Saints went from last to 4th in defense- So does that give us hope?

MichaelWinicki

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NO shaved almost 135 yards per game off of their 2012 average.

While I'm not goofy enough to expect a top-10 defense next season, could this defense get up to say middling of the pack?
 

perrykemp

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If the Cowboys could find a way to hire their defensive coordinator, it would go a long way.

He managed to take the worst defense (by yardage) in the history of the NFL and bring them up to 4th in the NFL in a single year.

The guy is pretty much a miracle worker and is obviously talented and brilliant. A real up and comer.

Anybody know his name?
 

MichaelWinicki

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If the Cowboys could find a way to hire their defensive coordinator, it would go a long way.

He managed to take the worst defense (by yardage) in the history of the NFL and bring them up to 4th in the NFL in a single year.

The guy is pretty much a miracle worker and is obviously talented and brilliant. A real up and comer.

Anybody know his name?

I certainly expect several to point out the Rob Ryan thing. And does that deserve mention? Sure. But keep in mind that Ryan was a DC for several teams and has only had one other defense rank in the top-10.
 

perrykemp

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I certainly expect several to point out the Rob Ryan thing. And does that deserve mention? Sure. But keep in mind that Ryan was a DC for several teams and has only had one other defense rank in the top-10.

I agree that is noteworthy that he hasn't had a lot of success in the past coaching top ranked defenses.

I am sure you will also agree that it noteworthy that he took the worst ranked defense in the history of the NFL and brought it all the way up to 4th in the NFL in a single season. That was his most recent performance.
 

MichaelWinicki

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I agree that is noteworthy that he hasn't had a lot of success in the past coaching top ranked defenses.

I am sure you will also agree that it noteworthy that he took the worst ranked defense in the history of the NFL and brought it all the way up to 4th in the NFL in a single season. That was his most recent performance.

Ryan did a very good job with the Saints. But that (Ryan's success) isn't going to have much bearing on how the Cowboy defense performs in 2014.
 

Corso

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I agree that is noteworthy that he hasn't had a lot of success in the past coaching top ranked defenses.

I am sure you will also agree that it noteworthy that he took the worst ranked defense in the history of the NFL and brought it all the way up to 4th in the NFL in a single season. That was his most recent performance.

Two coordinators in the last two years for this team.
One- showing his abilities to make a good defense.
The other one has shown his abilities to make a good defense for years.

Both dealt with catastrophic injuries.
And players who couldn't get "the job" done.

When is anybody going to lay it on this team's defensive talent?
 

MichaelWinicki

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Two coordinators in the last two years for this team.
One- showing his abilities to make a good defense.
The other one has shown his abilities to make a good defense for years.

Both dealt with catastrophic injuries.
And players who couldn't get "the job" done.

When is anybody going to lay it on this team's defensive talent?

That's a valid point.

It's not like the defense has been any great shakes the last few years:

23rd
19th
19th
32nd

3 different defensive coordinators.
 

Deep_South

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We did essentially the same thing the Aints did. We hired a new DC and changed our base defense, but instead of improving to a top 5 defense, we dropped to last in the NFL in total defense, along with fielding the worst defense in Cowboys' history.

The Aints hit a home run and we grounded into a triple-play. Hard to find a shining beacon of hope in there anywhere. :(

Not that there isn't hope to be found, we just have to look elsewhere.
 

coult44

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We did essentially the same thing the Aints did. We hired a new DC and changed our base defense, but instead of improving to a top 5 defense, we dropped to last in the NFL in total defense, along with fielding the worst defense in Cowboys' history.

The Aints hit a home run and we grounded into a triple-play. Hard to find a shining beacon of hope in there anywhere. :(

Not that there isn't hope to be found, we just have to look elsewhere.

Again, look at the HC
 

Future

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I feel like I'm taking crazy pills because I keep resorting back to this, but they could have had a bad defense and been top 15 because of their schedule.
 

jobberone

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We did essentially the same thing the Aints did. We hired a new DC and changed our base defense, but instead of improving to a top 5 defense, we dropped to last in the NFL in total defense, along with fielding the worst defense in Cowboys' history.

The Aints hit a home run and we grounded into a triple-play. Hard to find a shining beacon of hope in there anywhere. :(

Not that there isn't hope to be found, we just have to look elsewhere.

I don't think the Saints had the injuries we had. And I'm sure someone will bring up 'the everyone has injuries'. Not that many to one unit is my retort.

And for the umpteenth time Kiffin didn't run any 'base' defense he wanted to run if you believe in 'base' defenses.
 

Bluestang

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As Corso pointed out in this thread, these players are that talented to begin with.
 

joseephuss

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Dallas played 11 games against teams ranked in the top half of the league in total yards. That included 8 of the top 10 teams in total yards. New Orleans played 10 games against teams ranked in the bottom half of the league in total yards. That includes facing Tampa twice who finished as the worse team in the league for total yards.

Aikman efficiency rankings had the Saints defense at #15.

http://www.aikman.com/AikmanEfficie.../62/Aikman-Efficiency-Ratings-2013-Final.aspx
 

JBS

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Maybe the players on this team just suck! Did any of you guys ever think of that one?
 

Deep_South

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.

And for the umpteenth time Kiffin didn't run any 'base' defense he wanted to run if you believe in 'base' defenses.

I don't understand what you are saying here, even if it is for the umpteenth time...:)

By "base defense", I was talking about the Saints going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and us going from a 3-4 to a 4-3.
 
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