12-05-2024, 12:37 PM
(12-04-2024, 06:46 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: sure I get that, but Bates did admit to not playing his best those years. and yea, his pff grades reflect that. Those 2 years stick out. So if Bates actually played like Bates has the other years in his career(2018-2020 and 23-24), a lot of people who want Lou gone wouldnt be so quick to call his 21 and 22 defenses "lucky". Those defenses were still pretty good even with their best player underperforming all season.
Like if Bates was currently playing like he did in 21 and 22, the falcons would be beneath the bucs
I mean, this is comical level of coping. We're using hypotheticals to justify Lou's "best" two years could have been better. Sure, let's live in this fantasy land where we evaluate outcomes based on how players could have played (which you can do with any team and any coach).
Say Bates plays well in 2021 and 2022 and our defense is a bit better 10-15 range, we still have 4/6 years being a terrible defense under Lou.
2019: 29th ypg, 25th ppg
2020: 26th ypg, 22nd ppg
2021: You're hypothetical good defense
2022: You're hypothetical good defense
2023: 31st ypg , 21st ppg
2024: 27th ypg, 31st ppg
So even if you squint and convince yourself of whatever you're trying to in 2021 & 2022, we have 4 out of 6 years of terrible defenses.
