Patriots not defensive about low ranking
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The Patriots are 9-2, and the man in charge is one of the best defensive minds in NFL history, someone from whom the Jets' own defensive guru, Rex Ryan, unapologetically steals ideas.
And yet there's this: Bill Belichick's defense currently ranks a difficult-to-believe 31st in the 32-team NFL in total defense, dead last against the pass.
Statistics are notoriously misleading in football, but 31st, at 399.1 yards per game? Really? (The Jets rank third at 296.9.)
The Pats also are last in third-down defense, allowing conversions 50.7 percent of the time.
What about it, Coach? "We play to win the games; that's what our goal is,'' Belichick said Thursday, echoing what his defensive players dutifully have said all week.
That prompted a pointed question about whether Belichick is "embarrassed" by the numbers.
"There are a lot of things we can do better as a football team, things we can do better as coaches and players, absolutely,'' he said. "There is a lot of room for improvement.''
The Patriots have survived mostly by scoring points - no fewer than 23 in any of their nine victories - while the defense has bent without breaking and intercepted 15 passes, fourth-best in the league.
Devin McCourty, 23, a rookie cornerback out of Rutgers whom the Jets coveted in the draft, has five, which leads the AFC.
The other starting cornerback, Kyle Arrington, 24, is a second-year man out of Hofstra. One of the starting safeties, Patrick Chung, is 23. Two rookies start at linebacker.
It is that extreme youth that helps explain the unit's struggles, and why the Pats believe it has improved over time and will continue to do so, even if the stats don't yet reflect it.
"As a defense, we've played together now and a lot of our young guys have gained experience since the last time we played [the Jets],'' McCourty said, recalling the Jets' 28-14 victory in Week 2.
He said what he remembers of that game was being "real young and learning on the job. Watching the film, I thought I was moving real fast and wasn't real settled and calm out there.''
On Thanksgiving, McCourty became the Patriots' first rookie since Mike Haynes in 1976 (against the Jets) to intercept two passes in a game.
"People can say what they want to say about this team, this defense, the people we have here,'' veteran nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "The only thing we're trained to do is win, point-blank. If that calls for us to be the 32nd-ranked defense in the league, it is what it is . . . Good teams find a way to win.''
Said Arrington: "We have made plays when we needed to. We are 9-2. But we're also not satisfied . . . It's not like we're not working on it.''
Ryan is under no illusions that the Pats are patsies on defense. "I think that's kind of misleading,'' he said of their rank. "You get a big lead on people, you're willing to sacrifice yards.
"They're all about wins, and right now they look pretty good to me.''
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