Patriots team defensive rankings
2001 Defense, points against: 6th; yards against: 24th
2002 Defense, points against: 17th; yards against: 23rd
2003 Defense, points against: 1st; yards against: 7th
2004 Defense, points against: 2nd; yards against: 9th
2005 Defense, points against: 17th; yards against: 26th
2006 Defense, points against: 2nd; yards against: 6th
2007 Defense, points against: 4th; yards against: 4th
2008 Defense, points against: 8th; yards against: 10th
2009 Defense, points against: 5th; yards against: 11th
2010 Defense, points against: 8th; yards against: 25th
2011 Defense, points against: 15th; yards against: 31st
2012 Defense, points against: 9th; yards against: 25th
2013 Defense, points against: 10th; yards against: 26th
2014 Defense, points against: 8th; yards against: 13th
2015 Defense, points against: 10th; yards against: 9th
2016 Defense, points against: 1st; yards against: 8th
2017 Defense, points against: 5th; yards against: 28th
Average: points against: 7.5; yards against: 16.8
5 times with a top 10 defense by points, but a bottom 10 defense by yards
1 time in 17 years ranked higher in yards allowed than points allowed (then, by one slot)
8 times in 17 years a bottom 10 defense in yards allowed
14 times in 17 years a top 10 defense in points allowed
I did misspeak about top5/ bottom 10, I was remembering the above breakdown on top 10/ bottom 10
It is absolutely no statistical fluke to see a big spread between the meaningful defensive ranking (points) and the meaningless defensive ranking (yards). It is normal, for the Patriots.