This Game Was An Absolute Disgrace

[Bayside44]

There were 15 points scored. Plenty of championships in football have been won by defense first teams. Go tell Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, etc that that they were reactive.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

There were 15 points scored. Plenty of championships in football have been won by defense first teams. Go tell Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, etc that that they were reactive.

I will happily tell them that they're reactive. Ray LEwis can beat the hell out of me, doesn't change the fact that defense is reactive and offense is active.

There is a difference between acknowledging that some teams have a better defensive unit and recognizing that offense is what controls the game. I really have a hard time believing you don't get this.

Games aren't won if points aren't scored. The team that snaps the ball decides where it goes. This isn't difficult.

 

[Bayside44]

I will happily tell them that they're reactive. Ray LEwis can beat the hell out of me, doesn't change the fact that defense is reactive and offense is active.

There is a difference between acknowledging that some teams have a better defensive unit and recognizing that offense is what controls the game. I really have a hard time believing you don't get this.

Games aren't won if points aren't scored. The team that snaps the ball decides where it goes. This isn't difficult.

It's simply not true. Defense on the college level is something that can easily be more controlled than offense, it's something that you can build a program around for a long, long time. Plenty of teams win with defense. Kyle Boller for the Ravens can only win when his defense just kicks tail. Programs that have longevity, take a VT, are built on defense.

I am done with this.

 

[Cusefan95]

No. Defense was well executed, but it didn't control the game. It was reactive. Defense can't be anything but reactive. The offenses made/makes the decisions.

Good defense can absolutely demoralize an offense. Christ, the Ravens won a Super Bowl with Freakin' Trent Dilfer as their QB! Arguing that your odds of winning are better with a strong offense is one thing, arguing that defense can't control a game makes me question if you actually, you know, watch games...

 

[Bayside44]

Pardon me, got my Ravens stiff QBs mixed up.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Good defense can absolutely demoralize an offense. Christ, the Ravens won a Super Bowl with Freakin' Trent Dilfer as their QB! Arguing that your odds of winning are better with a strong offense is one thing, arguing that defense can't control a game makes me question if you actually, you know, watch games...

Who said that good defense can't demoralize an offense? I'm talking about the simple fact that defense is reactive. Good defense can demoralize an offense, but the offense still decides where the ball goes, meaning the defense is always reacting. There's no other alternative.

Putting aside how much football I may or may not watch, this is really simple. Once the ball is snapped, the offense decides where that ball is headed. When an offense gets demoralized they don't hand the clipboard over to the defense and let them start calling the plays for them. Defense, even when playing outstanding, is always reactive to what the offense does. They might have a reasonable idea of what the offense will do, and might with good scouting and execution be very good at stopping an offense, but the defense doesn't ever make the choice of what actually happens to the ball once it gets snapped. I'm troubled that this seems to be something people are arguing against. Ultimately, I think that choice of what happens to the ball matters.

And that's why offense is so much more important. You can't really control defense. You can stockpile talent, drill fundamentals, scout, gameplan and execute like crazy, but you are not in control because you can't make a choice. With offense though, you are in the driver's seat because you have the opportunity to make choices on the field. That's why to me it's the smart play to load up on offense, because you can control that to a much greater extent. Defense = no control, offense = control over your choice. Doesn't it make sense to put your eggs in the basket of the thing you can control?