On pace for penalty record

The reason they only have 3 pass interference penalties is because the DB's play 20 yards off the receivers. They aren't even in the picture usually when the receiver catches the ball.

Sean - I agree. If they were capable of playing closer they would have more penalties, but they would have a better defense and probably 1 or 2 more wins.

Steve

They have also avoided the illegal contact penalties for the most part. I really think the emphasis on those rules have changed the way the Patriot's DBs cover down field.

Is there a correlation between penalties like illegal contact/pass interference and good passing defenses?

Dave Thomas's ticky-tack penalty could loom large at the end of the season. Not that it was the sole reason for the loss, but it killed a very good drive at the end of the game to possibly tie (would've been a 50-yd FG attempt if they didn't gain anything) or go up.

This is a very positive aspect of this year's team. Good coaching, discipline and players keeping their heads in the game leads to less penalties. For ex, the O-line did a tremendous job not having a false start penalty in this last game with all the fan noise and with the amount of times (67%) the Seahawks blitzed.

This is really impressive when you consider all the young players the Patriots have had to go with and all the injuries forcing 2nd and 3rd stringers into lead roles. Excellent job by the coaches and of course the players.

i remember when we had decent cornerbacks who roughed people up and made plays...

Sean and Steve, aren't the DB deficiencies sufficiently documented by now? Why does that need to be brought up in this context?

I'm with everyone else, the fewer self-induced penalties the greater your competitive advantage. I suspect BB and coaches ear-marked avoidable mistake/penalty reduction as a 2008 goal. Certainly Vince Wilfork got the message thanks to his earlier one-on-one with the comish.

The possibility of setting an NFL record is a clear indication of an especially disciplined, selfless, well-coached and SUCCESSFUL unit. And, yes Nikos, the O-line did a great job last week in the NFL's loudest home field last week (RIP, the RCA Dome).