Blame the D if you want

So basically a 31st ranked d has never done it. I say they never will. I truly believe that "defense wins championships".

 

Yep and when...
4/40 teams had a +20 defense
5/40 teams had a 10-20 defense and
31/40 teams had a top 10 defense

... it becomes very clear that defense wins championships.

 

Great info, Clive! Thanks for posting that.

 

Where do the offenses of those teams rank?

Also interesting to note, the lower ranked defensive team has won more than they've lost recently (7-3 in last 10).

 

The Seattle and Denver game is the clearest example to point to. I mean that number 1 d shut them down and made them look like a jv squad. They couldn't stay healthy for the next one against NE but if they would have they would have probably won that one too.

 

The thing about that though is I think you CAN be a low ranked RUN d and still win but I say in today's league there's no way you can be a low ranked PASS d and win. I bet those lower ranked d's that have won have been lower against the run than against the pass. It's just such a passing league now that it's ridiculous.

 

Also some defenses have gone on runs in the playoffs. The Colts REALLY stepped it up as did the NYGs. They were much better than in the regular season.

 

Or just handed the ball to Lynch.

 

Yep. The Colts won it based on their d. Manning was horrid in the playoffs that year and the d carried them. I remember that year they got gashed for hundreds of rushing yards vs Jacksonville and that was the moment that everything actually wound up turning things around for them.

 

Yeah but I was just talking about how their d gave up a lot of points down the stretch to allow the Pats to get back in it.

 

Yeah the Pats D was no slouch and I think their secondary may have been better with Revis.

 

SB Season Winner Off. pts/gm (yds/gm,rush yds/gm,pass yds/gm); Def. pts/gm (yds allowed/gm,rush yds allowed/gm,pass yds allowed/gm
49 2014 NE 4 (11,18,9); 8 (13,9,17)
48 2013 SEA 8 (18,4,26); 1 (1,7,1)
47 2012 BAL 10 (16,11,15); 12 (16,13,17)
46 2011 NYG 9 (8,32,5); 25 (27,19,29)
45 2010 GB 10 (9,24,5); 2 (5,18,5)
44 2009 NO 1 (1,6,4); 20 (25,21,26)
43 2008 PIT 20 (22,23,17); 1 (1,2,1)
42 2007 NYG 14 (16,4,21); 17 (7,8,22)
41 2006 IND 2 (3,18,2); 23 (21,32,2)
40 2005 PIT 9 (15,5,24); 3 (4,3,16)
39 2004 NE 4 (7,7,11); 2 (9,6,17)
38 2003 NE 12 (17,27,9); 1 (7,4,15)
37 2002 TB 18 (24,27,15); 1 (1,5,1)
36 2001 NE 6 (19,13,22); 6 (24,19,24)
35 2000 BAL 14 (16,5,22); 1 (2,1,8)
34 1999 STL 1 (1,5,1); 4 (6,1,20)
33 1998 DEN 2 (3,2,7); 8 (11,3,26)
32 1997 DEN 1 (1,4,9); 6 (5,16,5)
31 1996 GB 1 (5,11,5); 1 (1,4,1)
30 1995 DAL 3 (5,2,13); 3 (9,16,8)

[fingers crossed I didn't screw that up]

 

You could blame this defense for the first loss against Baltimore. Forsett was 27 for 150 on October 1st at Heinz. I think the inconsistency with this team is the dagger, and its been that way really since 2009. I think a lot of this loss is on Ben but this defense needs some work either in the secondary or a pair of pass rushers or were going nowhere fast. I don't know much cap space we have to work with in 16 but wouldn't it be nice to have an above average cornerback? Janoris Jenkins or a guy like Eric Berry back there to replace Allen. Another FA I like for our D would be Ngata. He's injury prone I know but rotate him with big Steve and I think it could be good for our D but the money would have to be right. Either way the window on the Ben era is closing and its going to take a solid, top tier D to beat Brady. Maybe try something different and bring in some quality free agents because we sure seem to not have the ability to draft DB's

 

Thanks for posting. So it's not just defense. In general, it's a team that can score with a good defense.

 

While the defense is not that good, it was certainly not the reason for this loss. 10 points resulted after turnovers (that is half of them). Another 7 after turnover on downs.
Yes, top tier defenses may not have yielded those points.

In the second half, the defense only allowed points after the turnover - prior to that, I think they stopped them 3 times. If the offense scores a little it allows the defense to play differently. By not being able to score (and really only due to stupid PIs that the ball was likely incomplete on anyway) that allowed the Rats to remain balanced with no pressure. Mix up run and short passes and maintain status quo.

