Opponents have found air travel a rough way to go against the New England Patriots this season. If the New England end zone were a runway, most flights were diverted or canceled.
They’re hoping for the same kind of stingy defensive play when they host the New York Jets in an AFC first-round playoff game Sunday.
The Patriots allowed the fewest touchdown passes of any team in the NFL. In fact, their 10 TD passes allowed were fewer than any of the three Super Bowl championship teams of the Bill Belichick era.
Typically, Belichick divided the praise.
“It’s team defense,” he said. “To be good in any area, it takes 11 guys. It’s easier to play pass defense when it’s longer yardage and you know what they’re going to do. You still have to stop them, but you can do that.”
New England allowed only 21 touchdowns, tying the Baltimore Ravens for the best in the NFL, so the ground game isn’t a much option.
“It’s a thing of beauty, like an orchestra,” cornerback Ellis Hobbs said of the way the secondary coordinates with the front seven. “We’re all working together. If you’re the quarterback, you think it’s one thing, but it’s another.”
Those disguised fronts baffled most opponents, as the Pats limited opposing QBs to the second-lowest passer rating in the league.
It’s no surprise that Peyton Manning was able to throw for 326 yards and two touchdowns in the Colts’ 27-20 victory on Nov. 5. But Chad Pennington penetrated the Pats’ aerial defense too. He threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 loss on Sept. 17 and was an efficient 22-for-33 with another TD pass in a season-changing 17-14 win at New England on Nov. 12. That bothers Asante Samuel, star of the secondary.
“This is the NFL,” said Samuel, who tied Denver’s Champ Bailey for the league lead in interceptions with 10. “Being competitors, we’re disappointed about [any] touchdowns being caught on us.
“We’ve got to prevent that from happening. I like what we did in the regular season, but it’s a different season now. If you don’t step it up even more, you’ll be home early.”
A rotating cast of defensive backs demonstrated myriad skills throughout 2006. Last year’s starting free safety, Eugene Wilson, missed the entire season with an injury. Hard-hitting veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison missed six games, came back last week, and suffered another injury that will keep him out of Sunday’s game.
Still, it’s a confident bunch that will try to make it a long day for Chad Pennington’s vaunted short-passing game.
“Nothing they’re doing is unstoppable,” Hobbs said. “The main thing is to understand what they’re trying do to. I don’t want to get into how we’ll defense them, but there are some things we want to change.”
Hobbs, like Samuel, was tutored by Eric Mangini when the Jets’ coach was on Belichick’s defensive staff.
“Obviously he knows us well,” Samuel said. “He knows our strengths; he knows our weaknesses. They should be ready.”
So will the Patriots.
“This is a new game, a new season,” Samuel said. “I don’t want to say what Chad is going to do. He might come out throwing flats or he might come out throwing deep balls. We’ve got to play smart.”
The New England secondary has done that all season. Its motto could be: You pass, you fail.
