D-Fence
Living in the greater Washington, DC area I am hearing a lot about how this weekend is going to be telling for the Patriots. I remember a couple of weeks ago a lot of people talked about how the Cowboys were their first real test. The Dallas D was not up to the task.
All the people saying this is going to be a tough game for the Patriots point to the Redskins 5th ranked defense as to why. Sports writer Kevin Blackistone said Washington is, "the best defense they will be facing all year."
What none of these people are doing is looking at who Washington has done this against -
Miami (0-7) - 15th in yardage (333.1 ypg), 12th in scoring (22.3 ppg)
Philadelphia (2-4) - 8th in yardage (349.3 ypg), 21st in scoring (19.3 ppg)
NY Giants (5-2) - 9th in yardage (347.7 ypg), T-6th in scoring (26.7 ppg), (beat Washington 24-17)
Detroit (4-2) - 16th in yardage (328.5 ypg), 10th in scoring (23.3. ppg)
Green Bay (5-1) - 11th in yardage (339.3 ypg), 9th in scoring (23.7 ppg) (beat Washington 17-14)
Arizona (3-4) - 12th in yardage (337.0 ypg), T-14th in scoring (21.0 ppg)
Currently the Patriots are first in both categories with 432.9 ypg and 39.9 ppg. The 'Skins haven't faced a team like this yet. They haven't face receivers, an O-line, or a quarterback playing on this level yet.
The only winning team that the 'Skins managed to beat? Detroit, whom I still don't buy as legit. The two teams that beat them still came within a score of their average ppg. The teams they have beat each have major problems - the Eagles barely have a passing game, Miami barely has wideouts and is pitiful on defense, not to mention issues at quarterback. And of course Arizona has its own images at quarterback.
The Patriots have none of those issues.
Let the games begin.
Stumble It!
2 comments:
Good stuff, but I'm going to have to take the opposite stance, to an extent. The Skins have the 5ht ranked defense as you pointed out, but then you kind of write their defense off suggesting they have done it against lackluster offenses. All of the offenses you listed, though, are in top half of the NFL in total offense. So, being the 5th ranked D against those opponents is a decent accomplishment.
Now, granted, none of those offenses are top 5 offenses. Only two are top 10. While the Skins D may be a "test," I still don't see them stopping the Pats from putting up another 30+. And make no mistake, the "real test" will be next week against the Colts.
I write them off, mostly because the competition has put up their numbers largely against NFC competition - Philly, AZ, Detroit, Green Bay, NY Giants. Even the teams the Skins lost to fail to impress me.
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