This loss is squarely on the offense and the QB in particular. Those 2 INTs were horrendous (and there easily could have been 2 more). Why did we totally abandon the run in the 2nd half? DW had 80+ yard in the first quarter alone. We were not being blown out and could have run some more vice the ineffective passing. The offense had multiple opportunities in the 2nd half. Why no Heath until the 4th quarter? Blowing the timeouts early was a killer, and they were due to Ben not paying attention - I was in the stands and saw it coming - then delay of game too - that just gets the crowd more fired up.

 

Interesting stat that I read this morning.

In Ben Roethlisberger's time in the NFL, he has been double-digit road favorites seven times in his career and failed to cover in each game. This doesn't mean he has lost the game, but from a bettor's standpoint he failed to cover the spread in each of those games. The most recent was last Sunday against the Ravens.

Wish I would have know that before the game. At least I could have made some money possibly.

 

well
it was automatic to take the points they were giving
11.5?!?!?!?!?!?!?
no way in hell in Baltimore.
that was my one payout I counted on as a sure thing

 

I don't understand why the middle of our defense is so porous?

Heyward, Tuitt, Mclendon, Timmons, Shazier; looking at these players, most of them high draft picks, how in the world is this possible?

 

Will you be laying the 10/11 points this week too? I didn't bet it either way last week. Interesting to note he's (Ben) never covered a double digit spread.

 

I think (from what I am seeing) is Shazier is out of position on a lot of those runs up the gut that get good yardage. He is still very inexperienced and hopefully will come along. He tends to over-pursue then a slight cut back is wide open in the gap he should be filling.
Timmons seems to not be his same self (wondering if there is a lingering injury?).
Whenever they put Cam Thomas in, we tend to get gashed more.

 

I decided against betting the Steelers and giving Baltimore that many points. I bet the under at 47 points. That is the same thing I did this week taking the under at 47.5 points.

 

I don't blame the defense.

Going into the season, I knew it was all resting on the high-powered offense. When they don't show up, then I don't expect a win.

The defense is not good. But I knew that coming into the season. My only expectation for this defense is to either hold the opposing team at/under 30 points (when facing a high-powered offense), or hold the opposing team at/under 20/21 points (when facing a good and/or mediocre offense).

My expectation of the offense is to outscore the opposing offense if the defense has held to my expectations.

 

Zero takeaways by the D.

Yes, they stunk, too.

 

This was a bad game period. I know Ben played terrible. I don't think I've ever seen him this bad. Our receivers (mainly Tavis) dropped balls. Some of the play calls were awful, especially at the end of the game. Our guys weren't prepared, & that's the coach.
There's enough blame to go around and & everyone (except DeAngelo) deserves that blame.

I think they had the ball 35 minutes, we had the ball 25 minutes. How can you expect the offense to get into a rhythm when they sit on the sideline for that long?

The Defense had 1 sack. By Boykin.

Mallett joined the team 12 days before & had a career high game!! (272 yards.)
On 3rd downs, they were 13/16 for 96 yards. That's tied for the most 3rd down completions by any QB in a game the past 3 seasons.

I know our defense (mainly the secondary) is BAD I didn't see this coming. You're telling me that you did?

 

SB Season Winner Off. pts/gm Def. pts/gm Combined off/def rank
31 1996 GB 1 1 2
34 1999 STL 1 4 5
39 2004 NE 4 2 6
30 1995 DAL 3 3 6
32 1997 DEN 1 6 7
48 2013 SEA 8 1 9
33 1998 DEN 2 8 10
45 2010 GB 10 2 12
40 2005 PIT 9 3 12
36 2001 NE 6 6 12
49 2014 NE 4 8 12
38 2003 NE 12 1 13
35 2000 BAL 14 1 15
37 2002 TB 18 1 19
43 2008 PIT 20 1 21
44 2009 NO 1 20 21
47 2012 BAL 10 12 22
41 2006 IND 2 23 25
42 2007 NYG 14 17 31
46 2011 NYG 9 25 34

The top 15 offenses average just better than 5th-ranked, while the top 15 defenses average 3rd-ranked. So slight nod to a team's defense, I guess, but it's not that marked.

Of the 5 worst offenses here (avg. rank 15.6), four paired them with the top-ranked defenses.
Of the 5 worst defenses (avg. rank 19.4), the companion offenses were 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, and 14th.

Of the 10 teams with the greatest difference between their offense and defense ranks:

• relatively poor offenses had counterbalancing top-3 defense 70% of the time;
• relatively poor defenses paired with top-3 offenses only 20%.