Choose, elite offense or defense

[DaveFan'51]

Defense for me. A great defense gets itself off the field and avoids the periodic let downs we have been plagued with under Fisher's tenure. Our defense is good, but not great. Wade called that shortly after his hiring and he was right. Great defense can win it all by itself, just look at the Ravens or more recently the Broncos.

Fact is I love a good offense. I love the run game and the pass game. But I cannot abide watching my team if they cannot stop the other team, it's like being tortured even if you win in a shootout week after week and then you just know your team will be knocked out in the playoffs. I can suffer through a 3-0 win, though, and be good with it, and also feel a lot better going into the playoffs if my team has demonstrated an elite ability to limit points throughout the season.

Merlin, I know you where just a kid at the Time, But you must have really loved the 1975 version of the Rams "D"!!
Think, Dryer - Youngblood - Olsen - Robertson!
The Team went 12-2 that regular Season! They only gave up an average of 9.6 Points Per Game! ( 2nd lowest average in NFL History!)
They ended the Season with a 6 game Winning streak allow only a total of 32 points!:wow:
That was real Rams Football at it's Best!!!:yay::yess:

 

[Mojo Ram]

Pitching(MLB), goaltending(NHL), pass rush(NFL), rim protection(NBA)

 

[Merlin]

Figured this would be a good time to do a little digging on overall trends relating to my favorite stats (points allowed and points scored)...

Super Bowl winners for the last ten seasons (scoring offense & defense rankings courtest of www.pro-football-reference.com) with top 5 units in bold:

2016 Patriots (3rd offense, 1st defense)
2015 Broncos (19th offense, 4th defense)
2014 Patriots (4th offense, 8th defense)
2013 Seahawks (8th offense, 1st defense)
2012 Ravens (10th offense, 12th defense) <outlier
2011 Giants (9th offense, 25th defense) <outlier
2010 Packers (10th offense, 2nd defense)
2009 Saints (1st offense, 20th defense)
2008 Steelers 20th offense, 1st defense)
2007 Giants (14th offense, 17th defense) <outlier
2006 Colts (2nd offense, 23rd defense)

There are 5 teams that had elite defenses.

There are 4 teams that had elite offenses.

3 teams did not field a top five unit on either side of the ball, which I see as outliers...

The 2012 Ravens were a balanced team with a strong defensive veteran core who could get stops when they needed to, or capitalize on mistakes offensively.

The 2011 Giants rode a defense that got hot late (14ppg allowed over their last six games to include four playoff games) and a QB who was in the zone.

The 2007 Giants were a lesser version of the 2011 squad, with a defense that got it done when it mattered in four playoff games along with a kid QB with a hot arm.

Looking at the three outliers it's interesting you have two excellent coaches in Harbaugh and Coughlin. So the coaching staffs for those seasons also deserve enormous credit in achieving an unusual result in goading a champion from a team that had not played at the highest level during the season.

What this shows is you can win it all in different ways. However it is noteworthy with the Giants you see the defensive units got stingy when the chips were down overall in their playoff runs. The 2012 Ravens, meanwhile, were more of an offensive team in the playoffs as their defense gave up 22ppg over four appearances.

Back to the Rams, I think where we want to be is in the mid teens in points allowed. That's the sweet spot where half the Super Bowl winners and two of the outlier Super Bowl winners performed in the playoffs. We need better offense, certainly. But if they can reduce the points allowed down to that range it's on.

For reference here's the past few Rams teams in points allowed...

2016: 23rd (24.6ppg)
2015: 13th (20.6ppg)
2014: 16th (22.1ppg)

Those rankings really tell an interesting tale IMO.

 

[leoram]

Figured this would be a good time to do a little digging on overall trends relating to my favorite stats (points allowed and points scored)...

Super Bowl winners for the last ten seasons (scoring offense & defense rankings courtest of www.pro-football-reference.com) with top 5 units in bold:

2016 Patriots (3rd offense, 1st defense)
2015 Broncos (19th offense, 4th defense)
2014 Patriots (4th offense, 8th defense)
2013 Seahawks (8th offense, 1st defense)
2012 Ravens (10th offense, 12th defense) <outlier
2011 Giants (9th offense, 25th defense) <outlier
2010 Packers (10th offense, 2nd defense)
2009 Saints (1st offense, 20th defense)
2008 Steelers 20th offense, 1st defense)
2007 Giants (14th offense, 17th defense) <outlier
2006 Colts (2nd offense, 23rd defense)

There are 5 teams that had elite defenses.

There are 4 teams that had elite offenses.

3 teams did not field a top five unit on either side of the ball, which I see as outliers...

The 2012 Ravens were a balanced team with a strong defensive veteran core who could get stops when they needed to, or capitalize on mistakes offensively.

The 2011 Giants rode a defense that got hot late (14ppg allowed over their last six games to include four playoff games) and a QB who was in the zone.

The 2007 Giants were a lesser version of the 2011 squad, with a defense that got it done when it mattered in four playoff games along with a kid QB with a hot arm.

Looking at the three outliers it's interesting you have two excellent coaches in Harbaugh and Coughlin. So the coaching staffs for those seasons also deserve enormous credit in achieving an unusual result in goading a champion from a team that had not played at the highest level during the season.

What this shows is you can win it all in different ways. However it is noteworthy with the Giants you see the defensive units got stingy when the chips were down overall in their playoff runs. The 2012 Ravens, meanwhile, were more of an offensive team in the playoffs as their defense gave up 22ppg over four appearances.

Back to the Rams, I think where we want to be is in the mid teens in points allowed. That's the sweet spot where half the Super Bowl winners and two of the outlier Super Bowl winners performed in the playoffs. We need better offense, certainly. But if they can reduce the points allowed down to that range it's on.

For reference here's the past few Rams teams in points allowed...

2016: 23rd (24.6ppg)
2015: 13th (20.6ppg)
2014: 16th (22.1ppg)

Those rankings really tell an interesting tale IMO.

Excellent breakdown. I knew you guys would provoke deeper thought and analysis.

My answer is that I was raised on Ram Tough Defenses, the GSOT personally gave me greater satisfaction. I asked the question because I was on the fence. Offense wins

 

[Selassie I]

After the last 12 years or so of offensive offense...

This Ram Fan begs to watch a #1 offense in Horns.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

I'll take the offense anytime. You can win almost any game if you score 30+ every Sunday.

 

[Noregar]

The most enjoyable seasons for me have been when Rams had a great offense so I choose offense. Numerous three and out's are just a killjoy for me as a fan no matter how well the defense is playing. I have seen some very good Rams defenses wasted with incompetent Rams offensive play.

A team has to have balance. I would prefer a team with both a very good (6-12 range) offense and defense than a team with an elite (top 3) offense and below average (18-28) defense or visa versa. Any scenario that has a unit in the bottom 4-5 ranking just sucks IMO.

 

[Memento]

I'd rather have both, and I think that we can have both with McVay.