New England Patriots: 5 observations from defueling of New York Jets

1.  Overall defense is still a work in progress?

Yes, the New England Patriots have only played the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, but what they have been doing on defense is still impressive.

In all, they have yet to give up a touchdown this season and have only allowed a total of 3 points in three games.

Both scores in Sunday’s game did not involve the offense.  A muff punt lead to one touchdown while a pick-six led to another.

Despite the play out of Jamie Collins, Chase Winovich, Adam Butler, Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty and basically the entire unit, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still feels they aren’t where they need to be.

Pretty scary right?

But, it’s also a way for Belichick to keep his players humble and alert.  Here’s what he had to say following the 30-14 win:

"“I think we’ve played good team defense at times. There’s still things we need to work on and be a little more consistent at, things we can definitely coach better, but our players have prepared well, the communication has been good. We’ve tackled well which is key against a team like the Jets with a great back like [Le’Veon] Bell and some elusive receivers like [Braxton] Berrios and [Jamison] Crowder. Those guys are hard to tackle. The tackling’s been good. That’s been a plus.”"

It’s hard to imagine what the New England Patriots defense still needs to work on, but they also haven’t faced a real elite quarterback with viable weapons on the field.  The game against Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers was a test, but it’s starting to look like they weren’t the offense experts thought they were heading into the season.

Still, the Pats defense has been impressive.  In previous years, a quarterback like Luke Falk would’ve found a way to look like Dan Marino against the Patriots.

Yes, we’re nitpicking a bit.