What do the top 8 teams have in common?

[ALP]

either elite pass rushers or elite corners....

jets have decent pass rush and revis

SD has decent pass rush and jammer/cromartie

vikes have beast pass rush

boys have ware and jenkins/(and another good one i forget name of)

colts have freeny/mathis

saints are the closest exception, but have sharper and decent pass rush

ravens have decent pass rush and ed reed

cardinals have decent pass rush, (offense is their bread and butter...obviously)

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I think Spencer's the Cowboy you're thinking of.

 

[TriplecHamp]

They're working on...hopefully.

 

[PatriotsInGA]

So what are you trying to say

I agree though, the Pats need a defense

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I knew that this thread was about pass rushers.

 

[muzz]

A Defense?

either elite pass rushers or elite corners....

jets have decent pass rush and revis

SD has decent pass rush and jammer/cromartie

vikes have beast pass rush

boys have ware and jenkins/(and another good one i forget name of)

colts have freeny/mathis

saints are the closest exception, but have sharper and decent pass rush

ravens have decent pass rush and ed reed

cardinals have decent pass rush, (offense is their bread and butter...obviously)

 

[BelichickFan]

There's a bunch of ways to win, we almost went undefeated two years ago based almost solely on offense. There's no magic formula.

 

[PowerAlley.com]

Boy what I would give to have a great defense and a motivated Corey Dillon again.

 

[chevss454]

I thought you would have said "hogs" on the offensive line, but since you added a 2nd thing I would have added "a 1 gap attacking style of defense".

Give Brady time and he will make you pay.

Football success starts in the trenches and everything else flows from that.

 

[unoriginal]

All these 8 teams try to execute in all 3 phases of the game.

 

[Simkin]

Patriots had AD and Merisofter

We deserved #1 pick with that teory

 

[bradyovermanning]

agreed. not going to win too many playoff games with too many shoddy defenses. just look at the cardinals. good to great offense. pee wee football defense.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

There's a lot more to the pass rush than just sacks, but in terms of the top 10 teams in total sacks, 6 didn't even make the play-offs (Steelers, Dolphins, 49ers, Browns, Redskins, and Broncos). Pitt's secondary was awful without Polamalu, but there are some decent/good corners on most of those teams. But I'd certainly like to see improvement in both of the areas you mentioned. A good rush makes the corners better because they don't have to cover as long, and good corners give the rush more time to work.