Score one for NFL’s sharp offensive minds
It’s not that defence doesn’t matter in the NFL anymore. It’s just that offence matters so much more.
Want to build a winning NFL franchise these days and in years to come? Then you’d better go about building a great offence as your priority.
Things have been trending in this direction since 2010 to the point that in 2018 you can’t be considered a great team without an explosive offence. You can’t even be competitive without an above-average offence.
That means you must have a good to great quarterback, surround him with playmakers at receiver and running back behind an able offensive line and employ clever schemes in both the pass and run, custom built around your good to great quarterback’s talents.
That’s how Kansas City, New Orleans, New England, the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers are doing it now.
All six of those teams rank at or near the top in most pertinent offensive categories, including top 10 in total offence. But you know what? Not one of them ranks in the top 10 in total defence.
It all starts with the quarterback.
You can max out with playmakers, an able offensive line and clever schemes — as was the case last year in Kansas City — but your quarterback cannot be a liability. He cannot hold you back. Otherwise you can, at best, only offer a flicker of greatness on offence, not shine brightly most of the time.
Any NFL franchise that refuses to embrace this top-down philosophy — of prioritizing the scoring of as many points as possible — is living in the past and doomed to failure.
Now, you can’t field a defence that’s completely horrible, one so porous it can’t even stop an ant. For proof, see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who rank No. 2 in total yards per game (447) on offence, but turn the ball over way too much and, just as ruinously, rank last defensively in scoring, allowing 34 points per game.
Such exceptions aside, the top four NFL teams in scoring offence so far in 2018 are Kansas City (36 points scored per game), New Orleans (35), the Rams (33) and New England (30). Their combined record through Sunday was 30-5.
In contrast, the top four teams in total defence were Baltimore (305 total yards allowed per game), Jacksonville (313), Buffalo (314) and Dallas (314). Their combined record through Sunday: 12-21. All four had losing records before the Cowboys played the Tennessee Titans in the Monday nighter.
Maybe not the Cowboys, but the Ravens, Jaguars and Bills all have been constructed to win with defence first. Where is it getting them?
They need to join the new club. Fast or they’ll be further left behind in what clearly has become the dawning of the golden age of NFL offence.
That old football saying that you win games with offence, but championships with defence? Yeah, it’s gone with the wins.
An NFL Network report Sunday morning said John Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens could be in immediate jeopardy.
After losing 23-16 Sunday at home to the archrival Pittsburgh Steelers, Harbaugh had retained his job into Monday afternoon.
Harbaugh has been the Ravens’ head coach for the last 11 seasons. He won the franchise’s second Super Bowl in the 2012 season when then-fifth-year quarterback Joe Flacco performed at a spectacularly high level.
But Baltimore has made the playoffs only once since, that being the 2014 season. And after a promising 3-1 start this year that included a 26-14 thumping of the Steelers in Pittsburgh, the Ravens have lost four of five.
Owner Steve Bisciotti is reportedly frustrated and impatient. The locals, too. Empty seats now stare at Bisciotti at M&T Bank Stadium for non-Steelers home games.
It would be very unRavens-like to fire a head coach in mid-season, especially one who’s won a Super Bowl. But the toughest portion of a difficult 2018 schedule is behind the Ravens.
Harbaugh should be allowed to finish the season. A wild-card playoff berth is not only possible, but a good bet. Then, with Baltimore’s NFLbest defence, who knows after that?
NOT ONE OF THEM RANKS IN THE TOP 10 IN TOTAL DEFENCE.