If the Defense had stayed healthy...? (1 Viewer)

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what's our record?
do we make the playoffs?

(I'm not putting K Lewis - that injury seemed like it was going to happen no matter what)
but all orther CBs stay healthy
Kikaha plays
Rankins plays full season

TBC this isn't a woulda, coulda, should thread, just kind of round about way to talk about depth and what steps we need to take
 
what's our record?
do we make the playoffs?

(I'm not putting K Lewis - that injury seemed like it was going to happen no matter what)
but all orther CBs stay healthy
Kikaha plays
Rankins plays full season

TBC this isn't a woulda, coulda, should thread, just kind of round about way to talk about depth and what steps we need to take

If our starting defense stayed healthy all season we would be the only team in the NFL that had that happen.

I'll say this. If the front office doesn't sign JL and we start Robinson then we may have had a chance to win 1-2 more games. We all saw the same thing in preseason, the coaches ignored it for the guy they just signed.

Breaux was a huge loss in the secondary but when he was playing he wasn't the same guy we saw last season.

I honestly can't say that any of our other corners wouldn't have been an upgrade over Sterling Moore, the guy played better than any #2 corner we've had in years.

I honestly don't think the injuries mattered. We lack an edge rusher. We lack at least one proven corner and we're young at a lot of positions. The future is bright but the past is just that.

When a unit is dead last there are plenty of reasons for it. I know most here want to be optimistic and sugar coat it but even the coaches knew we were in trouble. We tried to trade for two veteran corners when the chance came.
 
personally I think we're still a couple players away regardless of this seasons health. Improved over last season? Yes....greatly.....but still have work to do. I'm really hoping we can get it done this off season. I also immediately pucker at the thought of us doing it anywhere but the draft. We seem to miss more than we hit on FA's and pay through the nose for those guys.
 
Yeah if our defense would have remained healthy all season, I believe they would have been good enough to win us a couple extra games. In 2014 ranked #32, in 2015 ranked #31, this season ranked #26. So there was marked improvement, but we still need to keep improving. We still have work to do on defense. The arrow is pointing up though. I believe with 2 or 3 more quality players in FA and another good draft, we will get to where we need to be on defense.
 
If our starting defense stayed healthy all season we would be the only team in the NFL that had that happen.

I'll say this. If the front office doesn't sign JL and we start Robinson then we may have had a chance to win 1-2 more games. We all saw the same thing in preseason, the coaches ignored it for the guy they just signed.

Breaux was a huge loss in the secondary but when he was playing he wasn't the same guy we saw last season.

I honestly can't say that any of our other corners wouldn't have been an upgrade over Sterling Moore, the guy played better than any #2 corner we've had in years.

I honestly don't think the injuries mattered. We lack an edge rusher. We lack at least one proven corner and we're young at a lot of positions. The future is bright but the past is just that.

When a unit is dead last there are plenty of reasons for it. I know most here want to be optimistic and sugar coat it but even the coaches knew we were in trouble. We tried to trade for two veteran corners when the chance came.

the JL signing really bugs me. imo one of the most problematic signing gaffes of the last few years. this whole "bringing in guys for leadership" stuff needs to stop. how about our coaches help turn our talented players into leaders and we stop blowing money on washed up players to fill that void?
 
Obviously the defense could have been better, however, 3-4 games were lost solely due to offense or special teams. NYG, Tampa 1st game, Carolina Thursday Night, Denver. When this team learns to play complementary football in all 3 phases, watch out.
 
Obviously the defense could have been better, however, 3-4 games were lost solely due to offense or special teams. NYG, Tampa 1st game, Carolina Thursday Night, Denver. When this team learns to play complementary football in all 3 phases, watch out.

couldn't agree more, 100% on. All 32 teams have significant injuries. We need to quit crying the injury excuse
 
Obviously the defense could have been better, however, 3-4 games were lost solely due to offense or special teams. NYG, Tampa 1st game, Carolina Thursday Night, Denver. When this team learns to play complementary football in all 3 phases, watch out.

We could have easily been 11-5 or 10-6 if the offense helped us out in those games. I think the defense would have been better if we didn't have the injuries, but I don't think it would have been a drastic change.
 
couldn't agree more, 100% on. All 32 teams have significant injuries. We need to quit crying the injury excuse
I don't think anyone is"crying" the injury excuse. But it is an explanation for why we struggled so mightily on defense yet again. Imagine if we had lost Cooks, Thomas, Snead, Coleman, Fleener and Hill. Do you think it would have affected the offensive production? The equivalent happened to the defense. That sort of severely impactful injury did not necessarily happen to every team in such a core position group. We really were unfortunate in that regard.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 
I don't know how much changes overall, but I can say -- losing Breaux in the first game completely altered that game. We were up 24-10 when Breaux went down for good and Carr and Co. abused Crawley en route to a 22 point 4th quarter and a one point win.

The following week in NY, PJ Williams was playing a very good game until he went out with a horrifying concussion. Late in the game, Crawley mistimes a jump and Cruz catches the deep pass on third and long and the Giants kick the chipshot for the win.

Again, I can't say for sure that things would have been different in those games, but we definitely suffered having to thrust Crawley into so much action, so early.

If that 0-2 is 2-0, we definitely have a completely different season.
 
Obviously the defense could have been better, however, 3-4 games were lost solely due to offense or special teams. NYG, Tampa 1st game, Carolina Thursday Night, Denver. When this team learns to play complementary football in all 3 phases, watch out.

Also any game in which Brees throws a pick six the Saints usually lose. KC and Atlanta
 
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