Over the past three games, the New England Patriots have let up 13 total points and put up 94 points. Over the last 19 possessions from opposing teams, the defense hasn’t allowed a single point.
Bill Belichick’s team is heating up at the right time and is coming off a 25-0 shutout of the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Before this suffocating victory, the Patriots made a formidable Cleveland Browns team look average with a 45-7 beatdown.
Mac Jones has been extremely impressive during this stretch, but it all comes down to the defense and the growing chemistry between this group. The Patriots are sound on all levels from the defensive line to the defensive backs and everywhere in between.
Matthew Judon and Christian Barmore are two new additions that have terrorized offensive lines while the linebacker group with Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Ja’Whaun Bentley are stuffing any run attempts. J.C. Jackson is one of the league’s top cornerbacks and he has help in the secondary from players like Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger, Jalen Mills and Adrian Phillips.
The Patriots have the third-most takeaways (21) this season and they have the most interceptions by far with 18. Following the game, Jackson relayed the sentiment that this defense is pretty good — and, that they’re only going to get better.
“I don’t want to brag too much, but I feel like we’ve got one of the best defenses in the league right now,” Jackson said, via NESN. “… We’ve got a good pass rush. We’ve got some guys up front who are doing pretty good this season. The secondary has always been pretty good, and we’re starting to build that chemistry defensively.”
He even went as far as saying “it’s going to be scary.”
“I feel like we played great defensively (Thursday night),” Jackson continued. “We didn’t give up no touchdowns, no points allowed. It don’t get no better than that. … The defense played outstanding. I can’t even describe. But we’ve got to keep it up. It’s going to get scary. It’s going to be scary.”
The Patriots have the meat of their schedule ahead with the Tennessee Titans up next and two matchups against the Buffalo Bills in the next four weeks.
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