The New England Patriots secondary is Pro Football Focus’s best in the NFL

Positive reinforcement won’t stop till the mood lifts!

Okay, so maybe this isn’t quite as effective as the coach from the Rhode Island Little League World Series telling the Cumbahland team they had the entire state jumping for joy, but in a league where at least six players could break Peyton Manning’s record of 55 touchdowns, a strong secondary is difficult to find and even more so to maintain. Ask the Legion of Boom, please. Especially for an exceptional one, which the 2019 Patriots safeties and corners overwhelmingly qualify as, according to Pro Football Focus’s evaluation.

Open PFF’s list of the NFL’s top-rated secondaries, ranked from best to worst, which was released this week. The image on the cover says it all:Yes, your neighborhood club won the championship in 2019 after allowing an average of fewer than one passing touchdown per game—exactly as Stephon Gilmore accomplished when he was awarded the PFWA’s Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Regarding the supremacy of the New England secondary in 2019, PFF said the following:The high-risk, high-reward Cover-0 blitz strategy they’re talking about is usually just a recipe for getting completely roasted, but in this case, both Belichicks running the defense figure, “sure, they’ll be fine, send it,” because your starting four cornerbacks are skilled enough at locking up receivers.

Aside from that, it’s really of odd that they left out any recognition for second-year sensation JC Jackson, considering how popular he has been on PFF this season and how often he shows up on their Team of the Week features. Is it possible that they assumed JC’s superiority was assumed as you read PFF every week?

And because I’m only genuinely correct about three or four times a year on this site, it’s important to note that Belichick has been putting years of effort into developing a tiny army of excellent cornerbacks, and it’s now paying off in a secondary that is almost impossible to score on. It’s fantastic to have Aaron Donald, a game-changer, on your defensive line. Additionally, it’s 2019—wait, 2020—and no amount of Von Millers will help you if your corners are being grilled and the pass rush has to get through a wall of 300-pound guys who are making a valiant effort to pancake them.

As much as we all love sacks, PFF’s analysis of which plays a bigger role in determining the result of a game—pass rush or pass coverage—found the startling conclusion that, when it comes to actually moving the defensive line, “it’s important to be able to cover well.” In that regard, Bill has the Patriots one up on the competition once again.

But Bill Belichick isn’t exactly an analytics person, as we all know. All he wants is for people to tackle more effectively.