It's a hard comparison I think objectively we played 4 collectively worse teams last year in comparison to this year and have some similar results to show for it. I think the defense is not passing many peoples eye test or is/was behind the offense so its easy to pick on.
I still maintain as I said last year, although we did statistically rank 1st in a lot of the advanced metric categories and some of the traditional ones last year we were far from the normal "Number one defense in the NFL". Generally speaking a lot of the traditional metrics by which people judge defenses were higher than many years past. And I think some of that has to do with the implications of COVID and practice time. For example, in 2020 we were second in the league in ppg allowed at 19.3 just one year prior in 2019 that puts us at seventh and that ranking remains pretty consistent all the way back to 2008 where we would start falling further.
In 2020 only two teams allowed fewer than 20 points per game which again is a statistically anomaly going all the way back to 2003 where the figure is generally 6-12 teams per season most consistently around 10. We allowed 99.1 rushing yards per game, good for 4th best in the league, from 2017-2019 that would have been good for 7th or 8th each year and in 2016 that would have been 14th best. We were 15th in takeaways per game.
Overall what I am saying is a lot of defenses played worse in 2020 based on a lot of the measurables we traditionally go by and again I think COVID was a big part in that statistical anomaly with some players sitting out, restricted access to facilities and coaches, etc. We performed very well in a lot of the yardage allowed and passing yardage categories and would have been good for top 3 in recent years prior but that alone with uninspiring ppg, rushing yards per game, lackluster takeaways does not make this defensive juggernaut a lot here seem to think we had. We were a good D that made some big plays and performed better than most in a difficult year but historically we were not memorable.
Our Defense looked like the bright spot compared to our offense last year, now that is no longer the case so the drop in production seems more glaring.
So what changed since last year? Not much IMO. We got a little worse because we are a little less experienced loosing the vets we did. I think most of the takes here are over reactionary because of the "Number 1 Defense" tag everyone likes to flaunt. Not all Number 1 defenses are equal its a measurement that is equally based on peer performance as it is your own.
