Not all about the QBs
Brady, Pats face top defenses
FOXBORO — This isn’t about Tom Brady and three nobodies, with all due respect to the three nobodies.
At least, that’s how the Patriots’ impending journey has been portrayed.
If the NFL’s final four were a quarterback competition, Brady probably could send a standee in his place against Blake Bortles, Case Keenum and Nick Foles. And this isn’t a knock on those three, who all played well enough to win (Foles) or lights out (Keenum and Bortles) in divisional round victories.
Relative to Brady, however, the combined postseason résumés of Bortles, Keenum and Foles wouldn’t put a dent in the five-time Super Bowl champion’s body of work.
Yet, they’re here in conference championship week because they play for good teams with great defenses. For the Patriots to hoist a sixth Lombardi Trophy, they’ll have to find a way through the Jaguars on Sunday and either the Vikings or the Eagles two weeks later in Minneapolis.
The Jags, despite surrendering 42 points to the Steelers on Sunday, probably have the best defense in the league. They’re ranked second in points (16.8), yards (286 per game), takeaways (33) and sacks (55). Not only do they have the NFL’s best cornerback tandem in A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey, but they also gave up the fifth fewest yards to tight ends in the regular season (40.4 per game).
“I don’t know what they don’t do well,” Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.
If the Patriots survive the weekend, it won’t get too much easier from there. The Vikings ranked first in points (15.8) and yards allowed (276), 17th in sacks (37) and 23rd in takeaways (19). And without quarterback Carson Wentz, the Eagles are totally reliant upon their defense. It was fitting they beat the Falcons on Saturday with a stop on the goal line. The Eagles ranked fourth in points (18.4), yards (307) and takeaways (31) and 15th in sacks (31).
The Patriots aren’t all about Brady, either. Their defense ranked fifth in points (18.5) and seventh in sacks (42) despite being 25th in takeaways (18) and 29th in yards (366). During the final three quarters of the regular season, the Patriots led the NFL by surrendering just 14 points per game, though the Vikings (14.7), Jaguars (16.2) and Eagles (16.9) were also in the top five.
No, the Patriots defense doesn’t have the same aura as the Jags, Vikings or Eagles, but they’re finally as healthy as they’ll ever be without linebacker Dont’a Hightower and are still elite in the red zone, where opponents only scored touchdowns during 43.8 percent of their visits (ranked fourth). Internally, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has been described as a “miracle worker” in recent weeks.
Perhaps the Patriots’ defense will be too much for Brady’s inferior quarterbacking counterparts to overcome. Then again, his opposition already has dispatched of some high-level quarterbacks along the way.
The Jaguars stymied twotime Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger yet again. Roethlisberger’s stats were gaudy, but consider his interception set up a touchdown and a strip sack was also returned for a score. Two touchdown passes against Bouye required perfect throws and incredible catches by Antonio Brown, who is the best in the business.
On the other side, Keenum and the Vikings needed an actual miracle to get past former Super Bowl champion and two-time Offensive Player of the Year Drew Brees. Brees’ two first-half interceptions cost the Saints at least 10 points, as one led to a Vikings touchdown and the other squashed a red-zone scoring opportunity.
The upset-minded Eagles made reigning MVP Matt Ryan look ordinary, as the Falcons’ 10 points were their third fewest of their 18-game season.
While an elite quarterback can overcome many of his team’s deficiencies, talent, pedigree and experience is not the only means to postseason success. If that were the case, Brady and the Patriots never would have taken down Kurt Warner’s Rams in 2001, or lost to Jake Plummer’s Broncos in the 2005 season or Mark Sanchez’ Jets in 2010 or Eli Manning’s Giants or Joe Flacco’s Ravens ever.
So while there’s no competition between Brady and Bortles, that’s also true in a literal sense. Barring the unexpected, Bortles will bring the rest of the Jaguars with him this weekend, and therein lies the Patriots’ true challenge.