It's Long Overdue That the Rest of the World Acknowledges Just How Elite This Patriots Defense Is
Oftentimes in this world, a narrative takes hold that is not easily to get rid of. Human beings will accept a certain set of beliefs, those beliefs become entrenched, and they'll refuse to accept they were wrong, despite evidence to the contrary. It's easier to get people to believe something that's not true than it is to get them to admit that they bought into falsehoods. Just ask anyone who's ever been in a cult, invested with FTX, or who believed Deadspin was "the cool kids of the internet."
One such narrative began a couple of weeks ago and has refused to go away. It's that the Patriots were going to be comepletely outmatched in the AFC playoffs, beaten to their knees at the hands of all the elite defenses they were going to have to face. Especially with a second-year quarterback and a young, unproven offense with little to no postseason experience. That's a concept that has produced moments like this:
But while everyone who was arguing the Patriots were facing their first real competition of the season and were going to crumble under the onslaught of the relentless attacks of the Chargers and Texans, they were missing the much larger truth that was staring them in the face.
The Patriots defense has been the best unit on the field for either team in their first two games. That in fact, through 10 total games so far, the Pats have had the best defense in the entire playoffs.
It's been really bizarre how everyone seems to have defaulted to say "The Chargers offense is trash" or "CJ Stroud was horrendous and should've been pulled at halftime," while giving almost no credit to the team made them look so bad. Instead, it's just been a continuation of the "New England hasn't played anybody" discussion. The conversation has been all about how Justin Herbert kept taking sacks and Stroud kept turning the ball over, with not much of anything being said about the guys who made those sacks and forced those turnovers.
Let's look at the facts, in no particular order:
--According to Pro Football Focus grades, so far the Pats are No. 1 in total defense with 87.3, No. 1 in run defense with 87.1, third in tackling behind Green Bay and Jacksonville (both one & dones) with 77.6, third in pass rush behind Houston and Pittsburgh (both gone) with 72.7, and behind only Seattle in coverage with 82.7.
--Denver led the NFL in pressures per game with 24.2. In the Wild Card, the Pats had 39. And in the Divisional game, added 33 more. That is by far the most of any team:
--Those 39 pressures on Herbert came on 44 dropbacks, a rate of 88.6%.
--According to Next Gen Stats, they forced the highest rate of tight windows (29.8%) of any defense in the Divisional round.
--Also in that game, they generated +27.8 EPA from their five turnovers, the most by a playoff defense in the NGS era (since 2016).
--Stroud completed 15.9% fewer passes than expected (-15.9% CPOE) against them, his second-worst game ever.
--On the season, the Chargers averaged 121.6 rushing yards per game. The Pats limited them to 87. For Houston (who had 164 rushing yards at Pittsburgh in the Wild Card), those numbrers were 108.9 and 48.
--LA and Houston combined for 25 total drives in the two games. One ended with a touchdown.
The Patriots have cornerbacks:
...61 yards, 0 TD
4.7 yds/target
20.5 passer rating
2 INT, 4 PD
The Patriots have defensive linemen getting after it, like Milton Williams moving the line of scrimmage:
... and knocking down a blocker so K'Lavon Chaisson can force a bad throw and produce a Pick-6:
The Patriots have a rookie safety making history:
The Patriots have a middle linebacker recording six tackles and a PBU on a wide receiver 50 yards upfield to end the game:
The Chargers' defense is very good. Despite Drake Maye throwing 3 touchdowns against them, the Texans' is outstanding. Denver will be a very stiff test for Josh McDaniels' offense this week. All I demand is that everyone recognize that the Patriots this postseason, the Patriots have been playing better than any unit in the playoffs. It's not a big ask.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.