Figured, I’d make this point here in the wake of Ken Norton Jr. being fired as Seahawks DC.
First, I am NOT supporting Norton and am very happy with a change. But facts are important and the best way to express those facts is with the actual data and not with fanboy/girl emotions, which, let’s be honest, we all have.
This is the defensive scoring data from this year, regular season, and a couple points here. One is that there were 12 teams within a (my selected) range of 1.1 points from each other (that’s almost half the entire NFL) and we were right in the middle of this crowd at 21.5 tied with the 49ers, Cards, and Colts, all teams we beat (at least once) this year with a (relatively) healthy RW3. And 8 of those 12 teams were/are all in the playoffs.
All the green dots that I put next to those teams listed were all playoff teams, and it’s of note that the Eagles, the Bangals (now advancing the AFC title game), and Steelers were a nudge below the others but still playoff teams.
So, it is true that we gave a boatload of yards up, being 5th from the bottom (the Chiefs were 6th, by the way, traditionally high powered offenses like their’s are always tough on their own defenses, which has kept these types of teams from winning Super Bowls, on balance, before)…BUT we were absolutely fiercely competitive with defensive scoring and were right in the pack of most of the playoff teams as well (and better than both the Packers and the Rams).
Last note, we were the only team that kept Rodgers to 17 or less. The Packers lost to the Cheifs 13-7 just one game before our game with them but that was Rodgers’s COVID game that he was out. So, unfortunately for the Packers, Jordan Love started where he had a seriously lousy 70 passer rating. lol
While it is true that Rodgers probably still had some COVID hangover and wasn’t in top form, and given the fact that it was also RW3’s first game back, where he was CLEARLY not ready to come back, and we were goose egged on the score baord, however keeping that offense to only 17 points when they were averaging almost twice that for the whole season was really insane, and it deserves some high praise.
Anyway, just talking football here, that’s all. Feel free to comment here if you like.
CK 🙂