Quote Originally Posted by pbmax View Post
Last five years Football Outsiders ranks (Defense/Offense)
2016 20/4
2015 9/11
2014 16/1 (I would contest this one as by the end of the year, see Seattle playoff game, the Defense was outplaying the Offense)
2013 31/9
2012 8/3

2 years the Defense was Top 10. Another year it was more than playing well enough to win in playoffs.

The consistent issue has been pass rush, made much worse by the loss of Shields.
I see two consistent issues: pass rush and receivers roaming free in the secondary. Even when the D has had a pass rush (think 2009) we saw communication problems in the secondary. Not every week like now but against teams that knew how to create confusion through motion and stacking (Pittsburgh, Arizona in WC game).