The NFL has 32 franchises. The Patriots rank 32nd in the league in total defense, allowing 408.3 yards per game.
The next-best defense in our country belongs to the University of Alabama.
Now, the Patriots do have the No. 1 offense, as well as a certain quarterback of some repute, but I thought I'd interrupt our city's seemingly boundless New England angst by sharing the following bit of research I just did:
Pretty stark stuff, huh?
But there is that equally stark contrast up there, as well, with the 2011 Packers. And that's worth highlighting for a couple of reasons: Aaron Rodgers and the rest of that group scored 70 touchdowns and put up 35-plus points nine times. They were a collective freak show. And as productive as Tom Brady and the Patriots remain this season, even without Julian Edelman, they aren't in the stratosphere of that Green Bay offense, which football experts rate among the best of all-time.
Other observations related to this:
• That 2011 Green Bay defense leaked like crazy, but those Packers also got an incredible 31 interceptions, most in the NFL, to nullify that. The current Patriots have seven interceptions, matching the league median and five fewer than the Steelers' 12. So they've got nothing nullifying their awfulness.
• The Patriots' defense would appear to be getting stronger with their past six points-against totals being 14, 17, 7, 13, 16 and 8, but even their 33-8 rout of the Raiders yesterday in Mexico City underscores ongoing issues: Oakland still ran up 344 yards of offense and took 71 offensive snaps to the Patriots' 58.
• In 2016, when the Patriots allowed 81 fewer yards and six fewer points per game, cornerback Logan Ryan led the defense in two major categories: 92 tackles and 11 passes defensed. Ryan left to sign with the Titans. He was replaced by Stephon Gilmore, who's got only three passes defensed and gets regularly roasted.
• Dont'a Hightower's season-ending pec injury left a hole that hasn't come close to being filled. Elandon Roberts, a 23-year-old sixth-round pick, took the starting job at linebacker, and he's made a pedestrian 35 tackles over eight games -- seven starts -- with zero sacks.
• The Patriots had 34 sacks in 2016. Of those, the owners of 15.5 are no longer on the team: Jabaal Sheard (five), Chris Long (four), Rob Ninkovich (four) and Hightower (2.5). The current defense has 16 sacks, ranking 27th in the league.
Oh, and one other thing: Those defending-champion 2011 Packers went on to become ... the first team in NFL history to win 15 games and fail to win a playoff game. They were blown up in the divisional round by the Giants, 37-20, at Lambeau Field.
People were surprised then, too.
• These Steelers are damned good. They're the best Mike Tomlin's ever had through 10 games, and they've plainly got a higher ceiling than what we've seen. But they, too, are aware of the public's agonizing about the Patriots, as well as the public's general suffering over every little thing that goes wrong.
If you've got someone like that in your life, share this figure with them: 17-3.
That's your football team's record over the past 20 games.
But one of those three losses came in the AFC Championship Game, and it came to an opponent that's also beaten the Steelers well into the distant past, so by all means, let's exacerbate the irrational dread that results from historical sports results -- few factors are less useful in predicting future results -- and not enjoy any of this along the way.
• The NHL is run by people who have next to no regard for the safety of the players under the league's governance.
Thursday night in Winnipeg, the Flyers' Radko Gudas, a terrible thing waiting to happen each time he steps on the ice, willfully chopped his stick downward onto the head of the Jets' already prone Mathieu Perreault.
For this, Gudas was suspended 10 games.
Details of the act and the punishment are here:
Philadelphia’s Radko Gudas suspended ten games for slashing Winnipeg's Mathieu Perreault. https://t.co/evgkEFCNUf
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 20, 2017
New commissioner. Please.
I've got nothing additional to say about this.
• Mike Sullivan's got every right to be peeved with his penalty-killing, as he clearly was late Saturday night after the Blackhawks scored both their goals on the power play. The PK ranks 26th in the 31-team NHL at 76.3 percent, and it's allowed eight goals in the past five games.
The primary culprit is that Matt Cullen and Nick Bonino are gone, and everyone saw that coming in this context. But I'm not concerned. Carter Rowney will be back soon, and he offers a lot of what Sullivan feels is missing, meaning, above all, the shot-blocking, length of stick in managing the box and battle level along the boards. Plus, Rowney can claim his share of defensive-zone draws. Also, Riley Sheahan has been really good in all facets, but especially short-handed.
Better execution is needed.
• No individual in Pittsburgh sports holds a harder job than Heather Lyke. No one. Not even Clint Hurdle, who was my longtime previous choice for that mythical designation.
Overseeing a football program that can't move forward a single yard, literally or symbolically, is the greatest challenge. Pat Narduzzi came with the pedigree of an elite defensive coach, but his stubbornness on the field and failure to pop with the recruiting has remarkably led to doubts about his tenure less than a year after Clemson.
And basketball ... my goodness.
WHAT'S BREWING
• Holiday notice: All of our Daily Fun Thing and regular weekly features will take the coming week off so that our staff can better enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. The only regular features you'll see are Wilkes-Barre Watch and Wheeling Watch because neither minor-league hockey nor Taylor Haase ever sleep. Our usual news coverage, of course, won't be affected.
• I was part of the panel last night on our news partner WPXI-TV's 'The Final Word,' along with Mark Madden and John Steigerwald, with Alby Oxenreiter as host.
• Our search for a new full-time reporter is complete. We'll announce it soon.
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