Stat check

And this included two home games against two of the worst teams in the league. WOW can it get much worst. This team has so many problems I think it needs a Washington bailout!
1. QB
2. Age
3. O-Line
4. DB
5. Coordinators

Those aren't the Dolphins stats?

They have major issues on this team. Major. The O will be fixed when Brady gets back next year, so I'm not as worried about that. The O is going to be one of the worse in the league this year. Just accept it.. Matt Cassell is not an NFL QB at this time. Best in history to 26. The D on the other hand is in major trouble.. Do you know why they can't get off the field on 3rd down??? It's very simple. No pass rush and can't cover. That's not a good thing. They need to make major changes on D.

I agree with ricomandog. The Patriots have played 3 of the "weaker" teams in the NFL this season and their defense has struggled. My concern going forward is about the defense in general and their lack of stopping the opposition. Back in the Superbowl years the Pats had a powerful and savvy defense; most would agree that the defense has lost a step or two and has lost its ability to win games on its own. Maybe losing Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weiss as defensive and offensive coordinators had had something to do with the Pats inability to make in game changes.
Next year we should have Brady back at 100%; so the offense should be pretty good again as long as the O-Line can block and protect him. The defense will be weaker and less experienced with Bruschi and Harrison probably calling it quits. I think the Pats need to rebuild their entire secondary and get some speed in there. Overall I like the front seven of the Pats, and Mayo so far looks to have a head on his shoulders, but only time will tell. Will Crable or someone else step up for next season?
In short the defense needs to get better and add some speed. The game seems faster but the Pats defense seems slower (if that is possible). I don't know how the defense can get better by next season, but as time goes by we are wasting time as we currently have one of the best QB's ever. Without a doubt our offense will be back on track next season when Brady comes back, but how will the defense stack up? The defense is the weakness of this team now; in Superbowl years they were the backbone of the team. As the defense goes the team goes; as long as we have a healthy Brady our offense will be good. Hopefully Bill Belichik and Scott Pioli can get some good, young talent in here so we can have one of the best defenses in the NFL once again.
REGARDLESS -- GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!

Very disappointing. Lets hope this does not continue for the rest of the season. If Cassel can't get the ball downfield its time to put in O'Connell and let him develop.

I hope BB doesn't have a long leash on Cassel....a few more games should be plenty to assess his development....haven't seen much in either preseason or his first 3 games behind the helm.....that's 7 games to improve and prove he can score enough points to win games...FG's just won't do it unless this defense suddenly becomes really good......

so sad

One bad game against Miami skewed these stats. Otherwise, after the Jets game, most people were fine with the way they were playing.

I still think Cassel gives them the best chance to win. He threw the ball well, and only had 1 int through 3 games. I think we'll be fine. The pats sometimes play down to the level of their competition and they simply got beat by a few gimmick plays.

I'm optimistic, I still think we win the division. After that, who knows.

Mike- Do you have the numbers as to where the D ranks in 3rd down efficiency last season? I don't remember them being particularly efficient in that area, and that more often than not it was the O bailing out the D. People last year blamed the short scoring drives for the D being tired, but I wonder if this has been going on longer than people realize.

I'm thinking 8-8 or 9-7 at best unless something miraculous happens to make it all come together and the new guys start to figure it out.

It's sad that they didn't draft to support the O line. I remember even before the Nick Kaczur issues came up thinking:

1. O line protects the most valuable assets on the team, Brady
2. O line opens up the running game for Maroney who has trouble at the line of scrimmage;
3. O line gives time to throw long to Moss, making it harder for the D.
4. O line controls the clock due to the above, and makes it easier for the Defense by keeping them off the field, and not allowing the opposing offense the chance to get into a rhythm.

Let's hope this entire season does not become an "I told ya so".

Mike, one question I have, is that I hear commentators talking about how the 3-4 defense is not supposed to rush the quarterback so much as contain him in the pocket and fill gaps that running backs might exploit.

Can you comment on whether this is the reason we are not seeing as much pressure on opposing QBs as we would like to see?

Hi all. My personal feeling is that it's too early to look at these stats and make any definitive calls one way or the other. Three games is not a very large sample. But it does provide a road map of areas they need to work on right now. Kyle, they finished 4th-best in the NFL last season on third-down defense (63 of 187, 33.7 percent). Justin, I don't think the lack of pressure is because of the 3-4 scheme. Teams should still be able to get pressure. I think the thing that might have been mentioned is that the d-linemen are really trained to play the run first, so they're not rushing immediately up field out of the base defense. So when the ball comes out quickly, like Chad Pennington was doing last Sunday, it makes it that much more difficult to get there with the rush.
--Mike

