FootballOutsiders' DVOA says Best All-Time Defense is.... (1 Viewer)

[JaxBill]

... the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately, they also had the 12th worst offense.

Best offense all-time by DVOA ...'07 Patriots followed by the '10 Patriots.

Expansion Era Bucs made the worst offense twice. '77 and '76 Bucs were 4th and 12th on worst list respectively.

Blaine Gabbert's rookie year gives the 2011 Jags the #17 worst passing offense.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2014/historical-dvoa-estimates

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

I thought this was really interesting, thanks.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

proof you can make stats say anything

 

[Ghost Rider]

proof you can make stats say anything

For what it's worth, the Eagles '91 offense, while not very good, did score 30+ twice (and went over 30 in another thanks to two defensive scores).

And that Eagles D, in the six losses, averaged 21 points allowed, so it's not like they were losing 6-3 games or something.

 

[lbouchard]

Going off of memory, but I think the 91 Eagles were only defense to have both the no.1 defense against the pass and against the rush (I believe in ypg, but I could easily be wrong).

 

[dhockster]

proof you can make stats say anything

For what it's worth, the Eagles '91 offense, while not very good, did score 30+ twice (and went over 30 in another thanks to two defensive scores).

And that Eagles D, in the six losses, averaged 21 points allowed, so it's not like they were losing 6-3 games or something.

Some offensive highlights of that team:

Combined QB's of Cunningham (injured in first game of season), McMahon, Kemp, Goebel, and Ryun combined for 17 TD's, 27 ints, 55.6% completion percentage, 63.2 QB rating. McMahon led the way with 12 TD's, 11 ints, in 12 games.

James Joseph was the leading rusher with 440 yards and a 3.3 average. The team rushing average was 3.1. Based on the report above, that rushing offense was the 17th worst of all time.

The offense turned the ball over 43 times.

Some defensive highlights of that team:

Split with the 1991 Cowboys who made the playoffs and won the super bowl in '92, '93, and '95. In the first meeting of the season in Dallas, held the Cowboys to 90 total yards of offense. Emmitt Smith had 44 yards rushing on 13 attempts. Troy Aikman was sacked 11 times and threw 3 interceptions. In the second meeting of the season, Eagles were leading 10-8 in the fourth quarter, when the special teams gave up an 85 yard punt return to Kelvin Martin. Eagles offense could not come back, and this lost eliminated them from the playoffs.

Split with the 1991 Redskins who, based on the report above was the greatest overall team of all time. Lost the first meeting 23-0 as the Eagles offense only gained 89 yards and turned the ball over 3 times. Redskins had 357 yards of offense which was the only team to gain over 300 yards against the Eagles defense.

Lost to the 11-5 Saints (who had all those great linebackers and a great defense) when the offense had 6 turnovers, lost to the 10-6 49ers when the offense turned the ball over 5 times, and lost to the Cardinals when the offense turned the ball over 6 times. Beat the 11-5 run and shoot Oilers 13-6 in Houston holding the Oilers to 249 yards of offense. Beat the Giants twice who were the defending Super Bowl Champs.

Topping off all of the other deficiencies on this team, This was the first year of coaching for one of the worst head coaches of all time, Rich Kotite. The Eagles were blessed to have Bud Carson run the defense which Buddy Ryan had supplied with all sorts of talent. Carson just refined (and improved) what Ryan had started.

 

[massraider]

85 Bears was the only team I ever saw that had QBs consistently look frightened. Best defense I ever saw.

 

[The Claymaker]

85 Bears was the only team I ever saw that had QBs consistently look frightened. Best defense I ever saw.

Agree 100%, people can talk about any defense they want, but since I have been watching football (about 38 years or so) no defense comes close to the 85 Bears. I know Dan shredded them and he was the perfect guy to do it with his sick fast release, but most other starting QB's ended up finishing the game on the bench jacked up.

 

[Sludge]

The '91 team had the House of Pain game and just about every starter had played in the Body Bag game the previous season. Opposing offensives feared that team week in and week out.

 

[ghostguy123]

Is there somewhere to find stats for just the first 3 quarters of games?

Seems like people use a lot of nitpicking over little stuff in numbers, yet sometimes when a team is up 30-3 with 7 minutes left they just stop "trying", ya know?

Not saying the first 3 quarters says it all, and I realize 4th quarter defense is very important, I just think it would be a pretty useful tool in helping decide who had the best year.

 

[dhockster]

Is there somewhere to find stats for just the first 3 quarters of games?

Seems like people use a lot of nitpicking over little stuff in numbers, yet sometimes when a team is up 30-3 with 7 minutes left they just stop "trying", ya know?

Not saying the first 3 quarters says it all, and I realize 4th quarter defense is very important, I just think it would be a pretty useful tool in helping decide who had the best year.

Excellent point. I think the Football Outsiders guys did factor some of that into their analysis.

 

[Ack88]

Saw both 85 Bears and 91 Eagles play many times, including the Eagles-Cowboys game at the vet, where I incidentally was perpetually under verbal attack for wearing my Aikman jersey.

Would say the difference is razor thin, but I would give the nod to the Eagles. Had that team had even a reasonable offense, it would have been an epic NFC title game between the Eagles and Redskins.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

proof you can make stats say anything

Definitely better to use decades-old anecdotal recollections about one's perception of the effect a defense had on another team's mental state as viewed through television.

 

[dhockster]

The '91 team had the House of Pain game and just about every starter had played in the Body Bag game the previous season. Opposing offensives feared that team week in and week out.

I think the '88 game against the Oilers at the Vet, and the '91 game against the Oilers in Houston, may have provided the blueprint for everyone else on how to beat the run-and-shoot. I think the Oiler receivers are still recovering for the shots they took in those games.