So as we saw on Sunday the defense yet again surrendered a huge lead and almost gave away the game. I mentioned on twitter that we can't continue to claim to have an elite defense when stuff like that happens. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that we shouldn't be so worried because Eli Manning is a super bowl winning top tier quarterback in this league. Thats not something we should be ashamed of...right?
Well then I went back and looked at the games and if you overlook the Texans game and the first Saints game (early in the season before the offense found a groove), all of the close games we've had this season have been against these quarterbacks, Russell Wilson (yes he's a top tier QB, get over it), Andrew Luck (same), Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Eli Manning. All other games have been blow outs and these have been against Jameis Winston, Sam Bradford, Marcus Mariota, Kirk Cousins, Tony Romo, and Matt Ryan. Not exactly top QBs.
The close games all happened a little differently, Luck, Rodgers, and Manning all brought their teams back from big deficits after starting poorly while Wilson and Brees hung with us the whole game to have Cam win out in the end.
So knowing this there are really two major questions we have to ask ourselves (and I will give my thoughts):
1) Why are these QBs having such success against our defense?
The short answer to this is that we just don't have a consistent pass rush. Against average QBs we can send a variety of blitzes and use coverage schemes to confuse these QBs which lead to a lot of coverage sacks. But great QBs will find the hot route and take away the blitz, and they can also buy time in the pocket and find open receivers against zone coverages.
Our front four just can't get to the QB, and great signal callers take advantage of that over and over. For example, when we get a big lead, as with Green Bay, New York, and Indy, we started playing more deep zone. This is when the front four is supposed to pin their ears back and go after the QB, but they just can't. QBs have plenty of time in the pocket to find receivers. Its no coincidence that many of the victories we've had against these QBs have been with some pressure towards the end, like Luke against Luck or Short against Rodgers.
Long story short we need to find a pass rush, or at the very least find a way to mask the problem.
2) How will this problem affect the playoffs?
Again, the short answer is that it will make for a lot of close games. There are so few average QBs in the playoffs. Chances are that we have to face Rodgers and Wilson to get to the Super Bowl where we will probably face either Brady or Roethlisberger. Those are the four teams that we don't matchup well against, and that simply depends on how you feel about Carson Palmer, who many people feel is a top level QB.
I mean, I still think we can beat these teams but it only takes one mistake to end a season in the playoffs. And a defense that can't hold up against top QBs is something to be concerned about. I firmly believe that we will always have a chance as long as Cam keeps playing at this level, but its just something to keep an eye on. And I will admit that there aren't many defenses in the league that can always hold up against Top QBs (look at Denver this weekend) but we are going to have to go through some of these guys to get to and win a championship. The lack of a pass rush could make for a shorter playoff run than many are expecting.
What do you guys think?