Justin R.. That's one reason that they get no rush. They play conservative and make QB's look all world.. They make QB's like Chad and the back up phil QB last year look all pro... Many qb's can have great games if no d player gets in their face. It has annoyed me for the past few years. Look at what a pass rush can do for a team. I'm looking at you Giants. They won a SB game just bc they pressured Brady all day long. The o-line had no answers.. How can no pass rush and no real corners = success.

good thing we signed another wide receiver this week....because that is where all of the Pat's problems are!!!! hahaha

What a joke, I do not understand some of the moves they are making. Someone PLEASE tell me what is going on with this organization?

it's time to let cassell throw the ball. tom needs to talk to him mcdaniells and bill and let's come out big against the 49ers and get back on track. it looks like it's anyones year this year. we looked pretty pathetic last game but who knows. any given sunday

Mike, what are the average stats ignoring the Dolphins game and could you rank the Patriots that way? It would really help with comparison in case (and hopefully) that this game was just an anomaly and not a harbinger of things to come.

Time for football 101 for some of you out there. The lack of understanding the basic principles of the Patriots style 3-4 D with is glaring. The Patriots play a 2-gap 3-4 defense, and yes the system is at times more conservative than certain other 3-4 defenses like Pittsburgh's and the one in Dallas. The Pats have won 3 SB's with this approach though.

The Patriots defensive system generally places an emphasis on PHYSICALITY and DISCIPLINE over risk and that's why it is often characterized as a "bend but don't break" approach. What was missing in the Miami game was not pressure, because if you noticed Pennington was taking three step drops (I think he took 1 five step drop all game and it was an incomplete pass attempt to WR D.Bess!!) so pressure is irrelevant unless it's quick pressure which more often than not happens with OL breakdowns and not through schemes. So the key failures of the Patriots D in the Miami game was (1.) Not stopping the run which if you're looking to lay blame it falls at the feet of Seymour, Warren and Wilfork because in the Pats D the DL are required to cover the gaps to both sides of the OL they are to be blocked by. The DL didn't hold their ground and where overwhelmed which in turn messed with the structure of the entire D and didn't allow the LBs behind them to make plays. This is the reason that Seymour, Warren and Wilfork do not always have big sack totals and big tackle stats because their #1 responsibility is being stout at the POA to free up the LBs to make plays. (2.) No discipline. The reason that Fasano and Camarillo were open over the middle had nothing to do with pressure but with a lack of discipline on the part of the Pats LB's and S's. Instead of sticking to the structure of the defense they got away from that and tried to make plays on their own once Miami started making a few of their own. The Pats 3-4 system gives them flexibility because the LBs are the defenses most versatile players who can either: rush the QB, take on G's and make tackles or drop into coverage. The Pats try to mix the roles of their LBs from play to play so they can cause confusion on the part of the other offense. At this point in time, although progressing quickly, Mayo is not there yet and doesn't have the complete trust of the coaches. Miami saw some of hid undiscipline on tape and used their 1920's style formation to take advantage of it. Other LB's and S's were problematic as well and were slow to react, let's be clear it wasn't just Mato. Mayo will improve as the season goes on because he is a smart and talented player. Bruschi on the other hand does have the trust of the coaches but he has lost a step and can't get it done for an entire game any longer. (3.) No physicality. Obviously the DL was dominated and showed no physicality vs the Dolphin's OL (as evidenced by the fact that the entire Dolphin's OL was nominated for player of the week honors) but it went beyond that. The LBs were also physically dominated, A.Thomas was consistently pancacked on run and pass plays and no one in the secondary made an attempt to be physical either and take on and tackle a Miami RB or WR.

The Patriots have come out in different looks over the years (for ex. 4-3, bump and run nickel, no DL look) and have adjusted quicker to what other offenses were trying to do to them but in this game they did not and that's why BB said they were outcoached in addition to being outplayed. I have no fear that this trend will continue and that's why I am not worried as much as others.

PS - This is not a 1 gap 3-4 like the Cowboys where the DL are only responsible for 1 gap and can be more aggressive because they receive support from LB's. The Cowboys 3-4 prefers lighter and more agile DL as does Pittsburgh's 3-4, who drops their DL into zone coverage in place of blitzing LBs. Both those defenses have elements that the Pats don't currently use.

Nikos.. thanks for the explanation. I wish TV commentators gave that level of analysis. I don't know if the coverage is getting worse, or my understanding of the game is getting better. But it really seems to have dropped off.

Remember when commentators would draw lines on the screen and explain plays? That seems to happen a lot less in favor of the canned news stories about... where Randy Moss is sitting, what player XYZ said before the game, etc., which is too bad.

I think the bit about "not stopping the run" is overrated. Aside from a few long runs and the garbage time yardage by Williams, the Pats did a reasonable job, holding the Dolphins to 3 yards/carry.

OTOH, Pennington had over 11 yards/attempt. That's not a tolerable pass defense. It was weak over the middle last season and it's gotten worse.

Third down defense wasn't really the problem. The problem was that they didn't even force third downs.