10-09-2015, 01:11 PM
(10-09-2015, 12:57 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Nope. I don't give that kind of praise without much thought. I do remember how I felt about the Bengals in 2005, even after week 4. Everyone was super pumped about Carson because he was in the process of tying the NFL record for most consecutive games with a 100+ passer rating.
Despite some pretty skewed early season stats, I'm pretty sure most rational people will conclude that the current defense is better than the 2005 version. That defense was great at forcing turnovers (18 int's came against the NFCN), but I'd trust this D in key moments over that one. Wouldn't you?
The offenses are a push, imo.
This team is more mature, more tested, and more experienced than 2005 as well. So yes, I feel they are better, and no, it's not because they're the shiny new object. I'm not one to just blindly say this every year. I've never said a team was better than 2005 or 2013.
I know you aren't the type to do that, but I honestly just can't believe you that you knew exactly how you felt about the team after 4 weeks into a football season that happened 10 years ago. Sure, I can say that I probably was happy about the team too, but it's really tough to compare our feelings of how great we thought the team was at that point compared to what we're seeing and talking about right now. It's not just that they're the "shiny new object", just that it's much, much more fresh in our minds and possibly skewing the thought process when making the comparisons.
You can say the stats are skewed however much you'd like, but the facts are there and our defense wasn't giving up points through 4 weeks in 2005. Under 10 PPG is extremely impressive. I don't think many rational people would take our current defense over a group that wasn't letting the other team score more than 1-2 times in a game. We can judge the 2005 team based on the whole story because we know it now, which seems like what you're doing now. Only look at the first 4 games and base your thoughts on that alone. Is this defense "better"? I don't think that's fair to say. Even if you take out the garbage time points from the other team, the 2005 defense was still much more stingy on letting the opposition score than the current team.
WTS, I believe the 2015 defense will be seen as the better unit by the end of the year, but through 4 weeks the 2005 team looked unreal.
