A couple of things stood out to to me watching the playoffs:

1) A great offense will beat a great defense in today's NFL. With new rules governing offensive play it is blatant to me that yes, a good defense is a nice luxury (San Fran), but you HAVE to have a good offense to be a good playoff team.

2) We HAVE TO BE ABLE TO RUN THE BALL if we're going to be an elite team, period. And I'm not talking about picking up 100 yards a game. I'm talking about converting 3rd and 2s at will. I'm talking about sustaining drives with the running game in the 2nd and 4th Qs. I'm talking about a ground game that can kill the clock, keep our D off of the field, and control the game. To do this we have to upgrade our interior OL.

I think you're right on with the Offense/Defense observation. The rules are slanted in the favor offense and pounding the ball in key yardage situations is absolutely a must.

Agree with your viewpoint, but would like to add that one thing that stood out to me was how all 4 teams playing yesterday had better linebacker play than what we have in Detroit. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the Lions FINALLY beefing up our O-line, but don't ignore the deficiencies on defense.

Not to mention, being able to run the ball effectively can give our offense more flexibility on short yardage situations.

QBs are starting to become too valuable. One pro bowl QB is probably worth 3 pro bowl D players.

All 4 teams, that played last weekend, had the ability to shut down the other offense with their defense. Neither game could even be remotely characterized as offensive shoot outs. 3 out of the 4 teams have very good defenses. And NE's defense got better as the season progressed.

Not even 1 team had 400 yards of offense. So, tell me, where do you come up with this?



Because the games that determined the Super Bowl teams were both DEFENSIVE GAMES.

The Patriots are only in the Super Bowl because their rookie CB knocked the ball out of Lee Evans' hands. Or it would have been a Giants vs. Ravens Super Bowl.

As for the other game? Oh yeah! 49ers= Great Defense and Giants= Great Defense.

So, it appears to anyone without an Offense 1st agenda, that DEFENSE is still relevant in the NFL.

I will say however, that defenses do need to evolve now with the modern day TE's. Defensive coordinators need to train a defender to have the sole responsibility of shutting down the TE.

Rob Gronkowski, Vernon Davis, Jason Whitten, Antonio Gates, Adam Pettigrew ( Hey, he's getting there),Tony Gonzalez, and ect. These guys are virtually unstoppable until defenders are trained to specialize at stopping them. Every team needs a TE specialist nowadays.

?

I know what you mean though

LOL. I meant Brandon. I Blame the Mad Cow Disease.

lol thatll do it.

Adam Schefter disease?

I have seriously been exposed to Mad Cow Disease. LOL.

So has Sly.

Anyone who was stationed in Germany back in the 80's in the military was.

They were feeding us British Beef that was later found to be tainted with Mad Cow.

Oh really?? Wow.

Yep. And for a whole summer, they were giving every soldier who wanted it, 2 pounds of free beef per week at the commissary. In the Fall, they announced it was tainted. They knew it before they gave it away. They just decided to use us as guinea pigs. Just goes to show you, NOTHING is really FREE. There is always a cost somewhere.

But, this is all off topic.

I would like to add that I think a great safety can elevate your defense to a level unobtainable otherwise. Look at all the great safeties in the league, and you'll notice that they are usually synonymous with a great defense. When Goldson stepped up his play, he not only made the Pro Bowl, but he also elevated our defense greatly. He's the hardest hitter, and hawked the most interceptions of anyone on our team. Whitner was also a great hard-hitting safety (hit on Pierre Thomas in the playoffs). A safety alone, imo, can do wonders for a defense.

Linebackers that don't miss tackles are another. No offense, but watching the Lions trying to tackle the Saints drove me nuts. I didn't count the missed tackles, but I bet it was more than we had all season as a team.

This thread is also so weird. I said this a while ago about you guys and I was blasted for it. I said a great defense and running game > passing alone, and I was told the Lions would walk through the playoffs, and the Niners would be exposed for who they really are. Well we were just 1 OT game away from the big one... 2 fumbles away... gahhhhh....

And like someone said: Ravens, Giants, and even the Pats had great defenses in the playoffs.