"Top Defenses" are overrated; this is still a QB league

[Oh_Canada]

The difference between Romo and Dak is Romo had a Garrett who was complete control of the offensive play-calling and game planning. Dak at least has a more competent one in Linehan.

Romo was basically MVP throwing for 34 TDS and 9 INTs the one year he worked with Linehan.

The coaching analogy with Romo and Dak is faulty.

These comparisons just got to stop. Dak was surrounded with an all Pro OL and Zeke and an established running attack laid down by Callahan from the get go.

You do know Romo at Dak's age was still pinned to the bench right?

 

[CATCH17]

This is the worst defense the Pats have put on the field in over a decade. They are far from top 10. The Jags were the better team, but they didn't have Brady. Good luck reproducing what the Pats do every year without Brady.

It's the Belichick factor. He's too good.

I agree about the JAgs being better. That roster is better than the PAtriots but Brady with Bill Belichick can overcome anything.

 

[CATCH17]

Pats best year and historically so was 2007, they lost to the best defense in football and an average qb.

There are several ways to win a Superbowl.

Saying defense wins championships in 2017 is silly imo. You can win it with just defense but good luck relying on your defense in the salary cap era and then sustaining it once Free Agency comes calling.

Coaching and QB play is king.

Jerry Jones denies the importance of coaching so we have to work around that somehow and a ultra talented defense along with a run game that can impose it's will may be our only hope because our pass scheme is too simple for other pro teams.

 

[percyhoward]

This is the worst defense the Pats have put on the field in over a decade. They are far from top 10.

If you're talking about stopping opposing offenses from scoring points on any given possession, the Patriots were better than 26 other defenses this year.

 

[blueblood70]

Balance is best good on all 3 phases plus coaching..dont need a vaunted anything if you have balance..the eagles were very well balanced before wentz went down which helped offset his absence..yes the D was great for both teams going when it counted and even though on paper the jags and vikes had better defenses that doesn't discount the D on the other side..the guy above is correct if it was qb driven vs D than howd Keenum/foles/bortles end up a win away from the SB? they had good defenses and solid coaching that's how..ie balance

 

[Blackspider214]

the eagles Defense is the best of the bunch though and won today and last saturday on the back of the defense.

I think they are going to win the Super Bowl on its back also.

We will see. They got to play Matt Ryan outdoors and we all know Falcons and Ryan are terrible outdoors. And they are a shell of what they were last year. Then got to play Keenum. Lets see what they do against Brady.

I will say their defense is definitely better than the Vikings. I don't watch much of the Vikings at all but these playoffs, I didn't see how they were one of the top defenses. I don't see much speed. No playmakers. Hardly any pass rush.

 

[sean10mm]

Rank of the scoring defenses in the final 4:

1 (Vikings)
2 (Jaguars)
4 (Eagles)
5 (Patriots)

So defense is kind of important still, but it's not enough by itself - the 2 best defenses got whacked.

 

[CouchCoach]

It is a team driven league. It does not end with an elite QB, OL, run game and receivers.

The great Cowboys teams, Packers, Niners, Steelers and Patriots all have the same thing in common, balance. Those teams like the 85 Bears, 00 Ravens and 03 Bucs were one trick ponies and could not sustain because of the lack of balance.

In the off season, Belichick added two key pieces, Cooks and Gilmore, one for each side. He let some walk and kept his core and lest we forget, lost his best D player in Hightower and still overcame that. He continues to magically manage the cap and makes head scratching trades that all work out. But he is all about the team. He is the single best HC/GM in the league with attention to all 3 phases, that's not just buzz words to him.

By contrast, look at the Cowboys. How many times have they been caught flat footed at the end of the season with the cap? It is as if they do not look beyond the season ahead. They cannot achieve balance because they have failed to for so long to achieve. Balance has to be achieved to be sustained.

The lamest excuses for the Cowboys are the injuries. Other teams overcome them with backup QB's for 2 of the final 4. The Dallas Cowboys are no better at team building than they were 10 years ago.

 

[condoin125]

If you're talking about stopping opposing offenses from scoring points on any given possession, the Patriots were better than 26 other defenses this year.

Using points allowed is not the best way of analyzing defense....you'd think cowboys fans would know that considering we've abused the statistic in the last few years through long, drawn out offensive series. Defensive efficiency is a better measure and you can see that thanks to our friends at football outsiders:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef

Eagles, Vikings and Jags all in top five and rightfully so. Pats were ranked 31st on the regular season and if you watch their team play defense, you're not surprised. The last few seasons they have traded away some of their best defensive talent. This is undoubtedly the worst defense of a Pats SB team and they can be victimized.

 

[DFWJC]

What a miserable fail of a thread!


Let's see, it's stating that having a top defense is overrated...
yet with 32 teams in the NFL, 3 of top 4 defenses were represented in the final 4.

ALL FOUR teams in division championship games had top 5 scoring defenses.

May as well have a thread that says "it's now clear that water is NOT wet"
Just SO backwards and off-base.


