Despite a disastrous postseason exit, the New England Patriots defense had a solid overall year in 2021. Not counting points given up on offense and special teams, the group ended the regular season as the top ranked scoring defense in the NFL and played a key role in New England returning to the playoffs in the first place.
Heading into the offseason, however, the Patriots face some big questions on this side of the ball. The performance against the Buffalo Bills in the wild card playoff round was obviously concerning, but the potential future issues go beyond that one game.