FOXBOROUGH — Milton Williams says the Patriots have a championship-caliber defense.
He’d know.
The 26-year-old defensive tackle was on the Eagles when they stunned Kansas City in the Super Bowl last year, a victory helped by a terrific effort by the Philadelphia defense. He’s currently on a six-game postseason winning streak.
After back-to-back dominant efforts against the Chargers last week and the Texans on Sunday, Williams said the Patriots have proved worthy on the field.
“We’re one of the best in the league. We keep showing it every Sunday,” he said. “Nasty. Physical. Tough. We got a buncha dogs and we hungry.”
Standing nearby, Christian Barmore agreed.
“It’s guys that want to work. We’re not lazy. We work,” he said. “Everything here is just about, just focus on one thing, being the best defense we could be.
“We have a great defense, we have great DBs, great D-line, great linebackers,” he added. “When we play as a team, it’s hard to beat. It feels like we need to keep doing what we have to do, focus on Denver and we’re all going to play as a team.”
New England coach Mike Vrabel thought that continued cohesion was critical.
“They’re playing well together. I feel like they’re complementing each other, and our turnovers are created by more than one guy,” he said. “There’s some great efforts. But it’s somebody tipping a pass or it’s somebody that’s putting pressure that’s usually helping — or Zak (Kuhr) is dialing something up that kind of changes the look. We’re taking advantage of our opportunities. And that’s what it’s going to take in the playoffs, is you’ve got to take care of the ball and turn it over.”
Williams echoed his coach.
“Everybody is doing their job on a high level. We’re all on a string. The communication is working together,” he said. “Our coaches are putting us in position to make plays. We’re just executing at a high level.”
