Felger & Mazz On: Patriots' Defensive Deficiencies
Bill Belichick could barely watch as the Patriots defense struggled mightily against a weak Bills offense in barely surviving Sunday's 38-30 win. Whether it's because of poor coaching or lack of talent, the guys agree that the Pats' defense is regressing and needs to improve if they plan to be a playoff threat.
Felger: "They're not just mediocre. They are playing at the bottom of the league. Against a bad opponent, they played terrible defense. The way this league works is that you have a bad week then you go back and correct it, and you overcompensate on the things you did poorly. Then the next week, you come out and the subsequent week is the opposite of what it was before. The defense got worse! I still expect them to get better, primarily because they can't get much worse because they sucked yesterday. I knew the defense would be a work in progress, but I still believe it's a playoff team. Yesterday is a day that you make that incremental progress. You've got to feast on the Buffalo Bills, and use it to improve and get better as a defense."
Mazz: "None of this surprises me. I came into this year expecting this defense to be bad. When they lost Warren and Bodden, my expectations were admittedly lower then most people's were. I felt this way immediately after the Rams preseason game, and I thought, 'Throw the first 8 games out – they are gonna suck.' But right now, they are playing wretched. I came to the conclusion a long time ago: This defense will not stop anybody when it has to. If catching a ball thrown directly at them kills a drive, I'll take it. Right now, that is a sign of progress."
