New England’s defense will help hone the offense this year
The New England Patriots’ defense is decidedly getting the upper hand on the offense at training camp so far… and that might not be a bad thing.
It’s been about 15 years since the New England Patriots were truly known more for their defensive prowess than their offensive fireworks.
Back in the early 2000s, quarterback Tom Brady was still young and relatively unproven. Sure, he quickly proved his mettle by captaining the team to three Super Bowl championships in four years… but the identity of those New England squads was still largely predicated on defense rather than offense.
Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel, Ty Warren, Willie McGinest… it was a who’s who back then along the defensive line, in the linebacking corps, and back in the secondary.
On offense? Antowain Smith, David Givens, David Patten, Kevin Faulk, Daniel Graham… certainly not scrubs, and they all had their moments in the limelight, but not of them were on the same level as the defensive players named above.
We might be on the precipice of a similar situation in Foxborough.
For the better part of the past decade-plus, the Patriots have primarily been feared offensively. Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, even the multi-faceted running back stable that Bill Belichick loves to perplex opposing defenses with. Along with Josh McDaniels’ brilliant scheming (and of course Brady being Brady), the Pats have made a living outscoring their opponents at a ruthless pace – even as their own defense developed a “bend but don’t break” mentality.
“Bend but don’t break” has become the cliche description of the New England defense of late. It also seems to rank somewhere in the middle of the pack or worse in terms of total defense and yards allowed, but it’s consistently top 10 in the only category that matters, and that’s scoring defense (ie. points allowed).
This season’s defense might finally buck that trend altogether. It’s not unrealistic to project the Patriots’ D finishing as a top 10 defense both in points allowed and in total yards allowed this year. This secondary is that talented, that deep, and that stingy… just ask Tom Brady.
Speaking to NESN’s Zack Cox and the media after Wednesday’s practice, Brady didn’t hide his frustration with his own unit’s inability to move the ball against the New England D:
"“We’ve got a very good defense this year. Those guys are challenging us every day. It’s hard to complete passes on our secondary — that’s just the reality. So it’s actually great work for our offense to see how we measure up against a very good defense. Days like today are frustrating for us, and we’ve got to learn from the corrections and try to come out and have a better day tomorrow.”"
Next. Bill Belichick on Tom Brady's age and future with Pats. dark
Brady is 100% on the money with his assessment.
While it might be extremely “frustrating” for a perfectionist like TB12 and other members of New England’s high-octane offense to find themselves getting stifled by what could be a truly-exceptional defense, it’s ultimately a wonderful learning opportunity for the offense to absorb and hopefully improve upon moving forward.