Give Millhouse His Due

[OrangePA]

The Giants, Packers and Patriots all have pretty inept defenses - at least statistically.

The Patriots and Packers give up the most yardage in the NFL. The Saints are No. 24 and the Giants are No. 27 in yards given up.

And yet, with their high-powered passing games - the Saints, Patriots and Packers are one, two, three in the League - the Giants are five - Green Bay, New England, NY (and up until yesterday, New Orleans) are all in the hunt for the Super Bowl.

I guess it now may be true - regrettably in my view - the game has truly become a game of offense or I should say passing offense.

 

[CIL]

This directly coincides with all the rule changes put in place to protect QB's and WR's. Lockdown CB's are getting harder and harder to find, if you can find one at all. No face guarding, no touching at all after five yards, no more chuck cecil type hits over the middle. Throw in the NFL protecting QB's like no other: no touching the head, no hits below the knee, only able to take one step into the QB, etc. Now you have QB's with a bit more time and wr's running open.

 

[OrangePA]

This directly coincides with all the rule changes put in place to protect QB's and WR's. Lockdown CB's are getting harder and harder to find, if you can find one at all. No face guarding, no touching at all after five yards, no more chuck cecil type hits over the middle. Throw in the NFL protecting QB's like no other: no touching the head, no hits below the knee, only able to take one step into the QB, etc. Now you have QB's with a bit more time and wr's running open.

I listened to Mike Francesa this morning. His weekly guest Phil Simms bemoaned all of what you have listed.

When Mike responded that while he agreed with Phil, the League will never revert to the old rules until TV ratings drop.

Phil said something that I have believed and have tried to articulate on this board - though I have not done so all that well.

He said fans appreciate offense more than defense because offensive football is easier to understand than defensive football.

I truly believe that.

And I truly believe that's why the offensive coaches at SU have taken more heat than the defensive coaches over the years - because offensive football is easier to see and observe than defensive football.

 

[bnoro]

The Giants, Packers and Patriots all have pretty inept defenses - at least statistically.

And yet, with their high-powered offenses and great QBs they are all in the hunt for the Super Bowl.

I guess it now may be true - regrettably in my view - the game has truly become a game of offense.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the Pats won yesterday because their defense held the Broncos under 100 yards in the first half, and 250 for the whole game, including garbage time. Sure, the offense played a role in making the Broncos play catchup, but you can't discredit the Pats D this game. Their best performance of the year.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

The Giants, Packers and Patriots all have pretty inept defenses - at least statistically.

The Patriots and Packers give up the most yardage in the NFL. The Saints are No. 24 and the Giants are No. 27 in yards given up.

And yet, with their high-powered passing games - the Saints, Patriots and Packers are one, two, three in the League - the Giants are five - Green Bay, New England, NY (and up until yesterday, New Orleans) are all in the hunt for the Super Bowl.

I guess it now may be true - regrettably in my view - the game has truly become a game of offense or I should say passing offense.

I disagree... A really good offense is going to give the opponent more chances to rack up yards. When you look at the personnel on these teams, there is no way I would ever come close to calling them inept.

 

[Marsh01]

Actually, I'm pretty sure the Pats won yesterday because their defense held the Broncos under 100 yards in the first half, and 250 for the whole game, including garbage time. Sure, the offense played a role in making the Broncos play catchup, but you can't discredit the Pats D this game. Their best performance of the year.

They played great but any team left in this tournament would have done the same. Lets be real here. Do it against Baltimore or Houston next week and we will see.

 

[bnoro]

They played great but any team left in this tournament would have done the same. Lets be real here. Do it against Baltimore or Houston next week and we will see.

Well, the Steelers gave up 500.

 

[Marsh01]

Well, the Steelers gave up 500.

Hey I give them credit for playing well. Lets just not put this into the same category as the 85 Bears.

 

[Upstate]

This directly coincides with all the rule changes put in place to protect QB's and WR's. Lockdown CB's are getting harder and harder to find, if you can find one at all. No face guarding, no touching at all after five yards, no more chuck cecil type hits over the middle. Throw in the NFL protecting QB's like no other: no touching the head, no hits below the knee, only able to take one step into the QB, etc. Now you have QB's with a bit more time and wr's running open.

The only kind of athlete that can cover the new-age WR is becoming a WR and not a CB. The 6-4, 230lb WR is going to be the norm. He runs like a gazelle, has a 35" vertical, and is as strong as the linebackers. The Dez Bryant, Megatron, Andre Johnson, Julio Jones, Justin Blackmon in a few years, mold is the new look of the WR1. You really need someone that size and in that makeup to cover those guys. Patrick Peterson may be that revolutionary corner that is over 6' and over 200lbs that can keep up with these guys.

 

[Millhouse]

This directly coincides with all the rule changes put in place to protect QB's and WR's. Lockdown CB's are getting harder and harder to find, if you can find one at all. No face guarding, no touching at all after five yards, no more chuck cecil type hits over the middle. Throw in the NFL protecting QB's like no other: no touching the head, no hits below the knee, only able to take one step into the QB, etc. Now you have QB's with a bit more time and wr's running open.

OPA, thanks. CIL I think that's a smaller part of it than just slow evolution in coaching metality. there weren't teams running so much shotgun and spread out WRs back in the chuck cecil, jack tatum days. personally i think blaming the rules changes is the meatheadish response to the success passing offenses. the old guard hates that the game has changed and they blame the rules rather than reevaluating their own views. I don't think you're a meathead. You're kinda of a boca burger head, I'd say

 

[Cheriehoop]

Happy Birthday Millhouse. Between this thread and your birthday - I bet your hat size now would fit Chip's impressive cranium .

 

[JoeSU]

As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast my friend...
The #1 and #3 ranked NFL offenses never even made it to the conference final. The Giants and Ravens clearly won today with their defense. The only "offense-oriented" team remaining is New England.

 

[Millhouse]

As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast my friend...
The #1 and #3 ranked NFL offenses never even made it to the conference final. The Giants and Ravens clearly won today with their defense. The only "offense-oriented" team remaining is New England.

manning throws for 2 less YPG than rodgers. last in the NFL in rushing. bottom 6 in defense (worse than Buffalo's defense)

8th in offense, 27th in defense.

defense oriented?

 

[JoeSU]

manning throws for 2 less YPG than rodgers. last in the NFL in rushing. bottom 6 in defense (worse than Buffalo's defense)

8th in offense, 27th in defense.

defense oriented?

If I understood your post, I was referring to how the teams fared this weekend.
My point is one of the man reasons the Giants will be playing in the NFC title game is because they were able to limit the high-powered Packers offense to 20 pts (who came in averaging 35 pts/game).
Similarly, the 49ers advanced because they were successful limiting the #1 ranked Saint offense to 17 pts over almost the entire game (except the final 4 mins).
The Ravens moved on to the AFC title game almost entirely on the backs of their defense and ST play.

 

[SWC75]

I agree that the weekend was more about defense than offense. The 49er's defense got those key turnovers early. The Pat's statistically bad defense strangled Tebow' offense when the Steelers couldn't do the same. Baltimore-Houston was all about defesne. And the Giant's defense dominated the Packers.

 

[Millhouse]

packers offense looked bad. Packers o coordinators kid died. 49ers scored alot and probably gave up most yards and points as they had all year I am guessing. Will check that later.

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