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Originally Posted by htismaqe
We don't have this magical pass rush you mentioned, yet we somehow managed to play better defense in 2 games this year than in almost any game the last few years.
All without this magical pass rush.
1) You're overestimating the power of a good pass rush and turnovers. We had EXACTLY what you wanted in 2003 and we all saw how well that worked.
2) You're underestimating the power of Allen and Hali.
Hali is not immune from criticism. He's immune from INVALID criticism.
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1. The run defense is light years better than in 2003. What did we give up, 5.5 yards per carry? The back seven talent has improved tremendously as well. For every interception or sack this defense gave up 2-3 pas plays over 30 yards. Sure, they got turnovers, but they couldn't stop anyone. That was less important since the offense was so dominant.
Now that the offense is going to struggle to move the ball, the defense is going to have to get the ball back in good field position. The elite defenses do this.
2. I am not underestimating them. I wouldn't put them in the top ten defensive end combos in the league. You could nit-pick until the cows come home where they fall in the next 10 or 12 spots. They are average. They are not minced meat. But they are average and since that's light years better than the crap that's been here for a while, I guess people will give them the benefit of the doubt.