Recent Switches to 3-4 Defense Usually Mean Improvement

[NLC1054]

Altogether I think the defense played (generally speaking) better in the second half of the season than they did at the beginning of the season. I also thought we had more 3-4 pieces than anyone gave us credit for (got sick of hearing the "THEY'RE TRYING TO RUN A 3-4 DEFENSE WITH 4-3 PERSONNEL RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!" crap on the NFL Network like every week).

I agree though; most players were getting injured at the wrong time of year, despite a relatively late bye week. On top of 'Los being injured and Landry being injured, D-Hall had to deal with a rib injury, Kemo was hurt all year, Albert Haynesworth was a mondo douche...

It wasn't so much not having the personnel as 1.) sometimes the best personnel weren't on the field and 2.) the defense really got worn out and banged up because of the offenses' inability to stay on the field and maintain long drives.

I think there will be more improvement in year 2 of the defense just from having some better, younger, fresher pieces, plus the vets knowing what they're supposed to do. The only--ONLY--good thing about the lockout is that it's keeping guys fresher for longer so hopefully they won't be worn out. Cruddy part is we have a week 5 bye this year, so they're really going to need to be as fresh as possible to make it through the whole season.