http://deadspin.com/the-bucs-defense-finally-figured-things-out-and-now-it-1790103314
As the Wall Street Journal points out, the in-season turnaround by Tampa Bay’s defense is on a historic pace: With three games remaining, the Bucs’ points per game allowed has improved from 29.0 in Games 1-8 to 12.8 in Games 9-13, a decrease of 16.2. The NFL record for a first-half to second-half swing in points per game allowed is 15.6, and no team since 1988 has has made an improvement of better than 14.5. The Bucs still have to play the Cowboys, Saints, and Panthers, but they’ve shown their bona fides against some pretty good teams and quarterbacks in recent weeks. They beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, and they most recently defeated Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, and Drew Brees, holding that trio to just 4.8 yards per pass and a combined passer rating of 53.5. It’s been a while—the Bucs haven’t had a winning season since 2010, and haven’t made the playoffs since ’07—but they finally appear to be no joke.
