Which is the better defense? Baltimore or Houston

[ALP]

Just this season, and regular season

use any argument you like, i was simply wondering who you guys believe was the better defense (not offense, not team, just defense) this past season

 

[randomk1]

Well...whenever your D can win games for you then you know they are good.

It's hard to put them ahead of the Ravens because of the Ravens D being top notch for like a decade now. I'd still like to give the edge to the Ravens just because of their history.

Next year with Mario Williams in the mix i think they might be the best defense in football unless the 49ers have anything to say about it.

 

[supafly]

I think the HOU Texans proved to many people that they have a very formidable defense, not just this yr but for yrs to come. THEY are the younger, faster team on defense. THEY are the ones who are making better strides on that side of the ball, and will likely continue in the draft and free agency.

If Matt Schaub had not gone down, they likely would have beaten BAL on Sunday...even without Schaub, they practically gave the game to BAL.

If you had to choose current, as of right now---it could be strongly argued that BAL's group of savvy and experienced vets are the better defense, but I really don't expect that to continue, even as great as they'll continue to be on that side of the ball. I would expect HOU to be the new bully on the block, just due to M.Williams, Brooks Reed, JJ Watt, and Connon Barwin on that side of the ball right now. That is a YOUNG defensive core.

Both are lights out, stand up defenses, and are easily the 2 top defenses in the AFC; but I think HOU's situation is a little better, due to their youth and speed.

 

[i82much]

You know it's one of those things, so hard to answer a question like this in a vacuum. I tell you, I watched the Chiefs-Steelers and Chiefs-Packers games and you would think no defense in the NFL could match that Chiefs squad. Then you look at where they rank and go hmm, not that exciting.

So many factors go into these things too. I mentioned in another thread but teams that score fast put their defense on the field a lot and usually in a situation where the other team is going to try to score fast, sling the ball around. That is reflected in their rankings, right? Teams with ball control offenses are going to put less pressure on the D.

So anyway, in this case - it's probably a wash. Houston is outstanding. They beat us on both sides of the ball last game, just couldn't make up for their mistakes. I guess I'd say the Ravens D has more vulnerabilities but is more likely to make big plays and kind of take over a game, I mean at least historically. But for every game where Suggs has 3 strip sacks, you've got a game like the SD game. I am not sure but I feel like Houston is more consistent and our team is more dynamic.

 

[ALP]

You know it's one of those things, so hard to answer a question like this in a vacuum. I tell you, I watched the Chiefs-Steelers and Chiefs-Packers games and you would think no defense in the NFL could match that Chiefs squad. Then you look at where they rank and go hmm, not that exciting.

So many factors go into these things too. I mentioned in another thread but teams that score fast put their defense on the field a lot and usually in a situation where the other team is going to try to score fast, sling the ball around. That is reflected in their rankings, right? Teams with ball control offenses are going to put less pressure on the D.

So anyway, in this case - it's probably a wash. Houston is outstanding. They beat us on both sides of the ball last game, just couldn't make up for their mistakes. I guess I'd say the Ravens D has more vulnerabilities but is more likely to make big plays and kind of take over a game, I mean at least historically. But for every game where Suggs has 3 strip sacks, you've got a game like the SD game. I am not sure but I feel like Houston is more consistent and our team is more dynamic.

you totally had me going like this:

until i realized you were a ravens fan


but just for this thread i mean to ask which defense performed better this year

 

[strngplyr]

The NFL is a sport where I don't think you can really say A is better than B, or vice versa. This is a game of matchups.

Team A might have the best game of the year against the #1 ranked defense while having the worst game of the year against the #2 ranked defense because their personnel match up better with the offense.

One team may have the personnel to shut down the best WR corps in the NFL but have nobody to match up with big bodied TE's, or maybe they have the personnel to matchup against TE's but nobody fast enough to cover the WR's.

As for the question, it depends who you are facing. I'll use KC's defense as a real example. KC made for an absolute miserable day against the #2 ranked GB offense while getting scorched by the #3 ranked NE offense. Both teams are top tier offenses but for very different reasons. You can't really argue which is better, they both do the same thing but they do it in very different ways, GB features WR's primarily and likes to stretch the field from the sidelines. NE features TE's and quick WR's and likes to flood the middle of the field.

I just see everything about this game as matchup based, which team can create the more favorable situation for themselves.

 

[clutch0ne]

Houston had a great defense this year. They (finally) got a good secondary player in Joseph, and their front 7 was still amazing. Especially with the emergence of JJ Watt, who should become a star in this league.

 

[randomk1]

Houston had a great defense this year. They (finally) got a good secondary player in Joseph, and their front 7 was still amazing. Especially with the emergence of JJ Watt, who should become a star in this league.

They have been drafting well on D ever since Mario Williams imo. The only real misfire they've had was Okoye as he was a high 1st round pick that didn't pan out.

