FOXBORO, Mass. — Statistically speaking, the New England Patriots had one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. They led the league in points allowed while ranking eighth in total defense and third in rushing yards allowed.
Yet even now, as the Patriots sit just one win away from Super Bowl LI, New England’s defense feels its work has been underappreciated.
“This group defensively has been a group that felt like we had a chip on our shoulder,” said cornerback Logan Ryan, who played one of the best games of his career in the Patriots’ divisional-round win over the Houston Texans.
“We’ve been doubted early in the year, called out by the media publicly. So we just felt like we’re just going to ignore the noise and keep doing our job and working hard. And now when people are singing our praises, we’re going to continue to do the same thing, because we’re the same group of guys that are working hard and having fun together.”
Two factors are working against the Patriots’ defense in its quest for respect.
The first is, that although they surrendered a minuscule 15.6 per game during the regular season, their opponents were a parade of subpar offenses with mediocre — or, in some cases, downright terrible — quarterbacks. Every team the Patriots played during their season-ending seven-game winning streak ranked 17th or lower in scoring offense, including four games against teams ranked in the bottom six in that category.
The other is the fact Tom Brady still is playing at an All-Pro level, meaning when it comes to the Patriots, the spotlight permanently is fixed on the offensive side of the ball.
“We’re not going to get (respect),” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said this week in an interview with TheMMQB. “I don’t care how much credit we get, all I care about is winning. We’re not going to get it. We play with arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play this game. No one is going to say we are good and we don’t care. We are going to keep winning and doing what we need to do as a defense and that’s what is valuable to us. That’s all we care about.”
How does Patriots coach Bill Belichick feel about his defense’s “nobody respects us” mindset? Simply put, he loves it.
“I think it’s important for the unit to have a good passion for each other and confidence for each other,” Belichick said Friday morning. “That’s how you play aggressively, and that’s how you play well. So however that comes together — each unit’s different. Each makeup of the chemistry and the players and all that is different. We try to control that, keep the players together and hope that they have a good chemistry based on the type of players that you put together.
“But yeah, these guys definitely have it. Defensively, they have a good attitude. They have a good competitive spirit. They play the game with a passion and a purpose. You want that, absolutely.”
New England’s defense will look to make a statement Sunday as the Patriots host the Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
Thumbnail photo via James Lang/USA TODAY Sports Images
