Quote:
Originally Posted by Southpaw
The only games that the defense is directly responsible for losing was the opener against the Vikings, and the Titans game. We'll throw in the Colts game too, but Peyton Manning and the best offensive team in the league are going to score points no matter what. Let's look at the three divisional losses.
Week 2 @ Dallas 10-27 - Three offensive points. Seven special teams points. Brunell's rating 61.6. Yeah. the sure offense did it's part that day...
Week 5 @ New York 3-19 - Three offensive points. Defense only gave up 19. Brunell's rating 68.2. See above.
Week 10 @ Philly 3-27 - Defense gave up a couple big plays, but again... three offensive points(notice a pattern?). Brunell's rating 49.4.
So by you're logic, the defense should have given up less than 10 points to the Cowboys, and less than THREE points to the Giants and Eagles. Those losses have nothing to do with the fact that Brunell played like shit, right? But please, keep arguing how "above average" Brunell's season has been.
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If you watched the Giants game, you would know that our offense didn't ever have the football because the Giants did nothing but convert third downs, control the clock and get field goals. 3 points yeah, in something like 6 possessions. The Giants would have scored much more than 19 but ran out of time. Anyone who watched would tell you that was our worst defensive game so far.
The other two games were total team losses. The offense played bad, and the D played even worse. Your logic that the D would have to give less then three points in those games for us to win is an incredibly jaded view because if they did they would be UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY WINNING THE GAME FOR US. They do have to keep us competitive, which they haven't done, evidenced by our 30th ranking in the league.
Notice that all three divisional losses are on the road. Theres a school of thought in NFL circle that says regardless of record and talent, when it comes to division games, the home team should always be favored. This is because the teams know each other so well that most of it comes down to who can gameplan the best, and the home team has the one advantage.
This is completely ignoring the fact that the Giants and Eagles are two of the league's three best teams (by DVOA).
Your carefully selected three game sample size (out of 9 I might add), is stirring but really paints the picture that you want to see. Doesn't look on the season as a whole.