Defensive numbers tell story: This month like no other for Bill Belichick's Patriots

Another week is in the books, one-quarter of the season, the quarter of the season which the New England Patriots have tended to treat like an extension of the preseason.

Not in 2019.

The Patriots defense has been and is as dominant a unit as we have seen here during the Brady Era.

In four weeks, the Patriots have surrendered 27 points, or 6.8 a game. That statistic is tainted, for certain, considering over half of those points came on a fumbled punt and a garbage-time pick-six by the New York Jets in Week 3.

They have forced more turnovers (10) than opponents have successful third-down conversions (7 of 52).

It's been an absolutely historical month. The 6.8 points allowed is almost half of the total allowed by the team thought of as having the universal best defense in the game, Chicago (13.0 ppg.).

Sunday in Buffalo, it had to be that good to preserve the unbeaten start in the 16-10 victory over the Bills. The Patriots offense sputtered, allowing Buffalo 14 possessions.

New England's response was to end five of them with interceptions and allow two conversions on 15 third-down attempts.

“All we kept saying at the end, when it was 16-10, that if we don't give up any points, we win,” said Devin McCourty, who registered his fourth pick in as many games.

When is the last team you had a Patriots defense that could talk it and deliver when it mattered, even against as a pedestrian a quarterback as you can find in the pro game, Josh Allen or backup Matt Barkley?

“It's all about having each other's back. There's going to be dogfights like this. You just have to be ready to go,” said McCourty. “We know we're going to always get it from either side, offense, defense or special teams.”

For sure, you've known you'd get it from Tom Brady and the offense for nearly two straight decades. And special teams? Sure, there's a history that began here with Larry Izzo and Adam Vinatieri back in 2001 and has carried on through the career of Matt Slater.

But defensively? You can count the seasons on a hand. And have enough fingers left over to give the peace sign.

That has all changed.

The Patriots now lead the league not only in points allowed but also yardage allowed per game and yards per play.

Even Sunday, coming off of a gritty performance, McCourty chose to remind all about the 43-40 Kansas City game of a year ago in Week 6.

His statement might have been as bold as the one mentioned earlier about knowing that we were going to “get it” from this defense that found a way to turn the Bills back on first-and-goal from the 8 with an unrelenting stand.

Where does this unit stand historically?

Immediately you point to 2004, a football team that went 14-2 on the way to a third Super Bowl in four years, allowing just over 14 points a game. That defense dominated the competition, but at least for four weeks, it can't match what this group has done, rolling up 18 sacks and pushing people around up front.

The better comparison might be the Patriots' offense of 2007, a team that did not lose in the regular season.

Brady's final statistical year rewrote the NFL record books and might have done as much to usher in this pass-happy, points-happy era of pro football more than any other.

First in points and yards, the Patriots simply were not to be stopped.

The four-week performance is just that good. And this is hardly a look of satisfaction emanating from the locker room.

There was certainly no complacency evident yesterday. Just ask Allen when he wakes up from the lethal Jonathan Jones-infused slumber.

Bill Belichick is such a historian of the game. You get the feeling that he has eyes on another special group, the 1985 Chicago Bears. That defensive unit carried the Bears to a 15-1 record with Jim McMahon and Steve Fuller at quarterback. It also went on to win three playoff games, allowing a total of 10 points in those postseason games.

The Patriots have plenty of distance to cover. But this start is still historic. The impact can not be understated.