Let's look at some basic team stats from last year.
OFFENSE, Total Offense (Yards Per Game):
- Saints
- Patriots
- Packers
- Eagles
- Lions
I think we can all agree they were all really good offenses last year.
DEFENSE, Total Defense (Yards Per Game):
- Steelers
- Texans
- Ravens
- 49ers
- Jets
I think we can all agree that those 5 were really good defenses.
In other words,
this statistic is very accurate, reflective, of how good or bad, a defense was.
We were dead last, 32nd. New England was 31st, and their fans told us all year how bad their defense was. They were clones of us last year, but they made the Super Bowl because they got Denver while we got the Giants, and because we had the punk kid get drunk & stoned and cause the team/organiation to lose its edge as a funeral took place 48 hours from the game and took all kinds of focus & intensity off us. But their defense was bad as ours was.
They, coincidentally, used their
TOP 6 top picks in the draft on
defense just like we did. BPA? Nonsense. Both teams knew they needed big time help on defense, and went that route. Smartly.
PATRIOTS GRADE: A
Bill Belichick cleverly maneuvered around the draft board to address the Patriots' suspect defense. He nabbed a pair of first-round difference makers in Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower, and found a few potential sleepers in Alfonzo Dennard and Jake Bequette.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...als-patriots-giants-chiefs-ace-2012-nfl-draft
Our defense was atrocious.
Looking further, our defense allowed an average of 22.4 first downs per game. That's terrible. That was 2nd from the bottom. And it translated over to the playoff game against the Giants when time & time again in the first half, we couldn't get the stop on 3rd down and give the ball back to the MVP.
Our defense also allowed 6.3 yards per play, which tied the Buccanneers as dead last in the NFL.
The camoflauge was the turnovers, keeping points off the board at times, bailing us out. But against good QBs, those donations don't occur and we need defenses to get stops.
Anyway, we're all happy now that we addressed he defense in the draft and free agency, and let's hope they rise to the occasion!