Well before the flakes settled into Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Patriots locked up home field throughout the playoffs with a 34-3 win over the Buffalo Bills.
It was a total team effort as the offense scored 21 points off of turnovers. It was like New England scored three points for every turnover forced.
With seven turnovers Sunday, the Patriots improved their plus-minus to plus 27, best in the league. They lead the league in interceptions with 24 after picking off QB Ryan Fitzpatrick three times. New England is eighth in fumbles recovered.
Before the season I expected the defense to be a bend but don’t break unit and they are more than living up to it. How accurately they’re executing that approach is scary. Despite being the best thieves, New England is 27th in yards allowed, 30th in passing yards allowed.
Like I said before, I don’t mind scratch tickets-like defense – a lot of yards allowed but few jackpots. They gave a great example of that against Buffalo. The Bills gained more yards but scored just three points because, in part, the Patriots forced two red zone turnovers. New England is one of the best at forcing red zone turnovers this season.
It’s a heck of a performance for the youngest defense in the league, especially since they’ve played without veterans DL Ty Warren and CB Leigh Bodden all season long.
Bodden was expected to be the best corner on the team. In his absence, rookie Devin McCourty stepped up and leads the team with six interceptions. McCourty is in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.
Devin is just one of several rookies playing big roles for the team. Until his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s banned substance policy, ILB Brandon Spikes started from day one. OLB Jermaine Cunningham became a starter three games into the season. Brandon Deaderick worked his way into the D-line rotation. Heck even rookie free agents Dane Fletcher and Kyle Love are making contributions this season.
10 players have interceptions, seven with at least two. It’s the same story when it comes to forced fumbles as eight players stripped pigskins from opponents.
As opportunistic as the defense has been, the offense has been equally stingy. New England lost just four fumbles this season. As impressive has been QB Tom Brady. He has just four interceptions. Since Brady’s last interception against Baltimore, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,539 yards and 24 touchdowns over 10 weeks and an overtime period.
New England hasn’t turned the ball over in seven weeks. That’s unheard of.
There’s some luck involved during this streak. New England has fumbled during this streak, but they always recovered the loose ball. And Chicago had so many almost interceptions I lost count. But the bottom line is no turnovers is no turnovers.
Going into the season the Patriots were viewed as a flawed team that had a slim margin of error. To win they focused on being patient and avoiding mistakes. It worked in the early going as the Patriots jumped out to a 3-1 record before the bye.
And as the team improved during the season, they kept ball security/thievery a top priority, making later wins easy. The combination of a ball-hawking defense with an efficient offense has been near unbeatable, proven by the 13-2 record.
The method has taken them this far. The formula can work well in the playoffs.
Question? Comments? Send to talktome@randolphc.com.
