Top 3 defenses, w/o a top 10 QB results in the 21st century

[PlayoffsPlease]

I take it to a much simpler level on defense which is point allowed per game. The Bills were 4th last year at 18.1 points per game. I'm sure there's a high correlation between a top 10 scoring offense and a top 10 QB and that is certainly a valid stat. The Bills ranked 18th at 21.4 points per game which is a differential of +3.3. I think the point differential tells a pretty interesting story.

 

The other teams with a positive differential were AFC, NE 9.7, Miami .9, Pitt 4.3, Cinn 1.3, Balt 5.6, Ind 5.6, Houston 4.1, Denver 8, KC 4.5. The NFC Dallas 7.2, Phil 4.6, GB 8.6, Detroit 2.4, Seattle 8.8, Ariz .7. The Panthers made it to the playoffs with a -2.2 only because the entire division had losing records.

 

The final 4 in the AFC were NE, Denver, Ind, and Baltimore which happen to be the top 4 in this category. So the question to me about the 2015 Bills is this. Can the defense be marginally better and allow a couple points less and can the offense be a even just slightly more effective in converting one of those FG's from 2014 into a TD in 2015 to get the team into the 5 to 7 point differential level which implies a playoff level complete team?

 

I used yards per play in the original post, because I believe that does the most to eliminate the impact of the offense or specials teams on the defense. If a teams offense is ineffective, the opponent will often be more conservative and simply chew up time once they have a lead. This makes the opposing defense look better statistically for game based metrics. Teams with a powerful offenses who get their teams big leads will change defensive strategies in a way that will make the defensive statistics look worse for game based metrics.