Because they were really good to start with, and staying really good in the NFL is damnably hard. In 2008, they were the tenth ranked defense in the league. In 2009, they slipped slightly to 11th. In 2010, they fell to 25th, and obviously they aren’t doing well this season.
So that’s ONE AND A HALF WHOLE YEARS in which they’ve had a defense that’s not in the top third of the league, despite which they’ve still had an overwhelmingly winning record. (And I like how a top-ten defense is in need of “rebuilding” in the first place.)
#occupynewengland
They weren’t a top 10 defense. The defensive problems have long been covered up by their offensive efficiency. NE has controlled the ball, done extremely well with turnovers and special teams and that’s boosted the defense. Look at a more telling stat like yards per play and you can see the steady erosion of their defense. It’s pretty obvious.
2003 - 4.4 y/p (4th). 14-2, won Super Bowl.
2004 - 5.0 (11th). 14-2, won Super Bowl.
2005 - 5.3 (27th). 10-6.
2006 - 5.0 (11th). 12-4.
2007 - 4.9 (7th). 16-0, lost Super Bowl.
2008 - 5.4 (22nd). 11-5.
2009 - 5.4 (19th). 10-6.
2010 - 5.6 (26th). 14-2.
2011 - 6.4 (32nd). 5-2
You can see a pretty clear trend in the decline of their defense. In fact, there’s a pretty clear correlation of their defensive yards/play on defense and their record. The only outlier is last year and they set a record for fewest turnovers by a team ever (10) and the best turnover differential (+28) in the last 20 years (and I also think that was a record) - meaning opposing offenses had to work with long fields virtually every possession. If NE’s offense wasn’t so massively efficient and protective of the ball, their defensive issues would be far more readily apparent.
So no, this hasn’t been a good defense since 2007 and it’s done nothing but get steadily worse.
Lorini
3903
Phillip Rivers is like “I’m throwin’ me an INT, I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks!!!”
That picture never gets old.
The hell was that roughness call? The nfl really has been wimpified this year, sheesh. Defensive penalties are flat out bullshit 60% of the time this year, seems like.
Lorini
3906
This game makes me think I know nothing about the rules of the game. Maybe I really don’t, but I haven’t seen stuff called this way ever before.
Wow, the Chiefs look lousy tonight.
What’s with burning four seconds before calling your last timeout of the half?
sluggo
3908
Gruden: “Good teams from the west coast win when they go to the east coast. That’s just not happening for the Chargers tonight.”
Jon, where the holy hell do you think you are? My god.
He’s not wrong, though. It can’t happen tonight because of their geographical location.
I don’t know… It didn’t look like he got in on that two-point–wait, no, maybe he did.
Reason #462 why HD sucks: Norv Turner’s neck flab.
Lorini
3914
He just straight out drops the ball. Hehe
I like to think the curse of Marty is strong on Halloween.
According to nfl.com, they were. I get that you’re looking at alternate stats and want to argue that those are better, but by the standard measures for these things, they were a very good defense, and that’s not nothing.
(By the standards you New Englanders use, I think I should be calling for Mike McCarthy’s head right now. SURE, the Packers are Super Bowl champions and undefeated, but their defense is rated 29th in yards per play! They’re practically the WORST team in the league! There’s something deeply, fundamentally broken there.)
Man, two weeks in a row that the Chargers derp it.
You realize that the “standard” ranking is nothing more than the total yardage. Statistically it’s almost useless. It’s hardly cooking the stats to look at yards per play, and is pretty easy to argue as a far better measure. Green Bay isn’t experiencing a precipitous decline in opp ypp over the last few years. This years results should deservedly be a slight cause for concern but given the offense and that the season is barely halfway through, it’s not a cause for alarm in Green Bay. If GB’s defense continues to worsen over the next couple years, you’re damn right it’s alarming, no matter how well Rogers is playing.
