A big deal has been made this year about how bad the New England Patriots' defense has been, and for good reason. They were bleeding fantasy points to every position and surrendered 128 real-life points to opposing teams through the first four weeks. The only thing keeping them afloat was Tom Brady and their offense.

But things may be looking up for the team, and it would be unwise to assume that they are still the same defense that they were four weeks ago.

Since their Week 4 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Pats haven't given up more than 17 points in any game. In fact, the team has only surrendered 51 points over the last four weeks. That's almost a third of what they gave up in the first half of the season.

While they are still allowing fine performances for fantasy -- like Josh McCown's 22-point game and Melvin Gordon's 20-point game this past weekend -- the defense is trending in the right direction. You should still start your players against the Pats, but make sure you're aware of their recent trends and not just looking at their season totals.

Remember, they've turned around their defense before.