But it also goes the other way and there's a huge discrepancy on offense when compared to some of those teams with "top defenses".
"Total defense":
1 Pittsburgh 273.9
5 Jacksonville 314.0
8 Philadelphia 321.4
11 Cleveland 330.5
Now let's look at their offensive efficiency:
22nd Philadelphia 16.6
25th Jacksonville 17.4
26th Pittsburgh 17.9
30th Cleveland 21.0
But their defenses are at the top of the league in yards allowed! Yay? They also have to be because they have terrible offenses who execute poorly, turn over the ball and quarterbacks who are playing bad. So who cares? There's only one team that has an inefficient offense that's mustered up a solid winning record consistently in this league this year and that's Pittsburg. One team out of 32!
For an offense, when you get a lot of yards, but without the points, you are actually WORSE than an offense who gets fewer yards but the matching points. People think they are better because they can move the ball but no...they are not. What's happening is they have stalled drives without points, and give their opponents offense an opportunity to put up points. They drove up the field for nothing and turned over the ball.
Does it matter that Philadelphia's ranked 8th in yards allowed and their offense can put up 400+ yards a game? No, it doesn't. Defense can't save Vick's and that offense's execution unless they Bare against a team with an offense executing worse than their own. Same goes for Carolina and people say the same thing about them. That it's the defense, except they are 6-0 when the QB turns over the ball and defense allows less than 20 points per game and few yards allowed, and 0-9 when the offense doesn't and defense gets blown out. You would think some would kind of.....catch on....but no. People don't.
Teams like the Eagles could have the #1 defense in yards in the league and the #1 offense in yards in the league and they will not make the playoffs if they play like they played earlier this season. Ever. Not when you are executing that badly and that inconsistent on offense. The only time teams like Carolina or Eagles win is when they face teams that are even more inefficient than they are. Jaguars, Tampa Bay, Washington, Indianapolis, Cowboys, etc...
Isn't it amazing that Cam Newton had two back to back games of over 400 passing yards, set records, total offense of 500+ yards, but lost both of them and the team put up less than 24 points? But yesterday he passed for only 170 yards, 17 attempts, less total offensive yards, didn't turn over the ball and Carolina put up 48 points? Did Tampa Bay's offensive inefficiency have anything to do with it maybe? Did Cam Newton's better playing, better ball protection, and more consistent scoring? Isn't it amazing that the #1 rushing team got completely shut down by one of the worst rush defenses in the league yesterday when the Bills faced the Broncos?
Or perhaps those measurements used to crown them #1 were terrible in the first place. Just maybe....it tends to happen every year. It's what makes for great "upsets". Maybe that's what the media's counting on and wants to continue to keep the focus and mis-direction on the least meaningful measurements so the NFL can have these fantastic stories?
Running around like a chicken with your head cut off. That's what the Eagles do. That's what the Panthers did this year. That's what the Cowboys have done for the past decade. No defense can help you. No amount of yards gained or yards allowed, and no amount of talent you can surround yourself with, can ever make up for incompetence and making stupid mistakes all day long. Ever. Not saying those players are stupid, but their offense's execution can best be summarized as such.