Check these stats...

2008:
22nd in points allowed/game at 23.8
20th in yards allowed/game at 334.3
12th in passing yards allowed/game at 202.8
26th in rushing yards allowed/game at 131.6
At year end, 15th in penalties on defense at 89
At year end, 15th in penalty yards on defense at 721
14th in 3rd down defense at 38% conversion
At year end, 25th in sacks at 27.0
At year end, 3 way tie for 3rd in INTs at 22
At year end, 2 way tie for 28th at fumble recoveries at 6

2009:
12th in points allowed/game at 19.5
1st in yards allowed/game at 281.5
7th in passing yards allowed/game at 192.5
4th in rushing yards allowed/game at 89.1
4th in penalties on defense at 57, on pace for 83
3rd in penalty yards on defense at 424, on pace for 616
4 way tie for 1st in 3rd down defense at 33% conversion
17th in sacks at 23.0, on pace for 33.5
3rd in INTs at 18, on pace for 26
6 way tie for 7th in fumble recoveries at 9, on pace for 13

All of these were compiled from stats at NFL.com. Can we seriously expect any more improvement from this defense? Sure, it'd be nice to get some more pressure on the QB, but even then we're on pace for 5.5 sacks better this year.

And we have another off season and another draft to shape it even more into the 3-4 that Capers wants.

It seems to me with the loss of Kampman and especially Harris the Defense will begin to slide a bit in the rankings, but its certainly been a great turn around from last year.

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Wow! Great post, Porforis. There has been a lot of talk this season about the defense struggling, and while these stats don't necessarily mean the D hasn't struggled, it does mean we're in a better position this year than we were last. There are some problems obviously, but this post is very encouraging. It may not come this year, but if the D continues to improve I think we have the possibility of a squad capable of shutting down an offense as dynamic as this year's Vikings.

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I think some people are saying the defense sucks based on a play here and there and not the entire body of work for the defense.

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And I think this tells us a lot about how our defense looks somewhat worse than it is.

We keep giving opposing offenses some great field position and are giving up quite some scores because of that. Of course, that inflates the yards allowed stat a little, as well, but we've been pretty darn good in that department.

Capers deserves some credit, especially these last few games, for creating some pressure while not having a good DE/OLB.

That said, our schedule has been somewhat favorable, as well. Still, great job. Especially in just one year.

There's only one stat that truly matters and that's Points Allowed.

The unfortunate asterisk here is the reason why we're "only" 12th is our STs suck and keep putting our D in a bad hole.

Fix the STs and you'll see us with a top 5 D. How many times this year has a KO Returner taken the ball into our Red Zone right after we scored? Our KO coverage is horrible.

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Those are nice defensive rankings to look at, finally. I agree about the ST's though. Fix them and the points allowed ranking goes way up.

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Can anyone get a strength of schedule comparison from last year to this year? I'd like to see whether we have played harder or easier teams this year.

Strength of schedule means little because it changes from week to week.
Remember last year we handled The Colts early in the year when Manning was still getting back from his injury.

Take the numbers for what they are....there has been a vast improvement on the defensive side this year.

Agree that the special teams need to step it up, usually you have your younger guys playing special teams, IMHO they relax too much after The Offense scores to put us up by a TD or more....That seems to be when they give up the big return.
This is very "fixable".......right Mike!!! :icon_smile: :icon_smile:

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Compiled this manually...

2008 Opponents: 129-127 (.504)
2009 Opponents (Through present date): 52-69 (.430)

Yes, we're playing weaker teams this year too.