freakofthesouth Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 The defense has gone from a #5 ranking a few weeks ago to a current #25 ranking. What happened to our dominating D from the beginning of the year? Is it the D line? We can't get any pressure, so this must be why. But then, how were we #5 to begin with? That doesn't really make any sense. Is it the banged-up secondary? Maybe. That could have played a role in the two big losses against the Bucs and the Bills. IMO, here's the main reason why the D has struggled: the offense. The offense has been so piss-poor at putting drives together, holding the ball, and winning the time of possesion battle, that the defense is on the field all of the time. When this is the case, different plays are bound to happen. The run defense eventually starts to deteriorate. The penalties (including personal fouls) start to surface from frustration. Bottom line, you start to lose the game when the defense stays on the field too long. But, with our offense, it's not just running effectively. It's driving the ball effectively. We have to create a game-plan each drive on how to push the ball down the field, mixing pass, run, screen, draw, QB sneak, reverse, counters, spread, and even play-action. I am willing to bet that the most significant difference from our 3-1 record to our 3-5 record is the TOP. I'm gonna go research it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy Jumbo Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I think we've had a top 10 rated defense the past 3 years. In those 3 years, our offense hasn't been outstanding and just plain horrible at times, so what does that mean? I think you might be on to something though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I would say because we have played better teams with QB's that can kill us without any pass rush :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakofthesouth Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 OK. Check this out. Offense: 26th- TOP-28:51 Defense: 26th: TOP-31:09 These are the overall, season stats. It's very inetersting, because Kansas City is ranked 24th for offensive TOP. That's because they drive and score quick. Very interesting. Isn't their D struggling too? I'm gonna look for individual games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I thought the defense sucked because there are no hot reads?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsNumberOne Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Spurrier, in his post game comments last week, made this comment. He said "We're not holding onto the ball long enough." I didn't take that to just mean "we need to score more" or just "we get too many 3-and-outs" but a direct reference to our low time of possession (obviously partly due to our 3-and-outs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakofthesouth Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 So...here is a week by week breakdown of our offensive time of possession. There are some interesting patterns here: Week 1 NYJ 34:46 W WEEK 2 ATL 34:42 W WEEK 3 NYG 27:45 L WEEK 4 NE* 26:21 W WEEK 5 PHI 27:31 L WEEK 6 TB* 30:57 L WEEK 7 BUF 23:57 L WEEK 9 DAL 25:44 L *In these games, the TOP did not determine the outcome of the game due to turnovers. Interesting stats. W/ our first two wins, we were at the top of the league in both offense and defense. As the season has progressed, the TOP has declined, causing problems on both sides of the ball. The BUF game was just terrible defensively, and that has to do w/ TOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakofthesouth Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 BTW, Seattle is ranked below us for offensive TOP. Should be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor The Invincible Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I'd say even though we had a "Top 5 Defense", you and I both know our defense played like crap most of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Skeletor, good point. Last year our Defense was "bailed out" sometimes by our bad Offense. Opposing teams only had to drive 30 or 40 yards for scores instead of 80 which makes the D look good in the rankings. One could argue that our D might not have given up the points if a team had to drive 80 yards instead of 40, but I watched all 16 of our games, and I would not make that argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phat Hog Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Because they are on the damn field most of the game. Fewer 3-and-outs and our rank will go up :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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