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Four years of hating the Patriots defense and genius labels

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I don’t try to hide the fact that this is a Patriots homer blog but today I bring you a collection of articles just the opposite, which I think illustrate with comedic effect just how much you can milk a negative point of view of a team that is on the verge of their ninth division title in eleven years.

Sit back and try to enjoy the ride as we bring you four years of Kerry Byrne’s (SI.com/Cold Hard Football Facts/WEEI) articles about Bill Belichick and the Patriots defense.

2008 : Bill Belichick’s Legacy Needs a Hug

We begin with the Patriots coming off a season in which they were under two minutes from the indisputable greatest team of all time as Kerry puts the “genius” label in his cross hairs.

Belichick has been considered the singular defensive “genius” of his generation. Some “pundits” even argued, right up until about 10 p.m. on Feb. 3, that he was the greatest coach of all time. Raise your hand if heard that one in the run-up to the Super Bowl? Anyone? Anyone?

Belichick might have become the first coach in history to garner five Super Bowl rings in a mere seven seasons. But his defenses have stood in the way of history.

Fair enough, he’s right, with a better defense the Pats might’ve had two more Super Bowl titles. But the dynasty defense was a veteran one that had been forged in the late 90’s and early 00’s and it was bound to run out of gas at some point. Still hard to kill a coaches entire legacy based on one half (2nd half ‘06 AFCCG) and one drive (SB 42).

2009: Patriots failing the passing test, secondary a primary concern

I guess he gave them a pass during the Matt Cassel year as we fast forward to the 2009 season.

The local pigskin punditry is twisting itself into logistical knots trying to come up with the reasons for New England’s inconsistent 3-2 start.

Let me put an end to the mystery. The problems with the Patriots can be summed with six words: Bill Belichick has lost his mojo.

So it wasn’t that the Pats lost Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour, Harrison, Samuel, etc. it was the Belichick lost his mojo and failed to adequately turn over his dynasty defense for another Super Bowl caliber defense in under two seasons. Hmm. Okay. Let’s fast forward to December of that same season.
Now BB hasn’t just lost his mojo, he’s no longer a genius.
That label started to peel off the bottle back in the spring of 2005. Now, after New England’s embarrassing 38-17 loss to the Saints Monday night, the label lies crumpled up wet on the floor beside the bar stool, waiting for the cleaning crew to sweep it away at the end of the night.
Woah, woah, woah… spring 2005?!

I thought we already covered this in 2009, but after the 2010 Pats’ week two loss to the Jets it must’ve been time to remind us?

The AFC East race is still far from over. But we do know this: you can finally put a fork in the “Belichick as Genius” storyline, an effort we started two years ago, long before it was popular.

A Belichick Defense is no longer something to fear. But maybe a Rex Ryan defense is.

Unless you want to win a title of any kind.

2010: The Patriots are a defensive disaster

Still going…

But it seems every quarterback torches New England’s defense. In fact, right now, New England’s defense is simply not good enough to win a Super Bowl.

The Patriots are a defensive disaster this year: No. 22 in scoring defense and No. 31 in total defense. They look just as bad in our Cold, Hard Football Facts Quality Stats: 23rd in forcing Negative Pass Plays (sacks, INTs), 25th in Defensive Passer Rating, 29th in our Defensive Hog Index (which measures the performance of each defensive front) and dead last in third-down defense. Opponents convert a crushing 50.7 percent of third-down attempts. Even the 31st-ranked Bills allow teams to convert just 45.0 percent of third downs.

Well the 2010 Pats won their division but had a disappointing playoff exit to a quarterback who played lights out.  Okay Kerry, you win. Belichick isn’t a genius and the Pats need to improve their pass defense.
Impossible? Well maybe Belichick got his genius card back at least?
“Bill Belichick’s a great coach, we all know that. But he had this reputation forever as a defensive genius, and we have to end that mythology,” Byrne, the editor-in-chief of coldhardfootballfacts.com, told host Gary Tanguay on CSNNE.com’s Web-only Cold Hard Football Facts show.

“They’ve put bad, bad defenses on the field for years on end, and right now it is statistically impossible for this team to win a Super Bowl with a defense this bad.”

Might as well stop watching the games. What’s the point? Or maybe just start rooting for the Packers, at least they’re 31st in passing yards allowed.

2011: Epic fail for New England Defense

Finally today comes the latest and greatest.

Are you still a defensive “genius” if your defense collapses in big game year after year and is now on pace to give up more yards through the air than anyone in football history?

That’s one question coming out of New England after Bill Belichick’s defense was humiliated by Dan Orlovsky and the 0-12 Colts.

No matter who ends up on the field, you can count on the fact that New England’s once-proud pass defense will get torched week after week.

Ah, what a long strange trip of the same exact points being pounded home over and over again in a condescending tone it’s been.
But it all still leaves me wondering…
  • Is anyone even still calling BB a genius?
  • And if even a Patriots homer blogger like myself will concede this point who is Kerry even trying to convince? Jets fans?
  • Can a football coach really even be a genius? 
  • How about we just agree that he’s one of greatest football coaches of all time? You can still be that even if you don’t win a Super Bowl every single season right?
  • If the Patriots defense is this epically bad, so bad in fact that we have to be reminded of it time after time, year after year, how have they led the NFL in wins over the last decade? How? Apparently it’s not BB, who lacks both genius and mojo. And it can’t be the players who Kerry calls “a fourth-rate secondary that Belichick has cobbled together from free agents, bad draft picks, former college quarterbacks, current wide receivers and pixie dust.” Seven articles and I have no idea how the Patriots win at a historic rate.
  • Finally, does Kerry get bored of writing how much the Patriots defense sucks and how Bill Belichick is not a genius? Perhaps no more than I get bored of writing how much I enjoy following this team. Which I don’t.

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