Since we are gonna rag on the defense, I'm gonna rag on Ted Ginn. Despite having the game winning catch, the dude played like utter garbage. He had at least 2 returns that he had no business leaving the endzone with, and left the offense at the 15 yard line or less. He also had a huge drop that hit him wide-open and in the hands on a third down.
Seriously though, there are a lot of factors at work here with our defense in this game.
1.) Didn't have CJ for most of the second half. He's been the most productive, consistent and underrated player on this TEAM since the Jake Delhomme era.
2.) BB game planned the hell out of us. BB has some absurd record after bye weeks (10-1 or something stupid) since being with the Patriots. Patriots play calling was top notch all game long with the lone exception of the 3rd and 1 pass (which was probably called because nobody expected it, just like nobody expected them to run as often as they did while trailing us in points).
3.) Sure Brady moved the ball well and marched down the field, but we made him work for every pass. I live in New York, I see a LOT of Patriots games. You are just going to have to trust me on this, we pressured him MUCH better than teams typically do. Tom is often seen drinking tea and eating crumpets in the pocket about midway through the 3rd quarter.
4.) First time all season the Patriots had all of their offensive weapons healthy. Those young receivers are getting their heads out of their ass, Vereen is like Kevin Faulk but much more athletic and Gronk... well yea he's a monster. We are about to see the Patriots start to blow teams out left and right.
5.) Ties back to point #3. Didn't give up back breaking plays. No bombs, no 70 yard catch and runs, no DPI on deep throws. Yea, as Panther fans this year we expect these things to not happen, but Tom Brady and the Pats have been a powerhouse franchise for over a decade now. A big part of their success is the deep ball.
Don't get me wrong, I wish our defense shut them out and sacked brady enough times to make his hairplugs fall out. Could our defense had played better? Hell yes. Did we have a bad defensive showing? I think we'll know that answer in a few weeks (I'm guessing no).