Wade Phillips obviously deserves credit for putting it all together.

 

[ALP]

The NFL is a sport where I don't think you can really say A is better than B, or vice versa. This is a game of matchups.



this game as matchup based, which team can create the more favorable situation for themselves.

Then let me ask you this, do you believe our offense would have a harder time against Houston defense or Against the ravens defense...

Btw I would not say our offense scorched the KC D

 

[Fball]

Houston's D is far more effective, intimidating & complete, imo.

Wade Phillips was a terrible HC, but he's one of the best DC's ever, and he really has the personnel to work with on that team.

Losing Schaub was just a killer for Houston this year; if they still had him (and especially if Mario was around as well), they'd likely have gotten the 1 seed & be the faves. They'll be a team to be reckoned w/ for the next few years...

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

I'm gonna go on record as saying Baltimore has the better D. Yes, Houston is a pretty steadily improving defense, but they are not great by my measure.

They really did not face many elite offenses this year. In fact, the one "elite" QB they faced this year (Brees), he hammered them with 40 points. The also faced a "up and coming" QB in Cam Newton who put 28 on them. Flacco even managed a 29 point game on them. Sure, Houston had a bunch of games where they limited teams to 9, 12, 7 etc.... but it was to the Indys, Tampa Bays and Clevelands of the league.

In a one year sample, I can't really put that much stock into it.

I guess you could say somewhat of the same for the Ravens this year alone. They really did not face many elite QB except Rivers, and he put a pretty good hurting on them. Sure they beat 6 playoff teams, but lets face it 2 of them were Cincy (who really only was there due to a very weak schedule), Houston (who I talked about above) and SF (I'm not convinced that SF's D is all that good either cuz they had an easier schedule then Cincy. The only quality O they beat was NO last week, who hung 31 on them).

Bottom line, I'm not convinced that the so-called "great defenses" are all that great, or are at least measurably better then a Kansas City Defense that faced 6 elite QB's this year (Rivers x2, Brady, Rogers, and Stafford) and gave up and average of 25 points across those 5 games (which is significantly under all those offenses average score).

If I had to pick one that is better, I'd say Baltimore, but it more because of their history then anything they did this year that was overwhelmingly impressive.

 

[PatsFanNM]

Rewatching the Baltimore/Houston game yesterday I came away grateful we weren't playing Houston's defense (playing their offense would be great). I thought they had a lot more energy and just played better. That's not saying anything to put down Baltimore, but Baltimore had only to hold in check a rookie quarterback who regularly delivered interceptions and basically had only one receiver to throw to.

It also felt like Houston's defense is coming on, whereas Baltimore's is relying more on past strengths carried forward to today. I still think Baltimore will be plenty tough to play against, but I feel confident we will win.

I mean, Baltimore had 17 points at the end of the first quarter, 14 of which were hand-delivered by the Houston offense and special teams -- they didn't even have to work hard to get those turnovers, just catch or cover the ball when it was served up. It took Baltimore 37 yards of offense to convert those turnovers into 14 points.

At the end of the game Baltimore had 20 points. 3 additional points over 3 quarters. Granted, they passed on a field goal trying to score a touchdown from the half-yard line. But they couldn't score it. Houston definitely has a great defense. They wouldn't have come close to being in last week's game without it. With a real quarterback they'll be tough.

 

[ALP]

Rewatching the Baltimore/Houston game yesterday I came away grateful we weren't playing Houston's defense (playing their offense would be great). I thought they had a lot more energy and just played better. That's not saying anything to put down Baltimore, but Baltimore had only to hold in check a rookie quarterback who regularly delivered interceptions and basically had only one receiver to throw to.

It also felt like Houston's defense is coming on, whereas Baltimore's is relying more on past strengths carried forward to today. I still think Baltimore will be plenty tough to play against, but I feel confident we will win.

I mean, Baltimore had 17 points at the end of the first quarter, 14 of which were hand-delivered by the Houston offense and special teams -- they didn't even have to work hard to get those turnovers, just catch or cover the ball when it was served up. It took Baltimore 37 yards of offense to convert those turnovers into 14 points.

At the end of the game Baltimore had 20 points. 3 additional points over 3 quarters. Granted, they passed on a field goal trying to score a touchdown from the half-yard line. But they couldn't score it. Houston definitely has a great defense. They wouldn't have come close to being in last week's game without it. With a real quarterback they'll be tough.

i also watched the replay last night, and came away with the same impression, that playing against the ravens D would be easier for us specifically than playing against the houston D

maybe its b/c the houston D has better coverage lb's (maybe im wrong w/ that statement)

maybe its b/c they have more options to rush the passer...maybe b/c they seemed faster, and not as good sideline to sideline (which we use extensively)

but it seemed to me our offense is better off facing the ravens rather than the texans