Homer observations as we go into the last games...

[PatsFanInVa]

Last I checked they were among the leaders at pressuring the QB.

I think you are right. It is very hard to find QB pressures (I think because hurries are just something somebody says, not a league stat, but sacks are a league stat.) We're 29th in sacks, but as we all know, we try to get pressure, often w/3, rather than necessarily "get home" every play. I believe the Rams have the same issue this year, not many sacks, but way up there in the pressure category. Going by memory though... I might be wrong.

Aside: I hate that somebody said "get home" in like 2014 or so and ever since then you have to say "get home" to mean "sack the guy." Also, I kind of preferred hearing people had long arms or a big wingspan, or were tall/lean/fast, and then hearing the advantage in each situation... rather than hearing that a guy is "long," or worse yet, "rangy." Rangy sounds like you could mean he can range from point A to point B, or that his "length" (or wingspan) allows him a crazy range of motion, for instance, in batting down passes. (I'm pretty sure "rangy" guys get from point A to point B, but with some uses I hear it seems that being long and lean allowed a blocked punt or batted pass.)

 

[mosi]

I would also point out, the rush defense was a major issue in the SB as well where they gave up over 6 yards per carry.

 

[DarrylS]

Points allowed is reflective, not predictive. Yes, great defenses should almost always fare well in points allowed. But the correlation breaks down outside of the elite units.

The sample size is very small in the NFL, and situations are always changing (strength of opposing offense, health of your team and your opponent, matchups, weather etc)

What is your criteria for reflective?? Are wins and losses in the same category??..

Yesterday was an excellent example, despite the mess we saw on TV at the end of the day.. there was an 8 yard differential between the two teams, TOP was a almost the same 29:11 vs. 30:49... at first glance and without benefit of a box score I would have thought much differently..

I do not laud this defense but at the end of the day it is about how many points you score vs. how many the other team does not..

 

[supafly]

I would also point out, the rush defense was a major issue in the SB as well where they gave up over 6 yards per carry.

And it’s somehow gotten even worse. That is inexcusable.

 

[mosi]

And it’s somehow gotten even worse. That is inexcusable.

I know and can't believe they allowed that to happen. I think that most teams should just run the ball against the Pats and honestly take what you can get. On defense, teams should just play the short passing game.

 

[PatsDeb]

The D "looked bad" yesterday, but by the end of the game the Steelers only had 17 points and only 3 of them came in the 2nd half. It's the O that WAS bad yesterday.

 

[RayClay]

I dunno, I read porous defense differently than I hear it. As a Pats fan all I hear is "poor us" defense.

Or poor ass. The defense overall is not bad. It plays bad because it is distorted by trying to cover for the DL which provides no inside pressure for the outside rushers to exploit and zero strength against the run. There is no disguising thisa. Other teams see it and they will exploit it until we push back.

Brown, Shelton or an acquisition must stop the flood or our defense and offense will be out of synch.

 

[mosi]

The wacky thing is that I still think they will get the 2nd seed as Houston will lose in Philly and the Pats should beat the Jerks and Jills.

 

[luuked]

They're bad at pressuring the QB. They're bad at coverage. They're bad at run D.

They are among the top teams in terms of pressure. They have one of the better secondaries in the league. They have a godawful run defense.

They are not an awful defense but pretty much average looking at the entire league. If the run defense was just somewhat competent they'd most probably even end up in the top 10. That is the state of defenses in the NFL in 2018.

 

[Soliel]

I was wondering if they are purposely dropping games for better draft

 

[supafly]

The D "looked bad" yesterday, but by the end of the game the Steelers only had 17 points and only 3 of them came in the 2nd half. It's the O that WAS bad yesterday.

What was the YPC average? Last I saw it was almost 9 yards per carry. If you take the past three games, it becomes the 4th highest average in NFL history.

Yes, Boswell missed a FG and Ben threw 2 picks, so that helped. I definitely agree that the pass defense was mostly fine, but there was no rush and no rush defense.