As insane as I am going to sound about our Texans...

interesting...that stat just changed after this last game. looks like they've given up a little more than 2 yards per game more than we have!

 

Let's hear it for moral victories!



Of course, the Redskins already got Vicked... we're due for our Vicking soon.

 

Meh.

The worst pass defense in NFL history (before us) belonged to the 1995 Atlanta Falcons. They went 9-7 and made the playoffs.

The 1986 Jets had the 3rd worst pass defense ever. They went 10-6 and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

The 1981 Chargers had the 4th worst pass defense ever. They went 10-6, won their division, and made it to the AFC Championship game.

The 2002 Chargers had the 5th worst pass defense ever. They went 8-8.

The 1985 Chargers had the 6th worst pass defense ever. They went 8-8.

The 1983 Green Bay Packers are the 2nd worst defense of all time. They went 8-8.

The Titans had the worst defense in 2006. They went 8-8.

The Saints had the worst defense in 2004. They went 8-8.

The Chiefs had the worst defense in 2002. They went 8-8.

The Redskins are actually giving up more yards than we are (Wow, Shanahan and Kubiak have the 2 worst defenses in the NFL. Coincidence?)

The Cardinals have given up more points that us and the Broncos have given up the same number of points as us.

 

sooo...last week i read a statistic that said that we were on pace to give up the 2nd most yards in NFL history...tucked neatly between the 1981 Colts and the 2008 Detroit Lions, whose collective win total was 2 wins.

i don't know if that's right or not...i just read it and regurgitated it here.

 

Good thread. OP had a similar post breaking down our remaining schedule last season. We ended up finishing strong only to be screwed by the Colts and Bengals.

I wish we were even 5-5. The division is def up for grabs.

 

problem is, not sure 10-6 gets u into the playoffs

 

repped. not that I expect us to go 8-8 or 9-7 all of the sudden, just some good context for the discussion; thanks.

 

Funny, the article I read listed the 3 worst defenses of all time (with the Packers 2nd) then later it listed the worst defense in each of the last 10 years (with the 2008 Lions). But for some reason they didn't put the Lions on the all time list.

So I guess the '83 Packers had the 3rd worst defense and not the 2nd.

Anyway, it's possible to have a horrible defense and still have a decent record. The 2008 Lions not only had a crappy defense, but a crappy offense as well (27th in points, 30th in yards). Same goes for the '81 Colts (26th out of 28 teams in points scored). The '83 Packers had the 5th best scoring offense so that's why they didn't finish with a record similar to the Colts or Lions.

 

one problem in discussing this "worst defense" stuff is...are we talking yards or points?

right now we're giving up 28.7 ppg. so this whole Rule of 30 is in play.

i can't imagine there've been many teams who've given up that many points per game who've found themselves in the playoffs.

 

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/11/17/1820920/1981-baltimore-colts-vs-2010-houston-texans

For The Title Of Worst Defense In NFL History: 1981 Baltimore Colts vs. 2010 Houston Texans
by bigfatdrunk on Nov 17, 2010 7:56 PM CST in News


With apologies to any Baltimore Ravens fans who stop by because, you know, we feel your pain.

TexansDC was nice enough to point out this post by AJ Burge, an excellent Texans blogger in his own right. AJ brings up the 1981 Colts as being potentially a worse defense than the Texans. Because he's a bright guy, I figured it was a trail worth sniffing.


The 1981 Colts were a truly awful football team, being run into the ground by a know-nothing owner who believed losing was the best way to get the city of Baltimore to bend to his demands for a new or remodeled stadium. Well, perhaps that's too harsh: Team management was poor, and aside from Lydell Mitchell and the aging Bert Jones and Bruce Laird, the team was fairly bereft of talent on both sides of the ball. John Elway famously refused to play for the Colts during this era, the first team strike of its kind. Just two years later, in January 1984, owner Bob Irsay scurried to Indianapolis under the cover of darkness, precisely like your common cockroach.

But the point of this post isn't to re-hash the move. Is your 2010 Houston Texans' defense worse than that of the 1981 Colts?

