NFL 2012 Off-Season Thread

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Droford Im sure that theres a bunch of people who love a 62-51 game more than anything in the world, but football without defense is pointless to me. If you aren't going to try to stop the other team, why the hell even put a defense on the field.

Shut up. The average points per game per NFL team was 22.2 this season. Do you know what it was back in 1985 when everyone was copying the 46? 21.8. 1995? 21.5 Do you know what it was back in 1965? 23.1.

The sky is not falling. The changes aren't so drastic that they're affecting the game or making it unwatchable.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/scoring.htm

[Krimzon7]

Originally Posted by Next Big Thing Shut up. The average points per game per NFL team was 22.2 this season. Do you know what it was back in 1985 when everyone was copying the 46? 21.8. 1995? 21.5 Do you know what it was back in 1965? 23.1. The sky is not falling. The changes aren't so drastic that they're affecting the game or making it unwatchable. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/scoring.htm

I have gotten used to the fact that the I formation, the pro set, and various running related aspects of the game are being phased out. My gripe (and I know you're responding to somebody else, but this inspired me to post with rationality-which you do a lot) is that the powers that be are phasing out the physicality that literally gives defenses any shred of hope to affect a game. The 49ers were so goddamn good this year cause they played throwback defense. Those DB's played like mike singletary. These guys hit, they don't make any bones about the bad intentions with how they play. I can guarantee they had a bounty system.

It's just a way of life, blame whoever made the choice to release injury reports for this madness. It's literally the escalation that was bound to happen from such an occurrence. Coaches, players, GM's et al are all pretty much playing week to week for their jobs. Why wouldn't I gameplan, and incent towards a teams weakest link?


There has to be something in the Art of War relating to this...

[Droford]

Originally Posted by Next Big Thing Shut up. The average points per game per NFL team was 22.2 this season. Do you know what it was back in 1985 when everyone was copying the 46? 21.8. 1995? 21.5 Do you know what it was back in 1965? 23.1. The sky is not falling. The changes aren't so drastic that they're affecting the game or making it unwatchable. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/scoring.htm

Looking over the stats, the scoring was the highest its been in the 32 team era dating back to 02, and 3 of the last 4 seasons have been at 22 ppg or more. As for 1985, the following 9 years showed a huge drop off in team average scoring, with at one point the average was 299 points per season vs 344 in 85 and 354 in 2011.

In 1985 there was only 1 QB that threw for over 4,000 yards (Marino). In 2011, there were 10 that threw for over 4,000 and 4 that threw for over 5,000. I would dare say that in the era of protected QBs and rules against defenders that you could see a 6,000 yard passing season from someone in the next couple of years (its only about 30 yards per game more to what Brees did last year to get to 6000). Some of this has come at the expense of the running game..which is another argument entirely.

2011 had 3 of the top 12 highest scoring teams in NFL History (Packers #2 35.0, Saints #4 34.2 and Patriots #12 32.1) 5 of the top 12 are 2007 or later (the 2007 Patriots #1 and 2010 Patriots #10)

The 2011 Bucs were the 7th worst team in points allowed (30.9).

Im a big fan of defense..and you cannot say that the rule changes the nfl has made over the last couple years have been in any favor of the defenses.

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Droford Looking over the stats, the scoring was the highest its been in the 32 team era dating back to 02, and 3 of the last 4 seasons have been at 22 ppg or more. As for 1985, the following 9 years showed a huge drop off in team average scoring, with at one point the average was 299 points per season vs 344 in 85 and 354 in 2011. In 1985 there was only 1 QB that threw for over 4,000 yards (Marino). In 2011, there were 10 that threw for over 4,000 and 4 that threw for over 5,000. I would dare say that in the era of protected QBs and rules against defenders that you could see a 6,000 yard passing season from someone in the next couple of years (its only about 30 yards per game more to what Brees did last year to get to 6000). Some of this has come at the expense of the running game..which is another argument entirely. 2011 had 3 of the top 12 highest scoring teams in NFL History (Packers #2 35.0, Saints #4 34.2 and Patriots #12 32.1) 5 of the top 12 are 2007 or later (the 2007 Patriots #1 and 2010 Patriots #10) The 2011 Bucs were the 7th worst team in points allowed (30.9). Im a big fan of defense..and you cannot say that the rule changes the nfl has made over the last couple years have been in any favor of the defenses.

You are so flawed. Not just in life, but in the way you present your arguments. For whatever reason, you provide all of this offensive data, but neglect to acknowledge the actual defensive statistics.

All the rules related to hits and quarterback protection were implemented in the 2009 season. That year, the average team scored 21.5 points per game. The Saints, Vikings, Colts and Jets were the teams that made it to the conference championships. All of those teams, except the Saints, had a defenses ranked in the TOP 10. Those were some good offenses in that mix too, so that season would prove your point except for the fact that in the following two seasons, 5 of the 8 teams that played in the Conference championship had better defenses than they did offenses.

In 2010, the average team scored 22 points per game (same PPG as the 2008 year in the period before the rule changes). The Steelers, Jets, Packers and Bears were the teams that made it to the conference championships. All of those teams, except for the Jets, had a defense ranked in the TOP 5. The Jets were #6. Of those teams, only the Packers had a TOP 10 overall offense.

In 2011, the average team scored 22.2 points per game. The Giants, 49ers, Ravens and Patriots made it to the conference championships. The Ravens and 49ers were the #2 and #3 ranked defenses respectively. The Patriots were 15 and the Giants were 25. Neither the Jets or Ravens had TOP 10 offenses either. Don't forget that both of those teams had a shit ton of luck (i.e., fumbles, missed field goals) getting to the Superbowl in those Conference games. It's not like the offenses for the Giants and Patriots went out and won 45-6.

So how is it that top defenses are hampered, yet in the three seasons since the major rule changes, 9 of the 12 teams playing in the conference championships were TOP 10 defensively and in many cases carried their offenses? Also, the NFL is a copycat league. With every team running some version of the Spread, it makes sense for passing yards to go up. However, if you look at the number of total touchdowns top defenses gave up in 2011 and compare them to the total number of touchdowns in 2001, 2002, 2003, etc... you'll see that the numbers are less or almost identical.