2025-2026 NFL Season Thread

[Tony208]

Bears are worse

[walruswarrior]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Don't kid yourself. The Dallas D is still the worst in the league, they just mask it with time of possession by the offense.

No. Ours is pretty terrible. And the Bears is pretty bad as well.

Oakland is pretty bad as well. I was going to say TB, but they have improved to mediocre over the past couple of weeks.

[rickah88]

Nice! Looks like I won the first battle in my playoff game: Alshon Jeffery vs. Dez Bryant. Sure wish Jeffery would've have 5 more receiving yards to hit the 100yd bonus, but I'll take the 7pt lead.

[jwerk]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Don't kid yourself. The Dallas D is still the worst in the league, they just mask it with time of possession by the offense.

I would've agreed with you before the season, but after 13 weeks, they've proven themselves to be serviceable. Not top ten, but not the worst either.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by jwerk

I would've agreed with you before the season, but after 13 weeks, they've proven themselves to be serviceable. Not top ten, but not the worst either.

22nd overall, going into last night's game. In the 20's in both run/pass. So not even a top 20 defense.
Be that as it may, they are 9-4 and that's the stat that matters most.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by rickah88

22nd overall, going into last night's game. In the 20's in both run/pass. So not even a top 20 defense.
Be that as it may, they are 9-4 and that's the stat that matters most.

Dallas is 28th in opponent's 3rd down conversion percentage.
23rd in opponent's rushing yards/play.
20th in opponent's passing yards/play.
28th in sacks.
21st in opposing passer rating.

And the thing is, ALL of these are with Dallas' D being on the field very little. Dallas is 5th in time of possession. If they were on the field 5 more minutes/game, like they would have been with last year's offense since Murray was hurt, these numbers would all get much worse.

Saying Dallas' D is the worst may be overstated, but they are up there with the worst. When they get tired, like they were against Philly, good lord they are bad.

[Tony208]

Most important stat is points allowed and they're 17th at 23.2.

[TitansFan4Life]

Considering the players they have, that defense has been as good as it possibly could be.

Marinelli deserves a lot of credit because on paper the defense got way worse this year... and it was 32nd last year.

I honestly thought it was going to be the worst defense in league history... No Ware, no Lee (IR), no Hatcher... I thought for sure the Cowboys would win no more than 5 games. They've been the biggest surprise and the most impressive team this year.

I hope they don't choke in the playoffs.

[Agent Bond]

Oh, what a...RUSH!

[Tony208]

And I thought the Jets running 49 to 13 passes was Rex sticking it to management.

Incredibly, the lopsided run-pass ratio in that game was more Mornhinweg sticking it to Ryan, both a Jets player and a management source said.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/12/...rex-ryans-jets

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by TitansFan4Life

Considering the players they have, that defense has been as good as it possibly could be.

Marinelli deserves a lot of credit because on paper the defense got way worse this year... and it was 32nd last year.

I honestly thought it was going to be the worst defense in league history... No Ware, no Lee (IR), no Hatcher... I thought for sure the Cowboys would win no more than 5 games. They've been the biggest surprise and the most impressive team this year.

I hope they don't choke in the playoffs.

That's assuming they make the playoffs.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Most important stat is points allowed and they're 17th at 23.2.

Points allowed is most important.

It also has less to do with the quality of the defense than the stats I listed earlier. DeMarco Murray has more to do with that number as an individual than any player on the defense.

[TitansFan4Life]

Originally Posted by rickah88

That's assuming they make the playoffs.

True... Their next two games (Eagles and Colts) are going to be tough. They may end up in the same scenario where they need to win the finale to make the playoffs.

They really blew it losing to Colt McCoy and the Redskins. That may come back to haunt them... and if they do it again week 17, Garrett will be a goner.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Points allowed is most important.

It also has less to do with the quality of the defense than the stats I listed earlier. DeMarco Murray has more to do with that number as an individual than any player on the defense.

A guy on the sideline makes more of an impact than the defense that is making plays? Cowboys D is making key stops in games that they wouldn't have in previous years.

[Tony208]

Biebs visited the Pats. Count this as a win for Chargers.

[Adrock]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Biebs visited the Pats. Count this as a win for Chargers.

[Show spoiler]

[Navster]

Lol, that's hilarious

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Biebs visited the Pats. Count this as a win for Chargers.

[Show spoiler]

Nah, Brady is in the film room. He doesn't have time for that nonsense.

[Show spoiler]Unless he's the one taking the pic!

[TitansFan4Life]

Originally Posted by Tony208

A guy on the sideline makes more of an impact than the defense that is making plays? Cowboys D is making key stops in games that they wouldn't have in previous years.

What you said is true, but Murray definitely has a huge impact.

He keeps offenses off the field for long periods of time, which then prevents these opposing offenses from making as many plays as they would otherwise.

The same can be said for teams with awful offenses... that makes your defense much worse than what it could be due to three and outs, horrible field position, and being on the field for too long. As a Titans fan, I know this all too well.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by TitansFan4Life

What you said is true, but Murray definitely has a huge impact.

He keeps offenses off the field for long periods of time, which then prevents these opposing offenses from making as many plays as they would otherwise.

The same can be said for teams with awful offenses... that makes your defense much worse than what it could be due to three and outs, horrible field position, and being on the field for too long. As a Titans fan, I know this all too well.

Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles would disagree with that.
Chip has flat out said time of possession is a useless stat, and the Eagles are proving that with their up-tempo offense. Philly's defense has played quite a few snaps. I don't know the exact number, but they have to be up there.
As long as the offense does it's job, and puts points on the board, it doesn't matter how long they are out there.

"Lies, damn lies and statistics"