We all said ZT couldn't coach...

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(12-08-2022, 07:14 AM)Synric Wrote: Bengals were 17th in scoring defense in 2021 with 21.8 points allowed per game. Tampa Bay was 7th with 20.9... The difference between the Bengals being 17th and a top 5 scoring defense was 1.2 points per game...

In 2022 Bengals are 13th with 21.3 points per game with alot of the top 10 teams hovering around 18 to 19 points per game allowed.


For me scoring defense isnt something you worry about the "Ranking" it's about being around that 21 points per game or lower. 21 is the sweet spot for good NFL defenses. 

Except it's all about how to stack up against your peers in that year. In 2020 the league average points scored was 24.8, in 2022 it's 21.9, and that's nearly 3 points difference. You can't just give a static number of "good" because things in the NFL can change year-to-year and numbers that were good last year might not be good this year, or vice versa.

In 2005, 11 teams allowed less than 19 points per game. If you wanted to be top-7, you needed to allow less than 17 points per game, 21.0 points per game would make you 17th, or below average.

In 2009, 21.0 points per game would make you 18th.
In 2015 it would make you 14th.
In 2021 it would make you 7th.
This year 12th.

If a defense in 2009 allows 21 points per game, it would be a worse defense than one that allowed 21 points per game in 2021. 

You say 1.2 points between the Bengals and Patriots as if it's nothing, but that is 14.4 points so far this year (presumably 14, but there was rounding?). The Bengals first 3 losses this year came by a combined 8 points. That could potentially be the difference between them being 8-4 and 11-1. The NFL is often a close game.