This Patriots defense is great enough to carry them to a championship

With their 10th win of the season, New England’s defense proved to us yet again that they are indeed great enough to power the Patriots to another title.

There’s an old saying in sports that goes like this: offense sells tickets, defense wins championships. The New England Patriots, despite the obvious offensive struggles, have a defense that’s been the primary source of this team’s success in 2019.

On the surface, one would think that a 10-1 NFL team is probably a well-rounded and well-oiled machine from top to bottom. However, without even looking at the numbers, you can tell that the Patriots offense has some real problems this season that need to be addressed. So, that now raises the question…

Is this Patriots defense good enough to bring a seventh Lombardi Trophy back to Foxborough?

The eye test alone will tell you all you need to know. This year’s defense brings back memories of the early portion of the Patriots dynasty in ’03-’04 with Hall of Famer Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, and Willie McGinest.

Pressure on the quarterback, clogging up the holes to run through, breaking up the passing lanes, tenacious hits in the open field, ball-hawking ability, and a winning mentality. This bunch has everything.

Sunday’s matchup with Dallas provided the defense with perhaps their toughest test yet this season, complete with treacherous weather conditions, a top running back in Ezekiel Elliott, and a mighty passing attack featuring Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. The Cowboys entered Sunday with the top-ranked passing offense and the seventh-best rushing offense – and the No. 1 ranked offense overall in the league.

New England held them to nine points. Nine.

Three measly field goals, and one extremely questionable coaching decision. Dak Prescott was limited to just 212 yards on 19 completions and an interception, and Elliott was frustrated with 21 carries for 86 yards.

Stephon Gilmore solidified his virtual lead for the NFL’s DPOY award with a borderline robbery of an interception, and also held Amari Cooper to zero catches for the first time as a Cowboy.

Since the proclaimed Week 8 “harder portion” of New England’s schedule commenced (against the Cleveland Browns), the Patriots defense has allowed 69 points, or an average of 17.3 points per game. The lone game of the season that the Patriots allowed more than 14 points was their one loss so far this season, in Week 9 to Baltimore. The 37 points they allowed that night obviously makes up the bulk of the points total this defense has allowed in the second part of their season.

With five games still remaining before the playoffs begin, here are the overall offensive rankings of the Patriots’ remaining opponents:

Houston Texans (7th)

Kansas City Chiefs (3rd)

Cincinnati Bengals (26th)

Buffalo Bills (18th)

Miami Dolphins (30th)

The Patriots’ 10th win of the season was certainly an impressive one… so much so that the normal eye test would tell you that this defense is indeed great enough to send New England to Miami for a fourth straight Super Bowl appearance.