Is No. 1 Ranking Legit or a Mirage?

[iinii]

5 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

Different era.....game is officiated differently......offense get away with a lot more.....cant hit qbs......

Okay. Then maybe we need an offense more than a defense

[The Process]

The D is good enough to beat anybody....IF.....we have at least 21 pts....and Shady gets 100 yds. There's something about that combination of metrics that 90% of the time gets you a win. Keep those two numbers in mind 21-100....this applies to most other games as well.

[Freddie's Dead]

[Magox]

I don't think the defense is the best in the league but is certainly good enough to be considered top 10 and possibly top 5.  We need to get another young pass rusher, db and LB and with that we're set.   

[bobblehead]

Is there a generally accepted/acknowledged source that determines overall defensive (and offensive) rankings ?  

 

I mean the ESPN power ranking, given its weakness and strengths, seems to be the most “referred to” place for overall ranking, but is there a generally accepted source for offensive and defensive rankings?  This seems to be missing.  A source for overall consensus 

Edited November 14, 2018 by bobblehead

[MJS]

By week 11 it is pretty legit.

[Soda Popinski]

This defense has done some great things this year.    Keeping Green bay at 22 was impressive.   Giving up the farm to Indy was not.   I think that when we're on, we are tough to beat, but when we aren't on, the wheels fall off quick.   We also gave Brady a tough time as well.   So it's tough to say but I think with some tweaks here and there we will be fine and next year I expect a top 10 unit.   If the offense can come around we could be better. 

[GunnerBill]

17 minutes ago, Soda Popinski said:

This defense has done some great things this year.    Keeping Green bay at 22 was impressive.   Giving up the farm to Indy was not.   I think that when we're on, we are tough to beat, but when we aren't on, the wheels fall off quick.   We also gave Brady a tough time as well.   So it's tough to say but I think with some tweaks here and there we will be fine and next year I expect a top 10 unit.   If the offense can come around we could be better. 

 

I'm pretty sure we will end up a top 10 unit this year. When you look at what is left schedule wise..... Bortles, the Jets again, the Dolphins twice and Detroit. Unless the Patriots absolutely whack us there is a fair chance this will end up a top 5 defense, wasted on a 5 win team.

[Soda Popinski]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I'm pretty sure we will end up a top 10 unit this year. When you look at what is left schedule wise..... Bortles, the Jets again, the Dolphins twice and Detroit. Unless the Patriots absolutely whack us there is a fair chance this will end up a top 5 defense, wasted on a 5 win team.

Yea i didn't know our schedule was that weak down the line.   It sucks when you think about some of the winnable games we couldn't get done, like Houston, and there is no way Indy should have hung all those points on us.   We couldn't get any offense going in those games.    Hopefully they fix the offense in the offseason and we can come out and compete next year.   This could have easily been a 9 win season.  

[Stank_Nasty]

11 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I'm pretty sure we will end up a top 10 unit this year. When you look at what is left schedule wise..... Bortles, the Jets again, the Dolphins twice and Detroit. Unless the Patriots absolutely whack us there is a fair chance this will end up a top 5 defense, wasted on a 5 win team.

wishful thinking but it has the feel of the bears team last year that was universally known to be devoid of talent on offense and was a top 5 unit on defense.....came into the offseason with plenty of money. they went out and bought the farm for their 2nd year qb. robinson, burton, Gabriel..... I don't think its coincidence that their defense took one more step to arguably the top in the league with some help from an improved offense(and mack obviously).

 

only big difference is they also went out and got nagy to help mitch out. 

 

I dunno. as an optimist it has that feel to me.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Stank_Nasty

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

wishful thinking but it has the feel of the bears team last year that was universally known to be devoid of talent on offense and was a top 5 unit on defense.....came into the offseason with plenty of money. they went out and bought the farm for their 2nd year qb. robinson, burton, Gabriel..... I don't think its coincidence that their defense took one more step to arguably the top in the league with some help from an improved offense(and mack obviously).

 

only big difference is they also went out and got nagy to help mitch out. 

 

I dunno. as an optimist it has that feel to me.

