Why the New England Patriots Can't Win in the Playoffs

How can a team, an analyst or even a fan walk away from a 38-24 victory feeling good about the victors? Not to mention that the team who won, the New England Patriots, happened to allow Chad Henne to throw for 416 yards. 

Tom Brady and New England's offense was the only positive that you can take from the team's season opener on Monday Night Football. What could you say about New England's defense? Well, they were pretty putrid to say the least. 

Go ahead, throw out all the excuses that you can think of—whether because it was the season opener, it was a shootout or it was the first time the starting secondary played together—I don't want to hear it and I am not buying it. 

New England's defense is in trouble and so are their hopes for a potential Super Bowl run. 

I think that it's pretty safe to say that the majority will agree that if Brady and the Patriots offense can score 30 or more points a week, there's no question that New England will have a shot at winning their fourth Super Bowl title—Wrong. Defenses win championships, not offenses, even when Mr. Clutch himself is the quarterback. 

Taking a look at the 2010 postseason, where the Patriots failed miserably, five out of the 11 games played in the postseason had the winning team score less than 30 points. Out of those six games when the winning offense did produce 30-plus points, two of them were played inside and one was against the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. 

Teams cannot enter the playoffs expecting to score 30-plus points and have the offense carry the defense. It simply does not work. 

Take a look at the Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers. The Packers are a finesse offensive ball club that can score points in a hurry, but their defense is what won them a championship. In all four of their playoff games, Green Bay allowed 25 or fewer points. In three of those four games, Green Bay held the opposing offense to three or fewer touchdowns. 

A key ingredient for success in the playoffs and for a possible Super Bowl victory is that you have to win games in the teens and in the twenties. You cannot expect to score 30-plus points a week expecting for a victory—defenses only get better in the playoffs.

In 2010, the New England Patriots were ranked 25th defensively and were the worst defensive team in the playoffs last season, despite going a league-best 14-2. 

Just look at that: New England posted a 14-2 record and dominated throughout the entire regular season with one of the league's worst defenses. However, come playoff time, the Patriots collapsed against the New York Jets—who were a better football team, in my opinion. 

In 2011, the Patriots may have changed defensive philosophy by switching from the 3-4 to the 4-3 and have brought in some veterans that will make an impact—but from just one sample game, the defense looked atrocious. 

Call me crazy, but after one game, I am not impressed with New England whatsoever. Put it this way, Henne threw for 416 yards, 101 less than Brady. If Brady had not completed that 99-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker, then the two quarterbacks would have near-identical numbers. Scary, right? 

So in a way, New England's pitiful secondary, and just defense in general, made Henne look like Brady. 

The New England Patriots will always be a playoff contender under Bill Belichick and with Captain Brady at quarterback, but they are not Super Bowl contenders unless their defense can win games for once, rather than the offense bailing them out.

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