New England Patriots Living on the Edge Headed into 2011 NFL Postseason

The biggest question the New England Patriots faced entering the 2011 season was whether they could finally shake the monkey off their back of not winning a playoff game since 2007.

That question remains unanswered as we turn the page on the regular season and move onto the next of three chapters in the playoffs.

The final two chapters aren't a guarantee, though, as this Choose Your Own Adventure book could end in peril.

But with the right moves at the right times, the Patriots can make a run. This season would seem to favor their chances more than others, as no team in the playoffs has distinguished itself as the top dog.

One thing is clear—they can't put themselves in harm's way early on and expect to get away with it.

"I think everybody cares and everybody realizes that once you're in the playoffs it's not something you can do," said guard Brian Waters according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. " When you start seeing the Steelers, the Ravens, the Houston Texans, when you start seeing those names and teams that can really put up some numbers and really play good defense—we're talking about some good defensive teams—you can't afford that."

The Patriots have scored zero first-quarter points five times this season, and they score an average of 5.1 points in the first quarter. However, they have scored an average of 32.1 points per game this season and rank third in the NFL in scoring.

Their ability to recover from early struggles is a huge testament to their character and resolve. The Patriots don't quit.

That's evidenced in the fact that, despite giving up the second-most passing yards in NFL history, they rank 15th in scoring.

They make key plays when they need to both in turnovers and in the red zone on offense and on defense. None of the rest of the AFC playoff field can make either one of those claims, and very few can even claim one.

But defensive captain Jerod Mayo put it best according to Reiss when he said, "We have to play 60 minutes, which we haven't done yet. We have to come out and start fast."

The fact that their defense has been so shaky this season is evidence that their strategy has its flaws.

For that matter, every NFL strategy has its flaws. But none cause more concern than the Patriots' way of doing business on defense. That will happen when your defense gives up the second-most passing yards in NFL history, regardless of where you rank in scoring, red-zone defense, turnovers or any other category. 

"Bend-don't-break" is often used in a derogatory way, but getting stops in the red zone and causing turnovers are good qualities for any defense. 

Quite simply, though, no team has ever made the playoffs with a defense this bad in so many areas. That they won 13 games along the way is a huge testament to their character and their ability to respond to adversity, but what happens in the next three games or less will say even more about that character than any of the previous 16 games did.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter.