trends patriots fans.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that the offense is struggling, and that this is certainly a bad trend. AFC East is clearly going to be a tough division this year. But once again, I actually thought the Patriots defense played pretty well last night.
ReplyDeleteEli is obviously getting a ton of credit, and our D is again playing the part of the scapegoat. In the end, Brady's had two bad games - lo and behold the Patriots have lost both of them.
The combined record of the teams the Patriots have lost to is 16-8, so I find it difficult to get too upset. They are in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule and I think 11-5/10-6 is a distinct possibility for them. I'll be surprised if they get to 12-4.