Mike Zimmer

[Johnny Cupcakes]

(01-10-2022, 03:20 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They finished with the 18th overall/17th scoring defense. By both yards and points they were below average, despite being absolutely loaded with talent and having one of the healthiest teams in the NFL. They were also 22nd in 3rd down conversion rate allowed and 17th in takeaways.

We're all feeling good because of the first winning and playoffs in awhile, but don't lose sight of reality. Lou is not good and does not get the best out of his guys. He is not the answer.

Although they're 17th overall in scoring, they still beat the league average. I guess this stems from the fact that if they allowed 12 less points on the year, they'd move up to 8th best, but allowing 12 MORE points would only drop them to 18th. They would have had to have allowed 75 more points to drop that 10 spot gap. It's a really tight grouping from 8-17. So...still above average. 

Still, stats are not going to tell the whole tale with this defense, who has given up garbage time yardage in way too many games (don't know how close this is to league average), and who are playing incredibly well together in spite of being cobbled together over the last two seasons, and coming in with no experience or chemistry together.  Coaching that up deserves some praise, while expecting them to still improve in the coming years. 

They pass the eye test in my opinion, and the 18th in yards and 17th in points stats do not paint the whole picture.