Sometimes its difficult to get a sense of how the defense performed. Sure the defense performed better as the year went along but we were still historically bad losing in honestly one of the worst divisions in NFL history and with one of the easiest strength of schedules in the entire league. A bad offense alone doesnt lose you all those games. A bad football team which includes the defense does.If you look at defensive statistics, it is clear this defense has significantly regressed. I use DVOA because it factors in multiple variables include situational football and is one of the most cited statistics in pro football today and in my opinion will be utilized heavily in the next couple of years.So here it is: last year we were rated the number 8 defense in the league. Yup, we were in the TOP 10!!! This is actually not surprising as most knowledgeable football fans would concur with this. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef2013 This year we are rated number 18. Yep - huge dropoff. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef Obviously, the defensive scheme is the largest contributor to this fact. Even though Lovie stated we werent going to be running T-2 all the time, we essentially were. The Tampa-2 isnt a hard defense to teach and the fact that it took this team SO LONG to learn such a simplistic defense is the fault of Leslie Frazier. Leslie might understand the logic behind this scheme but he just doesnt have the experience needed. That is why we need to get MARINELLI!Marinelli knows this scheme better than anyone in the league and I think is a must hire for the Bucs. And whats even better his contract with the Boys is over after their playoff run. Marinelli knows Lovie well and they have a good relationship which is why I think this is feasible. Also I think if Lovie seriously screws up next year, I think Rod would have a good shot of taking over as HC which would also be attractive for him. Bottom line this defense was bad and change needs to happen and Rod is the answer. Get it done!
