One thing is certain...we are not a shutdown defense by any means. During our 7 game win streak a year ago, the defense played well, but was given a great boost by an offense that was rolling and able to sustain drives and keep them off the field.
In the Seattle playoff game, we carried a one point lead into the fourth quarter with an offense that sputtered once Robert became hobbled. I for one had no faith in our D being able to hold onto a marginal lead for an offense that clearly wasn't going to score any more points with Griffin behind center. We just aren't THAT good defensively, and the playoff loss proved that.
When you look at the circumstances of the new season - playing an Eagles hurry-up offense that is new on the scene, and a well-oiled offensive passing attack like the Packers - it's not that surprising that they've hung this many points and yards on us in the first two weeks with our own offense sputtering early and often. Both Philly and GB were relentless offensively and put our D on it's heals. I'm of the opinion that under the same circumstances, there would have been a lot of defenses that struggled vs. those two teams. Bottom line is that we aren't as bad defensively as we've played lately, but not as good as we'd like to believe we are as well.
The fact is that right now, our offense has lost its mojo. Until it finds itself and begins firing on all cylinders, we will struggle to win football games, and in cases where we play high-octain teams like we have lately, we will look bad doing so. Ultimately, this is a case of what is a pretty good (not great) football team deciding to s**t the bed offensively against the wrong type of teams.
There is still hope for 9-7, possibly 10-6 as a ceiling, but it's all predicated on this offense returning to form - the D is what it is for now until we can find some significant upgrades in the offseason hopefully in certain spots.
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