Patriots Defense Living Up to Super Bowl Billing

Like many things in Foxborough, Massachusetts, over the past five months, the narrative has changed dramatically around the New England Patriots defense. Once billed as an overhyped group, loaded with talent but missing a certain level of toughness and cohesion, the Patriots have evolved into a unit in the truest sense of the word.

There are weaknesses in the Patriots defense, as there are with every defense. It usually doesn't generate a fierce pass rush, and it can be moved off the ball in the running game when it doesn't play with sound technique.

But an ability to adapt to the opponent, take away the opposition's best strength and to complement the New England offense has made it a perfect defense to give this team an opportunity to win its fourth-ever Lombardi Trophy.

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"This is what everybody does," linebacker Dont'a Hightower said after the Patriots' 45-7 curbstomping of the Indianapolis Colts. "The summer, the spring, guys train all year long for this opportunity. We were blessed enough to come out and play the way we did to get that opportunity to play in Arizona."

Once again, golden boy Andrew Luck was made to look the fool as the Patriots varied the looks. The former No. 1 pick posted 12 completions on 33 pass attempts, no touchdowns, two picks and a 23.0 passer rating—his lowest in three seasons in the NFL. But this is a quarterback they have bamboozled before. Luck now has a 50.3 completion percentage, six touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 58.7 passer rating against the Patriots. 

And this is a Patriots defense that spins the dial with the best of them, providing a mix of coverages and pressure packages to keep its opponents on their heels. Particularly this season, linebacker pressures have become a huge part of the defensive game plan. 

Player	Pass-rush snaps	Hurries	Hits	Sacks	Total pressure	Pressure %
Rob Ninkovich	504	37	8	8	53	10.5
Vince Wilfork	381	10	3	1	14	3.7
Chandler Jones	302	19	5	7	31	10.3
Chris Jones	285	10	4	3	17	5.9
Akeem Ayers	221	7	4	4	15	6.8
Dominique Easley	176	9	2	1	12	6.8
Dont'a Hightower	150	14	9	8	31	20.7
Sealver Siliga	107	0	2	3	5	4.7
Jamie Collins	97	15	5	4	24	24.7

Linebackers like Hightower and Jamie Collins are getting increased opportunities to get after the quarterback, and they have taken advantage at an impressive rate. Of course, they may not have needed to call in the cavalry if they didn't hobble to the finish line—veteran linebacker Jerod Mayo once again went on injured reserve, and defensive end Chandler Jones missed six games with a hip injury.

But the Patriots have a weapon in Collins, who can rush the passer one play and drop into coverage the next.

They also have a secondary that can match up with nearly any receiver combination they'll see and that can rotate within those matchups to keep opponents guessing.

The beauty of having an all-world player like Darrelle Revis at cornerback is that he can cover just about anyone put in front of him. That opens up possibilities for the Patriots to find their more favorable matchups elsewhere—whether it's Brandon Browner, Malcolm Butler, Kyle Arrington, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung or some combination of everyone.

With that secondary, the Patriots are able to do what they've done best with Belichick at head coach: take away an opponent's best strength, forcing them to find other ways to win.

"They always do a good job and they make you beat them left-handed," said Colts backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. "They took away some of our favorite things and some of our favorite people. Like I said, we have to figure out a way to beat them because they are not going anywhere."

That theory and method may face its biggest test of the season when the Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, whose best weapon is its ground game behind running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson.

Games	Carries	Yards	Y/A	TD
First 8	227	1037	4.57	4
Previous 10	239	851	3.56	3

If the Patriots have shown one weakness that's open for exposure, it's in the running game. The Patriots are still picking pieces of themselves up off the turf at SunLife Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium and Gillette Stadium, where the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets respectively ran wild on the them like Hulkamania for more than 190 yards a pop, all within the first seven games of the season.

Yes, the Patriots buckled down in the front seven and only gave up more than 100 yards in three of the final eight games of the regular season. But when New England has struggled this year, it's been against teams that run the ball down its throats.

The Patriots beat the Jets two times by a combined three points this season and yielded an average of 167 rushing yards per game. Each of the four teams that beat them this season rushed for more than 100 yards, though the Patriots have won four games in which their opponents hit the century mark in rushing yards. 

The Patriots opponents have scored 26.5 points per game when rushing for more than 100 yards but only 13.9 points per game when they fail to reach the century mark.

But they were exposed a bit in that area against the Baltimore Ravens, yielding 136 rushing yards in the divisional round in a narrow victory. The Ravens ran a mix of power and zone, proving that the Patriots still have their weaknesses up front.

From 2001-2004, the Patriots were defined by a championship-caliber defense that carried the team to three Super Bowl victories in four years. The Patriots offense this season is more formidable than it was in those years, but if they are going to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to the Northeast, they'll need to get one more championship-caliber performance from their defense.

All quotes obtained firsthand.