New England Patriots

Will the Patriots’ defense stand up?

New England Patriots Jabaal Sheard and Dont'a Hightower sacking Cincinnati Bengals Andy Dalton during fourth quarter action at Gillette Stadiumin October. Matthew J. Lee / Boston Globe

The Patriots gave up fewer points than any other team in the NFL this year, but who’s counting? Well, for starters, the Patriots’ defensive players were.

“It’s something we were mindful of, for sure. I’m not going to lie to you. We wanted that,” cornerback Logan Ryan told reporters after the Patriots beat the Dolphins on Sunday to finish the year with an NFL-low yield of 15.6 points per game. “We felt like we were constantly slept on all year. Doubted all year. So for a group that didn’t have a lot of great players and gave up too many passing yards and didn’t really create enough turnovers, to be the best scoring defense in the last [three] years I think speaks for itself.”

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