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Message: [QUOTE="intlzncster, post: 2515112, member: 56"] It's usually not this lopsided in terms of yards. They had a string of really bad games early in the year on D, the first 5 or 6 or so, that has skewed the results. But they aren't usually in the Top half of the NFL in this category anyway. One extenuating circumstance with this Pats D is that it is very patchwork. A lot of these guys are relative no namers, outside some in the defensive backfield. They jettisoned a ton up front on the D line and lost a lot at linebacker (incl their best defender - Hightower IR). Their best linebacker is freakin Kyle Van Noy, and he hasn't played in 6 weeks. But they don't care too much about yards in general. They basically care about not getting beat by the big play, and force the other team to make play after play, looking for mistakes. They don't care about actual sacks. They care about pressures. Pressure the QB while holding their lane integrity. Very rarely do they ever just let a great pass rusher loose to ad-lib his way to the QB. That's why a guy like Chandler Jones gets so many sacks with the Cardinals vs the Pats. He got some with the Pats, but only within the structure. Belichick's philosophy is that the only stats that matter in terms of consistent winning are points and turnovers. Red Zone is everything. Turnovers they are usually good at, but in the end, the focus is on turnover differential. Pats are 11th in that category. [/QUOTE]