Rob,

I'm with dtw there. I don't spend a lot of time talking about, or reading about what other teams have to do to get better.

However... Atlanta didn't pride themselves on their defense last year, or the year before. They were all about their offense. And Baltimore took a lot of heat for the way their defense had fallen off, and how their defense had gotten old, and how the Ravens were now an offensive team rather than a defensive team.

Totally unscientific, rule of thumb, generalization coming up:

Hold a team to 300 or fewer total net yards in a game and your defense is playing very well. Give up more than 300 total net yards per game on a regular basis and you have to stop calling yourself a great defense.

Prior to the Patriot game last season the Niner Defense only gave up more than 300 total net yards in 4 out of 13 games. In those 4 games, the Niners Lost 2, Tied once, and won 1.

From the Pats game until the Superbowl, 6 games, the Niners only held their opponent under 300 total net yards once. And that was in the final game against the dreadful Arizona Cardinals.

Playing great defense does not guarantee a win. But it makes life a lot easier.

Our defense's inability to keep opponents under 300 total net yards per game corresponded with the loss of Justin Smith. He went out at half time of the Pats game, and suddenly we couldn't put pressure on opposing QBs, we couldn't snuff out opponents running games, and our Defensive Secondary started taking a lot of heat.

There's a clue there.

Last Edited By: Kevin 03/05/13 10:46 PM. Edited 1 times.