There are worse ways to start your day after a victory than a backhanded compliment, and right now the Patriots defense will surely take any kind of improvement they can get. Over the past three weeks, New England’s much-(rightfully)-badmouthed defense went from allowing an average of 32 points a game from Weeks 1-4 to allowing 14 points to the Bucs, 17 points to the Jets, and holding last year’s league leader in points scored (guess who...the Falcons!) to 7 points in garbage time on Sunday.
And oh, by the way, that’s with New England’s starting three corners the past couple weeks checking in as an undrafted rookie from West Alabama, an undrafted second-year man from Auburn, and the new guy, Johnson Bademosi, who couldn’t crack the field on defense for the Browns or the Lions.