New England Patriots 31st-Ranked Defense Is Underrated

The New England Patriots have managed to shuck their reputation as a horrible pass-defending team. Getting to the Super Bowl helps, but that 31st-in-the-league moniker has followed the team all the way to Indianapolis.

It's unfair, and it's worth discussing.

The Patriots are a bend-but-don't-break defense, a unit perfectly happy to play zone to cover the deep ball and leave the scraps of screen passes and out routes to opposing teams. It's the kind of defense that a quarterback could throw for 300 yards against and still lose, which is exactly what happened to Joe Flacco and Ryan Fitzpatrick in previous outings. Vince Young threw for 400 yards when the Eagles faced the Pats in Week 12. Philly lost by three scores.

The Patriots' red-zone defense is perfectly average (TeamRankings has them ranked 16th out of 32 teams), but the unit wins with turnovers. Only one other team managed more interceptions in the regular season than New England had (23), and the Pats' plus-17 turnover ratio was by far the best in this year's AFC. 

So the Patriots will have a strong, if underrated defense in Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl Sunday. Oh, and they'll also have Tom Brady. That certainly doesn't hurt.