MYTH Busted: "The Defense couldn't stop the Run"

[DrDawkinstein]

1 minute ago, Process said:

If the OP is correct (I didn't verify) they had 6 drives of 5 plays or less that resulted in punts. 

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay/_/gameId/401326522

 

My source.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Is that a reasonable expectation when the other team never passes?

 

Is it more reasonable to expect the D to generate a turn over, or for the Offense to score more than 10 points?

Is it a sloppy wet game? yeah, I’d expect a fumble or two even if we don’t recover.

 

You asked what more they could do. They knew what every play was going to be after the 1st Q. Still let up a long 14 play FG drive.

 

Some of you don’t realize on a football level how embarrassing last night was. Last night proved Navy could beat this team in bad weather. It was GOD AWFUL.

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, FireChans said:

Is it a sloppy wet game? yeah, I’d expect a fumble or two even if we don’t recover.

 

You asked what more they could do. They knew what every play was going to be after the 1st Q. Still let up a long 14 play FG drive.

 

Some of you don’t realize on a football level how embarrassing last night was. Last night proved Navy could beat this team in bad weather. It was GOD AWFUL.

 

So 3-and-outs on half the possessions is embarrassing. Got it.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

How were they surprised by it when they forced 3 and outs on over half the drives?

 

222 rushing yards sounds bad, but not when you consider the Pats total offense was 240 yards. Some offenses put up more yards in a half.

 

We all knew the run was coming, so did the D, and they stopped it.

 

222 rushing yards sounds bad because it is bad. Teams lose 85%+ of the time when allowing that many rushing yards. 

 

In the last 3 extreme weather games in Buffalo (Ravens playoff game and Colts snow game) the 14 points that the Patriots offense scored is the most by any offense

[TheBrownBear]

10 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

How about "The Offense couldnt outscore a team who threw only 3 passes, and scored only 14 points"?

 

Do you think the Defense needs to shut out every team we play in order for fans to consider that they played well? Or at least well enough to win?

 

Also, I'm not taking away the big play. THE big play. One play. The defense had ONE bad play. The offense had one GOOD play (the TD).

I generally agree with your original take, but I think the issue with much of the fanbase is this: if a team is essentially 100% one-dimensional in it's playcalling to the point that you know they are going to run it on every single down, you'd expect your defense to be able to completely stuff it from a pure "mano a mano" numbers perspective.   And that feeling of frustration was exacerbated by the fact that the Pats "big" drive of the game was chewing up clock during much of the third and fourth quarters when we were already losing and in desperation mode searching for a stop.  So, I definitely get both sides of the argument.

 

But yeah, regardless of what you think of the defense last night, this offense had more than enough opportunity to put 14+ points on the board if not for their many gaffes.  

Edited December 7, 2021 by TheBrownBear

[P Riv]

Sure, ignore the NE muffed punt return that gave us the ball practically at the goal line, the wind effecting the punter's drop on the punt resulting in a 20 yard kick, a ticky tack PI penalty that helped us, ignore we didn't force a turnover, ignore that JC Jackson dropped an int on a pass intended for Diggs, etc.

 

You must be the same guys from over the summer that said 13-3 is our floor and 7-9 is their ceiling.  Take off the rose colored glasses.... Good teams find a way to win and do it consistently, thats a fact.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

So 3-and-outs on half the possessions is embarrassing. Got it.

Yeah last night was embarrassing that an offense that threw the ball 3 times scores double digit points in the National Football League in 2021.

 

Glad you realized it.

[stevewin]

17 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Defense played fine.

 

It was always a lazy take that the defense was the problem. They allowed 14 total points.

 

While were in the mood of busting myths, Belichick was not a great coach last night.

 

For all of the rushing yards the Patriots had, they only put up 14 points.

 

If Diggs catches that TD pass, no one is talking about Belichick at all today.  Because the Bills would have won. Belichick's gameplan was *****. He ran it almost 50 times, only scored 14 points, and it took the Bills a dropped TD, two dropped first downs, and a fumble where no one touched the RB, for the Pats to win by 4.

 

 

It's crazy how a play or two that could change the outcome also would completely 180 degrees change the narritive the next day.

 

If one of a handful of plays go the Bills way, the Bills win and the talk today and this week would be Josh's unbelievable performance in gale force winds - one no other living QB might be able to replicate -  and the Bills gutsy win.  It would be "nice try Pats*" and "WTF was NE doing - 3 passes!?!"  The narrative would be how Bellicheat coached scared to not even let his QB throw the ball (if he was Bills coach he would be called "cowardly") - and what a joke of a QB Jones is that his coach wouldn't even trust him to throw a pass.  Instead, now the Bills are gutless and Bellicheat is a genius AnD mAc jONeS Is 9-4

Edited December 7, 2021 by stevewin

[P Riv]

3 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

222 rushing yards sounds bad because it is bad. Teams lose 85%+ of the time when allowing that many rushing yards. 

 

In the last 3 extreme weather games in Buffalo (Ravens playoff game and Colts snow game) the 14 points that the Patriots offense scored is the most by any offense

 

Exactly... They ran 40+ times and score on long drives without passing, meaning we knew what was coming and still couldn't handle it.  Sure, we did hold them quite a few times, knowing full well what was coming.  Great, they did their job more often than not...  If we ran every play, do you think we could have done what they did?  nope

[AlfaBill]

18 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Defense played fine.

 

It was always a lazy take that the defense was the problem. They allowed 14 total points.

 

While were in the mood of busting myths, Belichick was not a great coach last night.

 

For all of the rushing yards the Patriots had, they only put up 14 points.

 

If Diggs catches that TD pass, no one is talking about Belichick at all today.  Because the Bills would have won. Belichick's gameplan was *****. He ran it almost 50 times, only scored 14 points, and it took the Bills a dropped TD, two dropped first downs, and a fumble where no one touched the RB, for the Pats to win by 4.

 

 

Agreed. Do the bills beat them next game?

[Mat68]

17 minutes ago, UB2SF said:

Had the same thought, Doc -- they couldn't stop "a" run (the 64 yard TD), not "the" run (the rushing attack). I woke up today feeling mad about missed opportunities on offense more than defense.

 

This.  Also, in the bucket of empty yards… Had to be about 70 plus yards on third and long that came up well short.  Im not saying Buffalo was the steel curtain last night but the run dominance is over stated.  

[gobills404]

Giving up 5.7 ypc to the other teams running backs when you know they're gonna run it is embarrassing. If it wasn't for the wind Mac Jones would've been brutally efficient against all the stacked boxes and the pats likely would've scored 30+ just like the titans and Colts.

[Just in Atlanta]

This defense is damn good, albeit a linebacker core that gets pushed back a bit by the power run. You can't do everything at an elite level though. 

It's crazy to hear so many fans complain about our defense being "soft". It leads the league statistically in so many categories. We are not built for power runs ... yes ... but we are built to stop the big pass plays. Score 15 points and this game would've been won. 

We literally couldn't score more than 10. 

[Billsfan1972]

A 64 yard TD run, when you know they are running is unacceptable.  Did the Bills do that?????

[Einstein]

8 minutes ago, stevewin said:

It's crazy how a play or two that could change the outcome also would completely 180 degrees change the narritive the next day.

 

Yep. Happens all the time.

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

This.  Also, in the bucket of empty yards… Had to be about 70 plus yards on third and long that came up well short.  Im not saying Buffalo was the steel curtain last night but the run dominance is over stated.  

We knew the playcall all game.

 

They rushed at a 4.8 YPC clip. League average this year is 4.3.

 

ALLOWING HALF A YARD BETTER THAN LEAGUE AVERAGE WHEN YOU KNOW THE PLAYCALL IS BAD.

[damj]

8 of the 14 points were a short field after a ST turnover. Otherwise, the D gave up 6 points.

 

The offense had 3 drives into the red zone in the 4th quarter and had 3 points.

 

Defense was not the problem

[Mat68]

4 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We knew the playcall all game.

 

They rushed at a 4.8 YPC clip. League average this year is 4.3.

 

ALLOWING HALF A YARD BETTER THAN LEAGUE AVERAGE WHEN YOU KNOW THE PLAYCALL IS BAD.

Still resulted in 14 points and 0 in the 4th quarter.  The offense missed too many opportunities.    

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, Mat68 said:

Still resulted in 14 points and 0 in the 4th quarter.  The offense missed too many opportunities.    

The defense still sucked. The offense sucking doesn’t mean the defense didn’t. They both sucked

[Bruce Smith]

43 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Patriots had 9 real possessions all game (not counting the last to kill the clock).

 

They punted 6 out of 9 possessions.

 

4 of those punts were 3 and outs. The other 2 possessions were 4 plays and 5 plays. The only long drive they had resulted in a mere Field Goal.

 

What more could the Defense have done?

 

Punt (3 plays)

Punt (3 plays)

TD (3 plays)

FG (9 plays)

Punt (3 plays)

Punt (4 plays)

Punt (5 plays)

FG (14 plays)

Punt (3 plays)

What a load of bull####.  They gave up over 200 yards not he ground when we knew it was coming and could do nothing to stop it when it mattered.