No.
Our defense improved because it tackles better, it can switch up between different zone and man coverages and the offense has been a high scoring, run oriented offense which means the opponents become more 1 dimensional on offense.
We had none of that going for us in 2015.
We were one of the worst tackling teams in the league in 2015. Particularly from the safety position which is your last line of defense. We are also much better at the MIKE with Hitchens/Durant than we were with McClain last year. Hitchens/Durant are not very good at the MIKE, but that goes to show how awful McClain was at the MIKE. But, it appears that the coaching staff has stressed tackling and are playing more zone to allow the defense to be in a good position to fly to the ball and make the tackle.
I really believe that the core fundamentals of NFL football are blocking, tackling and being able to switch up coverages. If you can't switch up coverages effectively it will always...at the very least...hamstring your ability on defense. It's just too easy for QB's to figure out where to go with the ball. You can still out-execute the opposing offense with one type of coverage, but you're not going to get those valuable takeaways. That's why this defense has picked up in the past couple of games, particularly in turnover chances....getting Church back on the field we are now switching up the coverages more effectively and QB's don't always know where to go with the ball.
Lastly, the 2015 offense was dreadful. Now we can run and score and that means the opponents are more into a 1-dimensional pass mode, so we know what's coming.
YR