 

A little similar, sure. They did have a decent o-line already taking shape mind you. They also spent their 1st round pick on an elite difference maker on defense...... just for those who wail hysterically "forget BPA we need offense!"

 

 

[John from Riverside]

6 hours ago, iinii said:

Okay. Then maybe we need an offense more than a defense

Im not argueing that.....it looks like our HC went with his strength first in this rebiuld (and got the QB)

 

The QB is a big part of the offense.....I dont think they anticipated this OL being this bad....I dont think they expected QB injuries......its not a excuse though

[TigerJ]

To Be honest, the defense would look even better statistically if the offense hadn't payed so poorly through a good chunk of the season.  You give up a bunch of three and outs and lose the time of possession battle the way Buffalo has for a lot of the season, and your opponent has a lot more opportunity to gain yardage and score.

[K-9]

Legitimacy is a week to week proposition but I will say this defense is impressive given the amount of plays they’ve faced (8th most) vs. the yards they’ve given up. I don’t consider them a dominant defense and there is a ton of room for improvement, but the pieces are clearly there.

[Mrbojanglezs]

Mirage, they are good but not #1.

 

Almost every single game this year was over by halftime, either we were getting killed or we were killing the Vikings and Jets. Not many close games, that makes the D look much better in the 2nd half.

[formerlyofCtown]

Its very legit considering how bad our Offense has been

[dma0034]

Outside the 1st and a half weeks the only team and dominated the defense was the Colts imo. Thank you Vontae

Edited November 14, 2018 by dma0034

[dlonce]

On 11/13/2018 at 1:46 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Not true.  They are 26th in the time they are on the field.  

Because they force a lot of three and outs.

 

How many times have they trotted out on the field after our anemic offenses three and outs?

 

This is a very good defense, not great but very good. The league has ratified rules that help offenses dramatically. If it remains status quo we will never see a dominant defense again.

Another poor statistic that posters refer to is points per game,as though that is indicative of how the defense plays.

 

There are turn overs for scores,short fields caused by turn overs,short fields caused by poor special teams play, judgemental penalties and bad penalties that all factor in.

 

The Chicago game is a case in point. To have ppg go against a defense, by itself as a statistic is absurd. 

Edited November 14, 2018 by dlonce

[Stank_Nasty]

4 minutes ago, dlonce said:

Because they force a lot of three and outs.

 

How many times have they trotted out on the field after our anemic offenses three and outs?

 

This is a very good defense, not great but very good. The league has ratified rules that help offenses dramatically. If it remains status quo we will never see a dominant defense again.

Another poor statistic that posters refer to is points per game,as though that is indicative of how the defense plays.

 

There are turn overs for scores,short fields caused by turn overs,short fields caused by poor special teams play, judgemental penalties and bad penalties that all factor in.

 

The Chicago game is a case in point. To have ppg go against a defense, by itself as a statistic is absurd. 

lets not forget the 10 points in the Texans game that can be directly attributed to special teams giving the Texans the ball inside the bills 40. and then another 7 in that game given up by.... I wont speak his name.

 

any game the offense has even been able to stay turnover free, not even sustain drives.... just turnover free. the defense has been stupid good.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Stank_Nasty

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, dlonce said:

Because they force a lot of three and outs.

 

How many times have they trotted out on the field after our anemic offenses three and outs?

 

This is a very good defense, not great but very good. The league has ratified rules that help offenses dramatically. If it remains status quo we will never see a dominant defense again.

Another poor statistic that posters refer to is points per game,as though that is indicative of how the defense plays.

 

There are turn overs for scores,short fields caused by turn overs,short fields caused by poor special teams play, judgemental penalties and bad penalties that all factor in.

 

The Chicago game is a case in point. To have ppg go against a defense, by itself as a statistic is absurd. 

 

 

The Chicago game is an example of how they really aren't that good of a defense.  They were hardly on the field (26 min), yet they surrendered 27 points.

 

At some point, a really good Defense can't average 25 mpg given up. If the opposing Offense is on your side of the 50 yard line to start a drive, the NFL rules still allow your Defense to force a punt.