And of course, everyone knows having stud a QB is way better than the alternative.

 

[Praxit]

"What happened to that vaunted Jaguars D?"

Shredded in Pittsburgh AND New England

"What about the Vikings?"

Shredded by Nick Foles in a championship game (let that sink in for a while).

"Okay, well, Philly's D can take down Brady and the Patriots."

You know that will be the rhetoric over the next 2 weeks. If you believe that, let me have some of that kool aid you're drinking.

Enough of this "build through the defense" crap. Give me a franchise QB with a stout OL, good HC, and serviceable defense and you can keep your "top notch" D with a pedestrian QB. This is the way it is in the modern day NFL. Especially since so many defensive maneuvers that were acceptable 30-40 years ago would get flagged today.

Edit: New England's D is better than average for sure, probably top 10 in the league, but they can be had too. But when you have Brady and Bill...

...nope. The Patriots have an excellent coaching staff. It starts from the top. THey train and have their players ready. Brady is a awesome QB, no doubt. But the play calling by Mcdaniels is magicians play. IF you watched the game yesterday? THey adjusted by calling a sha-bang of different plays the 2nd half. Jags like dummies could not see what was happening.

 

[gmoney112]

Uh, What?

So, you saw a QB do well, and now defense is overrated?

Nevermind the fact that every single one of those defenses this weekend was near tops in the league. I'm pretty sure 3 of them were literally the Top 3 or close to it.

If anything, this weekend showed defense is far more important today than maybe previously thought.

 

[percyhoward]

Using points allowed is not the best way of analyzing defense....you'd think cowboys fans would know that considering we've abused the statistic in the last few years through long, drawn out offensive series.

Points per drive eliminates that static, and has a very strong correlation to wins. The Patriots gave up a ton of yards this year, but yards don't win games. They ranked 6th in points allowed per drive, 4th in red zone defense, and 5th in holding opponents scoreless without the benefit of a takeaway.

For all we know they may give up 50 in a couple of weeks, but if you're talking about the season so far, the Patriots' defense has been among the league's best.

 

[Rockdoc]

the Jaguars had Church playing SS. the Patriots destroyed him.

 

[CouchCoach]

...nope. The Patriots have an excellent coaching staff. It starts from the top. THey train and have their players ready. Brady is a awesome QB, no doubt. But the play calling by Mcdaniels is magicians play. IF you watched the game yesterday? THey adjusted by calling a sha-bang of different plays the 2nd half. Jags like dummies could not see what was happening.

Belichick is the master of two games. The first one while he figures things out and then the second one that he usually wins.

It was a marvel to watch his entire coaching staff down by 25 in the SB and the effect that their "do your job" mentality had on the outcome. Every time they showed Belichick on the sideline, he was studying them like a lion does it's prey. He knew what we didn't know, they were getting noticeably tired and running out of gas.

The difference in Belchick and most of the others is strategy. He goes into every game assuming he will have to adjust and plans for that. Others go in hoping they don't have to adjust. It is as if the first half serves to fuel his tactics for the second half.

 

[CouchCoach]

the Jaguars had Church playing SS. the Patriots destroyed him.

Wait, he did manage to knock Gronkowski out of the game and get a penalty.

 

[Aviano90]

Belichick is the master of two games. The first one while he figures things out and then the second one that he usually wins.

It was a marvel to watch his entire coaching staff down by 25 in the SB and the effect that their "do your job" mentality had on the outcome. Every time they showed Belichick on the sideline, he was studying them like a lion does it's prey. He knew what we didn't know, they were getting noticeably tired and running out of gas.

The difference in Belchick and most of the others is strategy. He goes into every game assuming he will have to adjust and plans for that. Others go in hoping they don't have to adjust. It is as if the first half serves to fuel his tactics for the second half.

Garrett does the same thing except he needs the following week to figure it out. In the heat of the moment Garrett is much more likely to pull this stunt: "Hey, GB is gassed. Let's spike the ball and give them a breather."

 

[Mad_max]

This about as dumb dumb gets. Eagles D sure looked good. And in case you havent figure it out yet, Brady is the exception not the rule.

So who is going to ever beat the Patriots then? A team with a bad D? Duh

Right, with a bad defense a team has no chance. With a great defense, it's still tough.

 

[CouchCoach]

Ya know, all 4 of these teams had good D's, all playoff caliber D's. But even a great D cannot overcome the mystery of the "Any Given Sunday" that bit the Vikings. We've all watched that happen to teams before.

If they played 10 times, how many of the 10 would the Eagles score 38? They played close to a perfect game when they needed one. Foles played out of his head. Keenum came back to reality.

Can't take a couple of games and build a theory around that. Great D's have a better chance of winning 8 out of 10 times but there are those exceptional games like last night.

 

[CouchCoach]

Garrett does the same thing except he needs the following week to figure it out.

LMAO, how true. Or several years. He just now realized they should have given Barber the ball more than 11 times in that Skins loss.