Is our defense overated?

[gofightwin]

Hard to tell because teams don't have to try to score a bunch of points and we play a ton of bad teams.  But considering when we played a team that are likely in the playoffs, we gave up: 37, 42, 42, 33. 

We could be top 10 when everyone is healthy but we would need a offense that could chew up some clock and score a point once in a while. If we played in the AFC, I don't think we could be top 10 statistically. 

[csx]

9 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

Even if it was "middle of the pack" results should we be considering that DC for HC job?

Also, DVOA and EPA consider the field potion battle.

 

I would be rather thrilled to have Evero

[45catfan]

43 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

For all of the people who are singing the praises of our DC, what are you basing it on?

Yard per game?  Granted we are 3rd best in the league

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Opponent Yards per Game | TeamRankings.com

but, what about points per game?  We are 29th.  We were actually better during the Rhule/Snow years.

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Opponent Points per Game | TeamRankings.com

What about some of the advanced metrics that take into account your opponent and how your own offense is affecting your defense.

DVOA:  We are 27th.

Total Team DVOA - NFL Football Stats (ftnfantasy.com)

EPA: roughly bottom third

NFL EPA Tiers | nfelo.app (nfeloapp.com)

 

The reason were are #3 in yards and 29th in points is because of turnovers and losing the field position battle due to our offense's ineptitude...it's as simple as that.

Basically, if the opposing teams have a short field and score, then it doesn't require racking up a lot of yardage in order to get that score.

I would take those stats flip-flopped any day of the week, BTW.

Edited December 18, 2023 by 45catfan

[Pejorative Miscreant]

The deck is stacked against this defense from an injury and complementary football standpoint (I.e. offense sucks and puts defense in precarious position).  I dont think they are top 10 but they are stingy. It’s the only positive on this team so maybe I am biased.  

[Ricky Spanish]

Pts allowed per quarter:

• 1st Quarter
  • 3.1 (t4th best in the league)
• 2nd Quarter
  • 9.6(worst in the league)
• 3rd Quarter
  • 4.4 (14th "best" in the league)
• 4th Quarter
  • 7.7 (4th worst in the league)

Looks like our dudes just get gassed from being on the field for prolong periods of time, most likely due to an inept offense.

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

Considering the injuries and offensive issues we've had I think the defense has been outstanding.

Considering the injuries and defensive issues we've had I think the offense has been outstanding. I mean, that turd can be polished both ways I guess.

This has been a terrible season with terrible play and a team that doesn't feel like much of a team at all. Bad leadership, badly built, bad luck and bad effort. 

We're just left hoping for better next season.

Again.

[WhoKnows]

1 hour ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

Considering the injuries and offensive issues we've had I think the defense has been outstanding.

Not sure I’d go that far, but I think they’ve been decent for what they’ve had to deal with this year. The yardage is not surprising. Most teams get out to a lead on us. In this passing league, typically garbage time runs up yardage on good teams Ds. On ours, we haven’t had a single team have to throw the ball a ton against us to get back in the game. That’s why our yards are down and our points against is high. Teams jump to 2-3 score lead and then just stop trying.

If Ridder doesn’t throw to Woods and Hill doesn’t make a great hit, Atlanta could have easily gotten 17-21 points. I still think the D kept us in the game and played great but those two red zone turnovers helped immensely.

[WhoKnows]

10 minutes ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Pts allowed per quarter:

• 1st Quarter
  • 3.1 (t4th best in the league)
• 2nd Quarter
  • 9.6(worst in the league)
• 3rd Quarter
  • 4.4 (14th "best" in the league)
• 4th Quarter
  • 7.7 (4th worst in the league)

Looks like our dudes just get gassed from being on the field for prolong periods of time, most likely due to an inept offense.

That’s probably true of a lot of Ds. We have been decent but I also think we’ve played a non-good offense schedule which has helped.

We've only played 3 top 10 offenses and we gave up 37 points per game in those 3 games. Seattle is a bottom 10 offense and we gave up 37 to them and that wasn’t due to an inept offense.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

If Burns played like a top DE/OLB like he thinks he is we'd be a lot better. He should have at least 10+ sacks by this point in the season. He also gets taken out of the run game by TEs still. Our cornerstone piece is holding this defense back by a decent margin. Thank God for Luvu and D. Brown

[AU-panther]

29 minutes ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Pts allowed per quarter:

• 1st Quarter
  • 3.1 (t4th best in the league)
• 2nd Quarter
  • 9.6(worst in the league)
• 3rd Quarter
  • 4.4 (14th "best" in the league)
• 4th Quarter
  • 7.7 (4th worst in the league)

Looks like our dudes just get gassed from being on the field for prolong periods of time, most likely due to an inept offense.

Go look up time of possession stats, we are actually one of the best teams in the league. 

[AU-panther]

1 hour ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

The deck is stacked against this defense from an injury and complementary football standpoint (I.e. offense sucks and puts defense in precarious position).  I dont think they are top 10 but they are stingy. It’s the only positive on this team so maybe I am biased.  

We have some of the fewest turnovers in the league.  Other defenses are having to deal with more.

[top dawg]

I'd need to see more under normal circumstances. I think Evero is worth his weight in gold, but at the same time I think he's going to get canned when the new HC puts his own guy in place...and I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

[toldozer]

The defense is pretty good but not great. When your offense is dookie, you're consistently on the field, the offense is giving up more tds then you some games and you know if the opposition scores 14 points it's a loss that's a lot to deal with.  If we had a compotent offense we'd be an average football team

[Manna]

The defense has been decimated with injuries all year and the DC has been able to field a competitive unit all season. He's made lemonade with lemons. Can't say the same about the offensive staff.