Which Would You Rather Have?

[skinsguy]

Which would you rather have for the 08' season? An offense that is ranked among the best in the league with a drop off in defense, or for the defense to continue being solid with the offense maintaining the same output as '07? Choose one option and tell me why.

[steveo395]

Whichever one gives us more wins

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by steveo395

Whichever one gives us more wins

Well obviously, but which do you think gives us the best chance at winning at least as many games we did this year or more?

[irish]

Originally Posted by steveo395

Whichever one gives us more wins

Exactly. I couldnt give a damn about rankings, last time I checked wins were all that was counted.

[firstdown]

Rankings? You want to talk about rankings. we don't even have a head coach. Talking about rankins!

[skinsguy]

You guys are completely missing the point. Of course a wins a win. But, I'm asking, which do you think we have the better chance at winning with? A team that has an improved offense but a defense that has dropped off (I'm not talking in regards to stats alone but performance) or basically the same offensive and defensive output of this year. Which do you think gives us a better chance at being successful? A potent offense or a stingy defense?

[Sean"Big Hurt"Taylor]

I would rather have an offense in the top 5 meaning that we are scoring lots of points. In today's NFL you have to score points. Let's face it is more easy to beat teams by out scoring them than it is to shut the opposing team down. Our defense will not be the '85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens. I do believe that our offense could step up in this west coast offense.

[SmootSmack]

I think you have to put points on the board. I think one of the biggest problems we faced last year was an inability to score touchdowns consistently. Too often we had to settle for field goals leaving little margin for error. But a good offense isn't just about scoring points it's about controlling the clock and setting the tempo of the game.

[Paintrain]

If you look at the teams that went far in the playoffs this year, they all had the common denominator of being high scoring teams. Give me 28 points on offense over keeping a team to 17 pts on defense any day. I think you win more games by outscoring your opponents than you do by trying to stifle them.

[irish]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

If you look at the teams that went far in the playoffs this year, they all had the common denominator of being high scoring teams. Give me 28 points on offense over keeping a team to 17 pts on defense any day. I think you win more games by outscoring your opponents than you do by trying to stifle them.

Exactly. The NFL is an offense oriented league now.

[QBall]

Originally Posted by irish

Exactly. The NFL is an offense oriented league now.

But what happens when that high octane offense meets a lock down defense?

Look at how the Raiders fell in Supebowl to Tampa. We need big D!

[BDBohnzie]

Originally Posted by QBall

But what happens when that high octane offense meets a lock down defense?

Look at how the Raiders fell in Supebowl to Tampa. We need big D!

The Tampa 2 defense has been exploited (see 2006 Redskins and Buccaneers), so your example doesn't hold water, as that was 5 years ago, and even since then, the NFL continues to evolve.

Seeing as the defense was ranked in the Top 10, we could stand to go down a bit on defense and still be competitive on that side of the ball. Wins usually come from scoring more points than the other team, and if you cannot score, then you usually don't win (see Ravens in any year their D is suspect).

I'll take offense, and with the evolution of Jason Campbell and a healthy offensive line, they should be better than last year. Theoretically speaking of course.

[Daseal]

Look at how the Raiders fell in Supebowl to Tampa. We need big D!

There's more missing than just that. Let's remember on the day of the big game the Raiders CENTER didn't show up. Their center was one of the best in the NFL until his flip out. That led to Warren Sapp riding Gannon like a pony.

As other have said, you have to go with the offense in today's game. The rules are catered to the offensive game. Illegal contact, Pass Interference, etc etc are all huge for the offense.

[QBall]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

The Tampa 2 defense has been exploited (see 2006 Redskins and Buccaneers), so your example doesn't hold water, as that was 5 years ago, and even since then, the NFL continues to evolve.

Seeing as the defense was ranked in the Top 10, we could stand to go down a bit on defense and still be competitive on that side of the ball. Wins usually come from scoring more points than the other team, and if you cannot score, then you usually don't win (see Ravens in any year their D is suspect).

I'll take offense, and with the evolution of Jason Campbell and a healthy offensive line, they should be better than last year. Theoretically speaking of course.

I'd take a top 5 defense over top 5 offense anyday! Look at 06' when our defense was terrible we couldn't win a game or force a turnover at all. That really was a bad year for us.

[BDBohnzie]

The offense in '06 wasn't that great either...

Using the Ravens for example, needed a pretty productive offense to compliment their defense in '06 to go 13-3. Flash forward to '07, injuries to Heap and McNair among others, and their stellar defense pushes them to a 5-11 record, one of those losses to the worst team of the season (Miami).

Take a top half defense and pair them up with a great offense, and you have the recipe for a playoff bound, Super Bowl contender...at least that's the recipe. The cooks will have to know what to do with it...