Hey, SSOG. How about that "great" DEN pass D? Man, the "overrated" run D sure did a poor job against one of the best if not the best rushing team in the playoffs, huh?
DEN repeatedly stops the PIT running game in the 1st half, leaving Roethlisberger in multiple 3rd & longs. How does the "great" DEN pass D react? Well, they give the WRs a 10-15 yd cushion and Roethlisberger just plays pitch & catch the whole time, scorching DEN for 6/7 3rd down conversions, almost all of them longer than 3rd & 6. Check it out: first PIT drive, 3rd & 3, 3rd & 7, 3rd & 6 - 2 of 3 converted ending in a FG. 2nd PIT drive, 3rd & 8 converted ending in a passing TD where Champ Bailey got completely turned around by that stud WR Cedric Wilson. 3rd PIT drive, 3rd & 10, 3rd & 9, 3rd & 8 - all converted ending in a chippy rushing TD for Bettis.
6/7 3rd down conversions, only 1 from 3 yds, the others between 6 and 10 yds in the 1st half.
In the meantime, the DEN run D allows 13 rushes by RBs for 37 yds for a 2.85 ypc, and overall including QB scrambles & a reverse to Ward allows 16 rushes for 49 yds for a 3.06 ypc in the 1st half. PIT finishes with 33 carries for 90 yds for a 2.73 ypc - this is a PIT team that put up an average of 128 ypg in the playoffs & 138 ypg in the regular season.
Roethlisberger goes 21/29 for 275 yds & 2 TDs, and rarely had to make anything close to an accurate throw because his guys were so wide open.
DEN's D dominated the PIT run game, but the pass D was so atrocious that DEN never had a chance in the game. PIT could have scored another 2 TDs if they had stayed committed to throwing the football.
Next time you decide to lecture & admonish us about the Broncos, know what you're talking about. You clearly don't here. The regular season stats back that, the playoff stats back that, and mere knowledgeable observation all season certainly backs that.
Right. The true way to measure a defense is by how they perform in a single game. And Philadelphia has the best run defense in the entire NFL, since they held Tomlinson, the best back in the league, to 7 yards on 17 carries. Right, Pony Boy? Philadelphia's the #1 run defense, right? I have a feeling you'd be singing a different tune entirely if Denver's pass defense hadn't dropped those 4 INTs. If Denver's pass defense gets those 4 INTs, than the yardage totals don't mean a thing. I suspect you wouldn't be strutting around gloating about how I know nothing at all about football then, now would you?Again, I stand by my assertion that the way to judge a defense is not, as you seem to think, by how they performed in their most recent game, BUT RATHER BY HOW THEY PERFORMED OVER THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE SEASON. I have challenged you MULTIPLE times to tell me what stats are unbiased, what stats I can use to argue my case. And you have declined MULTIPLE TIMES, perhaps because you understand that no matter WHAT dataset you give me, the numbers will say that, on a per-play basis, Denver is average against the run and strong against the pass.
What numbers give an unbiased reflection of Denver's defense? Do you want me to just use the defensive snaps when the game was tied? Or do you want me to just use the first quarter stats? Maybe you only want the stats from when the game is scoreless, or from when Denver is behind, or from when Denver is ahead, or whatever. You tell me what stats you want me to use, and I will argue my case.
Come on, Pony, if you're so right, this shouldn't be so difficult. I'm letting you CHOOSE WHICH STATS I CAN USE. I'm stacking the deck in your favor here and challenging you, because I'm so confident that I can still beat you. So if you really want to act all superior, stop shrinking from my challenge. Tell me what stats you think give an unbiased view of Denver's defense, and I'll pull up the stats from those situations and compare them to league averages.
And don't you dare try to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about. You've been antagonistic from day 1, every time I disagreed with you. You use ad hominem arguements, and attack my knowledge, my integrity, my passion as a fan... pretty much everything except my arguements themselves. I could have dropped a "you have no idea what you're talking about" on you after you were wrong about Mike Anderson, but I didn't- despite how much you provoked me- because I understand that you DO know what you're talking about, and that you provide a different perspective. I could have told you that you are clueless and shouldn't even get into arguements with me when you were going on about how bad of a GM Mike Shanahan is (I challenge you to find one guy who had a better offseason), but I'm not going to go there because I know that even knowledgeable fans are wrong sometimes.
P.S. It's funny that you made this arguement and provided stats backing it up, since you're the one who says that stats are unreliable, and that situation trumps everything. From where I sat, Denver was crowding the line of scrimmage all day, which is great for stopping the running game, but not as great for stopping the pass. But I suppose stats are only reliable when they support your arguement. I say it again... tell me what stats are reliable and unbiased, and I will show that, per play, Denver's passing defense ranks among the best in the league, and Denver's running defense ranks as marginally above average.
