Why is it

[theplatypus]

when the offense gives away 13 points some people blame the defense? The defense gave up ONE ****ING DRIVE and was within inches of ending that drive, but they're the problem. In two games our offense has killed 10 drives by committing turnovers, but by and large the defense gets the blame. Oh I know IF, IF, IF someone had caught the ball

[cloppbeast]

I agree.

People don't want to blame the golden boy. That's my opinion.

[theplatypus]

They live in some fantasy world spouting off about if this and if that.

[SteeleReign]

Not a fantasy. If you want to pretend that the defense is fine you do that. Watch the game again. If Manning completes 50% of the missed throws by Collins/Painter we would have been playing catch-up - and it's no stretch to assume that.

Sure, our offense is looking pathetic too. But, I hold the defese in higher regard than the offense. I knew that our o-line would struggle, Ben would hold the ball too long, Mendy would dance around, and Arians would be Arians.

I didn't expect little to no pass rush by the LBs, little to no push by the DL, missed assignments by the DBs, lazy play by the D as a whole. And a complete disappearing act by Woodley.

Alll I'm saying is that the defensive play so far surprises & concerns me more.

[theplatypus]

There's one of the if's and but's crowd now, spewing forth more if's and but's. WOW! I bet no one saw that coming.

[theplatypus]

Are the if's and but's a subset of the sky is falling crowd or a separate entity?

[Rockonsteel]

The defense got no pressure on the qb. One sack, which generated the first defensive turnover of the season 12 quarters into the season. They still have zero ints. That's against J. Flacco, Tavarus Jackson, Kerry Collins & Curtis Painter.(Meabwhile the Bills intercepted Brady 4 times...wow!) They were getting gashed by the Colts rushing game. They were very fortunate that Painter overthrew Garcon on that play. And they allowed a bad 3rd string qb with no game experience to lead an 80 drive down the field at the end of the game, and frankly, he made it look easy.

So, while the offense deserves their share of the blame, the defense has not exactly been stellar. In fact they've looked rather pefdestrian for the most part. While they are not THE problem, they are certainly part of the problem, and certainly not providing a whole lot of solutions in the form of turnovers, sacks, and the like.

Right now, this whole team is stinking, through and through, with the exception of a couple individual efforts in each game. Offense stinks, defense is mediocre and special teams aren't really doing anything all that special. And the whole coaching staff(Tomlin, LeBeau and the guy who calls play for the offense), has done a bad job thus far, of having this team ready to avenge last years SB loss.


Rockon

[SteeleReign]

Originally Posted by theplatypus

There's one of the if's and but's crowd now, spewing forth more if's and but's. WOW! I bet no one saw that coming.

Sure...call me crazy, but I'd put my money on Manning making a difference for Indy's offense. Would we have lost? Who knows? This argument boils down to the fact that you think our offense is worse than our defense, and I feel the opposite. Pretty sad that we have to debate this.

Let me just say that a win next week over the Texans could make me change my mind.

[Curtain_of_Steel]

Not the D's fault. Although I would like to know what Lebeau was thinking playing 2 D lineman most of the game. Only late did we have 3 out there. Having 2 allows for some running.

Wasn't really Bens fault, you can't have LB's in your kock after the first step back. They think getting to the SB was a success based off the Oline, so they dont have to fix it. We have a ton of money out there and we are not fixing the holes.

[SteeleReign]

Originally Posted by Rockonsteel

The defense got no pressure on the qb. One sack, which generated the first defensive turnover of the season 12 quarters into the season. They still have zero ints. That's against J. Flacco, Tavarus Jackson, Kerry Collins & Curtis Painter.(Meabwhile the Bills intercepted Brady 4 times...wow!) They were getting gashed by the Colts rushing game. They were very fortunate that Painter overthrew Garcon on that play. And they allowed a bad 3rd string qb with no game experience to lead an 80 drive down the field at the end of the game, and frankly, he made it look easy.

So, while the offense deserves their share of the blame, the defense has not exactly been stellar. In fact they've looked rather pefdestrian for the most part. While they are not THE problem, they are certainly part of the problem, and certainly not providing a whole lot of solutions in the form of turnovers, sacks, and the like.

Right now, this whole team is stinking, through and through, with the exception of a couple individual efforts in each game. Offense stinks, defense is mediocre and special teams aren't really doing anything all that special. And the whole coaching staff(Tomlin, LeBeau and the guy who calls play for the offense), has done a bad job thus far, of having this team ready to avenge last years SB loss.


Rockon

Well said. I'm just more surprised that our D has been so lackluster. Whereas, I expected this from our offense - no surprise at all.