Football Outsiders Redskins DVOA rankings through Week Four

[skinsfan07]

So, are you advocating a Greg Blache bend-but-don't-break defense then? Bear in mind that such a strategy would make it easier for opponents to play ball control and keep our offense off the field.

You saw the stats. Patriots and G-Men finished damn near last in those categories yet played in the SB. If you can limit a team to 3 points on a drive where they rack up 60+ yards, so be it. Just don't let them score. Bend but don't break, yes. We have the O to be able to withstand that type of play. Thye get 3, we get 7. We win.

[Oldfan]

You saw the stats. Patriots and G-Men finished damn near last in those categories yet played in the SB. If you can limit a team to 3 points on a drive where they rack up 60+ yards, so be it. Just don't let them score. Bend but don't break, yes. We have the O to be able to withstand that type of play. Thye get 3, we get 7. We win.

I saw those stats and they are deceptive.

They play it with different schemes, but the Patriots and the Giants both play ball control. The Giants match up well with the Patriots because they play ball control and can keep Brady and his offense off the field.

If you play bend-but-don't break on defense, you make it easy for the opponent to play ball control.

With a two-score lead, you play bend-but-don't break because you are perfectly happy to have your opponent play ball control and milk the clock.

[skinsfan07]

They play it with different schemes, but the Patriots and the Giants both play ball control. The Giants match up well with the Patriots because they play ball control and can keep Brady and his offense off the field.

If you play bend-but-don't break on defense, you make it easy for the opponent to play ball control.

With a two-score lead, you play bend-but-don't break because you are perfectly happy to have your opponent play ball control and milk the clock.

Makes sense. We need to find a way to implement what they do into our scheme then. lol

[gbear]

I actually liked the Saint's approach. Forget the yardage. Win the turnover battle and make the turnovers count. Assume if each side starts thinking they will get 10 possessions, we will have 12 because we ar going to force a turnover. Then it's just about making the most of opportunities.

[Rocky52Mc]

I think it always has been a garbage stat because teams that are behind on the scoreboard usually lose... and teams that are behind on the scoreboard pass to catch up. Thus, teams that lose rack up a lot of passing yardage; and teams that win have a lot of passing yardage racked up against them.

You are correct that the passing game is more prevalent in today's NFL, but that changes nothing with respect to the values of offense versus defense. Preventing touchdowns will always be as important as scoring touchdowns. That doesn't change because of higher scoring games.

The best teams don't always win the super bowl, but the best team has the best chance to win the super bowl. And, when grading teams, their offenses and defenses are equal in value. A team with a grade A defense and a grade B offense is equal to a team with a grade A offense and a grade B defense.

The game of football is way to complex to ever use a grade system, unless it's ranked #1-32. A defense works in different ways than an offense, vice versa. Field position, hitting, physicality, weight, height, speed, age, mentality, confidence, team work, there's just some human elements to it that you can't judge with your eyes.

I do agree that the best team doesn't always win it all though, sometimes it's just how the football wants to bounce and float.