Go to the pass defense and sort by opponent passer rating and you'll see something even more impressive. But then, the good defensive passer rating is very much a function of the superior run defense keeping opponents in predictable situations.
To put that 2.4 ypc allowed into perspective, if that were to hold up for the season, I think it might be a record. It is better than the 2000 Ravens (2.7) and the 2006 Vikings (2.8).
We aren't playing scrubs either. Ben Tate, Arian Foster, Darren McFadden and Ryan Williams were all shut down.
I must say this indeed a fine turn of events. Now if we could just find two stud wrs and a bigtime tightend and we would be almost complete. of course another great cornerback would be a plus too.
Hope the coaches acknowledge this to their players.. Pretty freakin cool.. Why are we letting all our own players hit free agency?
I'll get excited when this defense can stop the pass consistently. Good run defense doesn't correlate (very highly) with winning.
Lot of folks debated me when I said he was overrated, thought it was a real bad move when the bills did it.
Yeah, overpaying for UFAs is NOT the way to go. I'm so glad Ireland doesn't bank on that cap. Kudos to Buffalo for wrecking their cap chasing a name, I look forward to sweeping their asses again this year.
PFF had an interesting note on the run defense. The Cardinals gained 28 yards on 15 carries, and all 28 yards came after contact. I think someone has said literally this exact same thing for every coach since Saban took over.
At least we'll be able to take advantage of Wanny's horrible coaching instead of it screwing us. How many former Dolphins coaches is that now in the AFC East?
Imagine what this will mean when we upgrade the secondary and add another capable pass rusher. The overwhelming key to our defensive success is our front 4 (especially Odrick's versatility to shut down the run in base defense and then move inside as a nickel pass rusher).... but for some crazy reason there are still delusional fans who remain clueless about how important the play in the trenches is and persist to whiningly criticize the drafting of Odrick & Misi as if it were a terrible move worthy of beheading. Currently, Odrick/Misi, 2 starters from 1 draft pick, are significant contributors to this dominant #1 rush defense, one that's actually good enough to make our opponents 1 dimensional. Now, we can focus on bolstering the secondary with a consistent, reliable playmaker or two (emphasis on consistent, which Davis wasn't) to capitalize on that 1 dimensionalism. Time perhaps for some Dee Milliner action, followed by a great Safety (preferably one who can act as a hyrid S/LB against passing teams) with our 2nd pick, and then trade up second 2nd rounder if needed for one of the many talented pass rushers..... if we can re-sign Starks that is, b/c if Starks gets away in FA we'll need to make sure our front 4 stays one of the strongest in the league, which unfortunately could require a high draft pick.
Interesting stat. Miami is #1 in terms of most passes thrown against them.......but 3rd in lowest completion percentage against. Maybe the secondary isn't that bad....just a couple weak links and a tendency to give up timely/big plays?
No it's not that bad at all. It's quite good actually. What's hurting us IMO is we lack consistency at corner in nickel b/c our depth guys are giving up more random big plays than should be happening, and we could use a FS with better coverage ability to help those guys out IMO. I said this in another thread but ideally, IMO, we should be maximizing what we currently have in the secondary, and that would entail using Richard Marshall to his strengths, which are FS and nickel corner. So how do we get him in both of those roles? It's quite easy, and by doing so it would make us significantly more versatile and flexible vs both the run and pass. We do that by drafting or signing a quality FS who can play a hybrid role verse passing teams (personally I like TJ McDonald and Kenny Vaccaro). The hybrid allows Marshall to play FS in our base defense vs passing teams (b/c he's probably our best cover guy at FS). In turn, the safety hybrid mans the S/LB hybrid role so that our personnel is essentially 2 LBs and 3 safeties in base defense verse passing teams. That beefs up our coverage and significantly compliments our run stuffers up front who are forcing opposing offenses into being 1 dimensional, passing oriented. During nickel vs 3+ receiver personnel, Marshall moves to nickel corner and the S hybrid moves to FS. Verse TE heavy teams like NE, we'd have the flexibility of lining up the S hybrid at nickel corner with Marshall staying at FS. Then against running teams (or ones that rely on the run early), we can continue playing our current base 4-3 with 3 LBs, the safety hybrid at FS, and Marshall comes in at nickel corner. This way we can improve against the pass w/o costing us our dominance verse the run.
Well we are playing 3 DT's in our base defence so I'm not surprised we can stop the run. Just need to stop giving up big plays at the most inopportune times.
Yup but we are also playing 3 rookies in rotation on that line and a strongside LB most had written off.
was going to say the same thing. Yes it's always good to rank 1st in a positive category but using the recent past as a barometer, only 2 of the last eight SB participant's rushing offense ranked in the top half of the league. This is goodell's nfl. don't want to be that guy bragging about having the best vcr or C D player in 2012. I think we all would rather have a top pass D.
I'd assume it's not hot....hence the big plays ;p I'm sure you can look it up though in the NFL.com team stats.
I'd rather have a lot of things......i'd rather make an NFL players salary than my own. I'm beyond ecstatic about the run D. considering we've put some top tier running backs down to earth. Its a great start. and i'm glad to say we are number 1 in anything. or even top 5 for that matter, lol. and all the other brackets are starting to creep up as well. It also goes hand in hand with pass D in certain ways, the talent is just shakey. Halfway to #1 defense overall!!!!! .........sorta........not really......but yeah.
It's pretty impressive what this defensive unit has been able to accomplish against the run. I think everyone thought the defensive performance would drop off a bit with the departure of Mike Nolan, and that's just not the case. We've shut down some pretty impressive running backs so far this year as well. Love to see this hold up all season. Especially with the offense potentially turning the corner. If only VD coulda taken his job seriously, and had a better attitude, and was playing at the level he was capable of, because given those things, he'd probably still be here and our pass D would be even better. Of course, that's alot of if's for Vontae, and he's gone now, so its irrelevant, but it kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?
