Another Girod Street End Zone blog -- The Allen Defense: Big Time Chokers (2 Viewers)

[SaintJ]

This has honestly been bugging me for a while, so I decided to put a little work into it.

The Allen Defense: Big Time Chokers – Girod Street End Zone

girodstreetendzone.com

Depends how you define “choke.” I think there are two kinds: either the overall moment is just too big for you emotionally and you get overwhelmed (think Bobby Hebert in the playoffs, which he has essentially admitted, to his incredible credit), or you’re ready for the game and then late, when victory is almost in your grasp, you suddenly and without warning *gurglegurglegurgle* and it all…just…slips…away… (Falcons in the Super Bowl, QED).

I am pretty sure that The Allen Defense is pretty squarely in the second category....

Have at it.

 

[PolishFan]

No

 

[PuddinheadSr]

Meh. By definition one team each season doesn't fail in it's ultimate "big game", so...everyone but the Super Bowl champions and the teams without the talent to even compete are "chokers".

 

[UFCSaint]

Meh. By definition one team each season doesn't fail in it's ultimate "big game", so...everyone but the Super Bowl champions and the teams without the talent to even compete are "chokers".

Exactly. First loss against Vikings... Marcus Williams. 2nd loss against them... Offensive Line. Loss against Bucs last year... Brees and Cook. All in one way or another could've also been attributed to coaching as well... Head coaching.

 

[Nolan]

Disagree. Don't need to read it.

He's had his moments, but he's fielded one of the leagues best defenses for the last 4 years.

In playoff games, he's given our offense huge opportunities to put games away early and we could never capitalize.

 

[liveoakh]

DA now has the players and coaches to get it done. This defense is good now, but will be strong as battery acid in 2022. We just need a little luck with Davenport.

 

[Alan12]

Disagree. Don't need to read it.

He's had his moments, but he's fielded one of the leagues best defenses for the last 4 years.

In playoff games, he's given our offense huge opportunities to put games away early and we could never capitalize.

This.

I'd bet that looking through the game log of those games where Allen's defense was considered to have "choked" at the end of the game that a significant majority of them have one or more things in common:

a.) either the offense was playing small ball and going into a shell leading to either a "run-run-incomplete pass-punt" drive or a "run-incomplete pass-incomplete pass-punt" drive leaving even more time for the opposing team;​

b.) the game was within one score (driving to go up 2 scores) or tied and the offense coughed the ball up early in the drive forcing the defense back out onto the field with little to no rest (usually right after they had gotten their own stop or turnover);​

c.) the defense was holding the opposing team to ~20 points or less the majority of the game and could no longer hold and finally broke​

​

From 2006-2016 it was mostly a mix of A and B, but since Allen turned the defense around it's been a lot of B and mostly C.

 

[PuddinheadSr]

Exactly. First loss against Vikings... Marcus Williams. 2nd loss against them... Offensive Line. Loss against Bucs last year... Brees and Cook. All in one way or another could've also been attributed to coaching as well... Head coaching.

That seems to be the opposite of the point I was making. Every good team but one loses their biggest game of the season. Is it your contention that the league is full of "chokers"?