Honestly? I don't know. Seems like the past 3 years our defense has been good, but on 3rd and long, teams automatically go after the weakest link (Crawley / Apple), and it's either good for a 1st down or a penalty for a first down. Sometimes the penalty was on Crawley or Apple, but much of the time, the penalty is someone else.
With how much I distrust NFL refs, it's hard for me to look past flags as being the root cause of a lot of issues we've faced.
If our #2 CB gets burned? no flags. If they make the play? flags. If the flags were on the #2 CB, I'd get it. They fouled trying to make a play. But a hands to the face or defensive holding nowhere near where the actual play was taking place? hmmm... So my thoughts are biased on this subject.