Anyone watching the Cowboys-Broncos game?

[Auggie]

Cowboys came from behind to take an early 4th quarter lead. Good game.

[PeteSelman]

1. I used to really like defense.

Too bad no one plays it anymore. This is like a Madden game.

[Auggie]

2. Heh ... but sometimes a shoot-out is just fun to watch

[Jamaal510]

4. I don't think it's so much that;

it's just that with some of the more recent rule changes, teams probably find it more difficult to play good defense without getting flagged now.

[PeteSelman]

5. Indeed.

They've pretty much ruined it. None of the old school hall of famers could even play today. Hell, great players from as few as ten years ago couldn't play this game.

[JonLP24]

6. There are terrific defenses in the NFL today

NFC West have 3 teams that play very good defense. Seattle may have the best CB in the league. Patrick Peterson is also in that division, he is tied at #2 in most interceptions in last 12 games. The Jets are always great at D. Kansas City & Cleveland's defenses are on fire, playing better than anyone in the league. Houston is pretty good despite this week's result.

On edit - I left out Cincy who is playing great defense so far. They got a steal picking up undrafted Vontaze Burfict. One of the best LBs available but because he committed too many personal fouls in ASU they all passed on him.

Article on Burfict's impact to Cincinnati's defense (last year but I think it still applies as he leads the league in tackles)

Burfict's impact on Bengals is unmatched

Burfict led the Bengals with 127 tackles this season, five more than Rey Maualuga, who was on field for 134 more plays. Burfict also led the team with 7.5 tackles for loss.

The 127 tackles were the 15th-most in the NFL this season, and ranked third amongst rookies. Only eight players had more tackles than Burfict after he earned the starting job in Week 3.

He saved his best effort for the final game of the season against the Baltimore Ravens, when he recorded 18 tackles in the 23-17 win. Only one player had more tackles in a game this season – London Fletcher with 20 against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5.

<snip>

Burfict’s presence on field made a notable difference for the Bengals this season. When Burfict was on field, the Bengals defense allowed 2.4 yards fewer per play compared to when he was off the field.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/59227/burficts-impact-on-bengals-is-unmatched

[PeteSelman]

7. Yeah, six, maybe seven teams.

Out of thirty two. For every team with a good defense there are two with a horrible defense. And the rest are mediocre at best. The league is seriously lacking in defense in general.

[JonLP24]

8. That is different

than no one plays defense.

As to your other point, I'd raise it by a few more teams but not sure how this compares to overall defenses of other eras(# of great/very good defenses to bad defenses) but I really do feel we are living in the golden age of quarterbacks. That w/ the combination w/ rule changes as a poster above mentioned.

Interesting that Denver had the #2 overall defense last season but now have the #2 worst defense in the league so far. Manning having what might be the greatest season a QB has ever had might be enough to overcome such a deficiency. I do expect the defense to rise up the leader-up, especially since they face the worst starting QB in the league next week.

[madinmaryland]

3. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead this afternoon and then in the other game there were 99 points

scored.