this defense - by the numbers

[KillaCamNewton]

not even going to include KK in this since he is out for the year

here is what I would consider our "rotation" of about 15 guys to be

DLine

McCoy - 1st round pick, 6 pro bowls, 31 years old

Poe - 1st round pick, 2 pro bowls, 29 years old

Burns - 1st round pick, 21 years old

Irvin - 1st round pick, 31 years old

Butler - 1st round pick, 25 years old

Love - 32 years old

Addison - 32 years old

Linebackers

Shaq - 1st round pick, 25 years old

Carter - 24 years old

Luke - 1st round pick, 6 pro bowls, 28 years old

Secondary

Boston - 27 years old

Bradberry - 2nd round pick, 26 years old

Jackson - 2nd round pick, 23 years old

Cockrell - 28 years old

Reid - 1st round pick, 1 pro bowl, 27 years old

 

combined there are 15 pro bowl appearances, 8 first round picks, 2 second round picks, and an average age of 27 and no one over 32 years old

 

you have 11 guys on the field and at a given time it's possible to have 10 of them either be 1st or 2nd round picks or 8 of them be strictly 1st rounders depending on packages. for a supposed defensive guru, how is it even possible for Rivera to have this much talent and resources poured into one side of the ball and still manage to get so thoroughly embarrassed by a bunch of JAGs? i dont think there is literally any other team in the league with this much invested into its defense yet this isnt even a top half unit. this would be one of the worst defenses in the league if you took away the sacks. THIS is what weve neglected improving our offensive line for? 

 

[Mr. Scot]

To be fair, we did bring in Matt Paradis and re-signed Darryl Williams, so at least some effort was made on the line.

Granted, it's not producing results.

[Pantha-kun]

That's on Ron Rivera 

[PantherPhann89]

Coaching,  Coaching,  Coaching...

[KillaCamNewton]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

To be fair, we did bring in Matt Paradis and re-signed Darryl Williams, so at least some effort was made on the line.

Granted, it's not producing results.

our offensive line has been the biggest weakness since Gross retired and we always seem to want to "fix" it by dumpster diving for UDFA or signing guys coming off major injuries but are quick to sign big name players on defense. which if we were constantly putting out a top 5 defense I wouldnt mind but that isnt the case. we are emptying our wallets just to continue fielding terrible defenses. our defense hasnt been good since 2015

[Mr. Scot]

Well remember, you don't need a great offensive line when you've got a mobile quarterback.

(or so I've heard it said)

When you can just put it on your quarterback to outrun everybody, you're free to devote resources to other areas, like defense.

[Forty-Eight]

All about coaching. The Patriots are never as good as some teams on paper and they just keep winning Super Bowls. SF was not as good as us on paper this weekend and they dropped 51 easily on us.