All throughout the offseason, the consensus belief on the New England Patriots was that their defense would return to glory and help prop up an offense littered with uncertainty. Between their approaches to free agency and the draft, as well as getting Dont'a Hightower back after he opted out last season, it was easy to understand why everyone bought into that idea.
It took a little bit of time to get there, but Bill Belichick's defense is coming together the way we all thought it would. Over the past month, the Patriots' defense has clawed its way from 11th in DVOA (good, but not enough) all the way to fifth, producing increasingly better DVOA performances week after week over that span.