Updated Patriots DVOA Chart. (note – defense is inverted to better show trend)

The offense continues to, in the words of John Harbaugh, “bury teams”. The defense finally starting to show some improvement, while the Special Teams remain solid but unspectacular.

One thing that Football Outsiders points out, and it’s something we’ve harped on recently, is that it is kind of cliche to say the young defense keeps on improving every week. It’s just an assumption that isn’t really true. Of course if you’ve been following the DVOA charts I post every week then you already knew that. Here’s what FO said:

One of the popular beliefs on Boston talk radio is that the Patriots’ young defense is improving with experience. They are, but not by a substantial amount. In Weeks 1-9, the Patriots were 27th in the NFL with 16.2% defensive DVOA. In Weeks 10-13, they are 16th in the NFL with 11.0% defensive DVOA. We’ve had four very offense-filled weeks of football, so the Patriots’ rank in the league is much better over the past month, but the defense itself is only slightly improved.