You may want to try reading my posts. I'm using points on top of offensive competition to make my point. You keep sticking with points while ignoring the fact that we faced some VERY sub-par offensive competition. It's really that simple, Andy. But for argument's sake, and since we already saw how badly our defense fared against better competition, let's take a look at the other offenses we faced last year...
Week; Team; (Offensive Rank)
1. Buffalo (30th) - We allowed 24 points to the Bills, allowed Trent Edwards to go 15/25 for 212 yards and 2 TD's. Not exactly what you would want to see our defense doing against a sub-par quarterback leading a sub-par offense as we only forced Edwards into 10 incompletions.
2. Jets (20th) - Pretty decent game against another sub-par offense. We only allowed 16 points which looks like a good outing and, to be honest, we lost this game because of our offense. However, my previous assertion (that the run defense was not very good last year) stands out here still as we allowed the Jets a total of 119 yards on the ground in spite of the fact that we knew they were going to be run-heavy going into the game.
3. Falcons (16th) - Only allowed 10 points here. Pretty decent outing by the defense again but this game was a product of the Falcons playing poorly on both sides of the ball.
4. Ravens (13th) - This was probably our first true test of the season and while we only allowed 21 points, it could have (and should have if you ask Ravens fans) easily been 28-30+. We allowed 264 yards through the air but the most alarming stat was that we allowed Ray Rice to rumble for 103 yards on just 11 carries. Once again, points allowed isn't the end all, be all for this defense. They did not play like a top 5 defense in this game either and, sadly, this game would serve as a warning for what would happen later on in the season.
5. Broncos (15th) - This was really the first clue that something was off about this defense and that they weren't as good as they looked early on in the season. Even though they only allowed 20 points, they let Orton have whatever he wanted through the air. He had a career day against our defense (CAREER day) and only missed on 13 passes despite throwing 48 of them. The defense got absolutely picked apart by competition that wasn't even top shelf. On top of that, they once again allowed the opposing running game to have an good day. The Broncos offense put up 430 yards of total offense against our "5th best defense in the league". In the red zone (an important stat since our defense is supposed to bend, but not break), the Broncos were two for three for two TD's.
6. Tennessee (12th) - If any game shouldn't count because a team didn't show up, it's this game. The Titans simply did not show up to play at all. They quit from the moment they got into the snow and, not to mention, Kerry Collins was still their quarterback. EVEN THEN, though, we still allowed Chris Johnson over 100 yards on the ground. Funny because we knew it was coming but still couldn't stop it. This game, a farce for Tennessee, is one of the main reasons for our #5 ranking.
7. Tampa Bay (28th) - What else is new? This was the story of our defense in 2009. Pick on the Little Sisters of the Poor. Tampa Bay was just horrible all the way around last season so I guess we did what we should have here.
9. Miami (17) - Good win here. But it should have been. Henne was a new starting quarterback with limited weapons around him yet still threw for almost 220 yards for 1 TD. Once again, we couldn't stop the run to save our lives. The Brown/White/Williams trio rushed for a grand total of 133 yards against us. Miami also shot themselves in the foot a good amount of this game on offense as well as defense. But make no mistake, this was a very winnable game for them.
10. Indy (9) - As has already been explained, we got torched. Just like we did against every other top ten defense we played.
11. Jets (20th) - The Jets vaunted 20th ranked offense came into town and our defense quickly took advantage of the second worst starting QB in the league last year, which they should have. Even though we demolished Sanchez, we still allowed Thomas Jones 103 yards on the ground. Once again we got chewed up by the run even though we knew it was coming.
12. Saints (1) - I believe this was the first time in the Belichick era that we allowed 5 TD's through the air to a single quarterback. Brees ate this defense for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also allowed their running game over 100 yards on the ground. Look at what teams like the Jets did to this offense. Hell, even the Dolphins fared better. Against our defense, the Saints' racked up 465 yards in total offense. Top 5 defenses are supposed to play better against offensive competition like this.
13. Dolphins (17) - While you'll miss the point and undoubtedly point to points allowed here, I'll point to that on top of what else happened. Top 5 defenses are supposed to allow Chad Henne, Devone Bess, and Brian Hartline to put up huge days. Henne, in particular, looked like Montana at times there and threw for 355 yards and 2 TD's. He completely picked us apart. On the bright side, we only allowed the Dolphins' running game 88 yards. But when Chad Henne throws for 355 yards against you, allowing 88 yards on the ground looks like a minor accomplishment to say the least.
I'm going to stop there because I think I made my point. In case you're interested, the defense once again beat up on the Little Sisters of the Poor for three weeks straight before being torched by Houston again. Even then, they still allowed the Panthers (19) and Bills (30) to run for over 100 yards while holding the Jaguars (18) to a more modest amount of 98. You see, my point stands. This team did not play a lot of quality offensive competition. That's why their ranked is skewed. Top five defenses hold their opponents to under 100 yards on the ground more often than they don't. Top five defenses don't allow passing offenses the calibur of the Dolphins and the Broncos to have career days against them. Top five defenses do what they're supposed to against lesser offensive teams and still show up against the big dogs. While we were able to pick on the lesser offensive teams, we still didn't show up against the big dogs. So if you want to throw out the Houston game than be my guest. You should know that it only hurts your argument more than it helps it. On top of that if you're going to throw out the Houston game then you should also throw out the Tennessee game.
I should hope ANY above average team does.