The biggest difference between the two teams is the era in which they played. Smash-mouth football still reigned supreme then, as compared to the passing offenses of today. The vast majority of single-season QB ratings' records are from the past 25 years, emphasizing how the game has changed. Therefore, it's virtually impossible to compare these two teams, but common sense aside, I'm going to give it a go.

The average QB rating the 1981 Colts faced was 73.3. This included league-leading Ken Anderson (98.4), Dan Fouts (90.6), and Craig Morton (90.5), who ranked 1-3 in QB rating for the year. So far this year, the Texans have faced an average QB rating of 91.7, including David Garrard (#2), Philip Rivers (#3), Matt Cassel (#9), and Peyton Manning (#10) twice. Both teams faced the elite quarterbacks of their eras for the most part.

However, while the adjusted QB rating certainly favors the Colts, there are some catches. The Texans are giving up more yards per attempt (8.89 vs. 8.62), are on a pace to give up more TDs (39 vs. 36), more overall yards (5,020 vs. 4,154), but all on more passes against. Quarterbacks are dropping a 107.7 rating against the Texans, while the Colts "held" their opponents to 100.0. Worst of all, the Texans are at half the pace of the Colts as far as interceptions, which is incredibly depressing and truly one of the biggest problems about the defense. Therefore, teams are passing more against the Texans than they did the Colts simply because they can.

Which, frankly, makes sense. Not only could the Colts NOT stop the pass, they were horrendous against the run. The league managed 2,665 rushing yards against the Colts, 4.4 yards per carry, and a whopping 30 TD rushes against. The San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions led the league in rushing TDs with 26, which should give you some perspective on the Colts' run defense.

My conclusion: The 1981 Colts were a special team led by a special front office. Colts fans, which were amongst the most dedicated in the league, stopped going to games after 1981. Front office malevolence did not help, and the team was never expected to compete. Star Bert Jones would be traded after the 1981 season, setting the team back even further. Clearly, the 1981 Baltimore Colts are worse than the 2010 Texans in overall defense.

However, I think the question remains open on pass defense. Even when you adjust for eras and the quality of QBs each team faced, the Texans are giving up a much higher completion percentage (68.5% vs. 61.2%), more yards per catch, more TDs, and have far fewer interceptions. I do believe the 2010 Houston Texans currently own the worst pass defense in the history of the NFL. As shown by DVOA, the closest competitors to that title...aren't even close. Finally, when you factor that the Texans defense is chock full of talent, was kind of decent last year, and had much higher expectations than the 1981 Colts, the question becomes moot. Today, right now, your 2010 Houston Texans' pass defense is the worst in the history of the NFL.

I'm quite sure Frank Bush finds this hilarious.

 

decent chance of winning the division. that would put us at 8-4 in the conference.

just sayin

 

The two have to be at least correlated. Honestly, every team a defense faces all 16 games can't be as bad in the red zone as the Texans circa 2005-2008.

 

Some of the issue with "worst pass defense" is that in some cases, they might be terrible pass defenses in terms of yardage because they have great run defenses so no one tries to run. Or they had great offenses so teams were always trying to keep pace. I think Belichick does that against the Steelers for example - he doesn't bother wasting plays running the ball because it's pointless.

In our case, you pass on the Texans because it's simply an easy way to move the ball down the field.

 

I don't know what stat you're looking at, but the 81 colts gave up an average of 424ypg and Washington is at 411.

 

I was just basing on MadMax saying the Texans were 2nd worst of all time and I know the Skins are ranked even lower . This stat is real though: going into this last weekend, the Skins had THE WORST 3rd down conversion rate of the history of the stat (according to Grant Paulson, Redskins beat reporter).

 

I love how people are splitting hairs over how much butt we suck.

 

Now that the pressure is off . . . I expect a nice 4 our of the next 5.
End up 9-7 or 8 -8 on the outside looking in
Thinking about how were were so close. . and how we will have . .. . .
hope
for next year.

Rocket River

 

Our only hope??



Certainly couldn't do much worse than what we have.

 

Texans record over the last 3 years after recording their 7th loss: 12-2

Watch us start to roll after our next loss.

 

10-6. Make playoffs, lose in the second round.