Some fodder for the "OL is the only way to build a team" crowd. Yesterday's ProFootballFocus article on Surrendering Pressure:
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/06/06/surrendering-pressure/
In short, one of the teams that made the Superbowl was the worst team in the entire league in giving up pressure on the QB. Green Bay ranked 12th. Neither was in the top-10.
And the bottom 3 for offensive line, PIT, CHI, and TB, all made the playoffs.
Compare this to how the QB performs under pressure:
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/05/16/pressure-reveals/
In short, these findings seem to indicate the really good QBs mask the weakness of the offensive line, and that even with poor pass protection, they can still win. Given that FItzpatrick was #16 under pressure, and Edwards is terrible (according to my own biased assessment), a lot of what we felt last year could probably be attributed to that upgrade.
To me, it's more important to have a well balanced football team in today's NFL than overly dominant lines. I think these findings are in line with that theory. Unfortunately, that means it's a lot more complicated than "build great lines and win".
**EDIT: Mods, I was typing this up while the other thread was made about this series of articles. Can you merge it in to this one?
http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/130848-o-line-ranks-12th/
Thanks