Hear me out. I think we have this impression that our run-defense has been terrible (which it has), but I think these issues could be severely compounded with others. Our pass defense is pretty solid, especially with all their youth - it's one of the few bright spots on our team. But let's go over a brief outline of any one of the blowouts we've been a part of.

 

1.Other team scores first.

2.We get off field with at most a field goal.

3. Other team scores again, bringing them up two scores.

4. Offense starts airing it out and running two-yard draws, resulting in very low time of possession. We rarely score, and turn the ball back over to our tired defense.

5. They expand the lead, and start running the ball in order to run out the clock.

6. We lose. Inevitably.

 

The bolded is the point. Our defense has been on the field so much that their stats are, I believe, unnaturally inflated. Now, I am not saying our defense is good, or even average - I just think we're not as bad on that side of the ball as the statistics tell (and this is coming from a big fan of analytics). It doesn't matter the defense; if they are on the field too long, they will give up yards, and if the other team is ahead; those yards will be on the ground.

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