Tom Brady won a Super Bowl in his first season without Bill Belichick, while Belichick hasn't come close without Brady. It's debatable whether New England has its quarterback, and a lot of other offensive draft picks haven't panned out. But no one would question Belichick's defensive acumen.
The season just completed, in fact, featured one of Belichick's most impressive defenses, especially in fantasy terms. It was the top fantasy defense, in scoring systems that gave 1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways and 6 for all touchdowns. New England was one of the league's very best groups in all of those areas.
The Patriots scored 8 defensive touchdowns, leading the NFL in defensive points scored. They had 11 fumble recoveries (4th), 19 interceptions (3rd) and 54 sacks (4th). Their 30 takeaways ranked 2nd. Top-5 across the board.
(For the cleanliness of the table, I ordered teams 1-32 in all of these areas, even though there were lots of ties.) In any case, the Patriots ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in every area.
| FANTASY DEFENSE PERFORMANCE, 2022 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Pts | Rk | Fum | Rk | Int | Rk | Sck | Rk | Tk | Rk | FF | Rk |
| New England | 48 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 54 | 4 | 30 | 2 | 9.5 | 1 |
| Dallas | 18 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 54 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 8.1 | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 12 | 19 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 4 | 70 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 8.0 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 22 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 17 | 5 | 40 | 14 | 27 | 5 | 7.3 | 4 |
| San Francisco | 18 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 1 | 44 | 10 | 30 | 3 | 7.2 | 5 |
| Jacksonville | 24 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 35 | 25 | 27 | 6 | 6.6 | 6 |
| Kansas City | 14 | 16 | 9 | 18 | 11 | 21 | 55 | 2 | 20 | 20 | 6.4 | 7 |
| Seattle | 12 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 45 | 7 | 25 | 8 | 6.3 | 8 |
| Arizona | 30 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 11 | 22 | 36 | 24 | 20 | 21 | 6.2 | 9 |
| Baltimore | 6 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 48 | 5 | 25 | 9 | 6.1 | 10 |
| Indianapolis | 18 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 44 | 11 | 21 | 19 | 6.1 | 11 |
| Green Bay | 20 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 17 | 6 | 34 | 27 | 24 | 11 | 6.0 | 12 |
| Houston | 8 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 39 | 18 | 27 | 7 | 5.9 | 13 |
| Minnesota | 12 | 20 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 38 | 21 | 25 | 10 | 5.9 | 14 |
| Washington | 20 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 9 | 28 | 43 | 12 | 18 | 26 | 5.8 | 15 |
| Cleveland | 24 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 28 | 20 | 22 | 5.8 | 16 |
| Detroit | 14 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 20 | 39 | 19 | 22 | 17 | 5.7 | 17 |
| LA Chargers | 8 | 23 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 40 | 15 | 24 | 12 | 5.6 | 18 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 30 | 3 | 32 | 20 | 2 | 40 | 16 | 23 | 14 | 5.4 | 19 |
| Tampa Bay | 6 | 26 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 24 | 45 | 8 | 20 | 23 | 5.4 | 20 |
| NY Giants | 12 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 41 | 13 | 19 | 25 | 5.4 | 21 |
| Cincinnati | 6 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 30 | 29 | 24 | 13 | 5.3 | 22 |
| LA Rams | 6 | 28 | 6 | 28 | 16 | 9 | 38 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 5.2 | 23 |
| Miami | 20 | 9 | 6 | 30 | 8 | 29 | 40 | 17 | 14 | 30 | 5.2 | 24 |
| NY Jets | 10 | 21 | 4 | 31 | 12 | 19 | 45 | 9 | 16 | 29 | 5.1 | 25 |
| Carolina | 18 | 13 | 7 | 24 | 10 | 26 | 35 | 26 | 17 | 27 | 5.1 | 26 |
| Tennessee | 6 | 29 | 6 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 39 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 5.0 | 27 |
| Denver | 2 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 15 | 11 | 36 | 23 | 23 | 15 | 4.9 | 28 |
| New Orleans | 6 | 27 | 7 | 26 | 7 | 30 | 48 | 6 | 14 | 31 | 4.8 | 29 |
| Atlanta | 26 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 10 | 27 | 21 | 31 | 17 | 28 | 4.8 | 30 |
| Las Vegas | 18 | 14 | 7 | 27 | 6 | 32 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 32 | 4.2 | 31 |
| Chicago | 0 | 32 | 9 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 32 | 23 | 16 | 3.9 | 32 |
--Andy Richardson