Stank_Nasty Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 espn insider has some interesting articles of top 30 offensive and defensive units from the last 30 years based on DVOA. The 90 offense came in at 22. and i was shocked to see the 04 defense all the way up at #4! http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/page/Outsiders30Defenses/football-outsiders-30-best-nfl-defenses-30-years-2017 "The 2004 Bills were the best team of this century to miss the playoffs, ranking No. 1 in DVOA for both defense and special teams. They had one of the greatest defenses that almost nobody remembers. The Bills led the league with 39 takeaways and allowed a league-low 4.32 yards per play. They tied for third with 45 sacks even though Aaron Schobel (8.0) was the only player with more than five. In one absurd December game, they allowed Cleveland a grand total of 26 yards in a 37-7 victory. The Bills did this with a lineup that probably included no Hall of Famers, unless London Fletcher or Pat Williams sneaks in some day. The Bills would have entered the playoffs red-hot as long as they beat Pittsburgh in Week 17. The game was in Buffalo and the 14-1 Steelers were resting starters. The defense held Tommy Maddox to 120 passing yards but somehow let the Steelers hold onto the ball for nearly nine minutes with a 26-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The Steelers won 29-24, and the Bills missed their best chance at the postseason since the Music City Miracle" http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/page/Outsiders30Offenses/football-outsiders-30-best-nfl-offenses-30-years-2017 "The Bills led the NFL in offensive DVOA for 1990, but they wouldn't make this list if their postseason performance weren't incorporated. They scored 44 points on the Miami Dolphins (eighth in defensive DVOA that year) and then demolished the Los Angeles Raiders (13th in defensive DVOA) 51-3. In the Super Bowl, of course, they scored only 19 points instead of 22" top defense was 91 eagles and top offense was 07 pats. no surprises there as both were just urneal. was surprised to see that 04 defense up there. so many people give them crap for facing a bad schedule but DVOA takes that all into account. impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM2009 Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 The defense couldn't stop Willie Parker in that game. I broke something after that loss, don't remember what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Sigh. One of the most disappointing games of the drought era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 That Pittsburgh loss was one of the most disappointing Bills' memories I have. Didn't Lindell miss a chip shot FG also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM2009 Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 That Pittsburgh loss was one of the most disappointing Bills' memories I have. Didn't Lindell miss a chip shot FG also? yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Sigh. One of the most disappointing games of the drought era.I would say that is THE signature loss of the drought. I'm not even sure what else would be close (at least in terms of importance). The combination of the importance of the game and the squad that they faced put that at the top (or bottom) of the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 I would say that is THE signature loss of the drought. I'm not even sure what else would be close (at least in terms of importance). The combination of the importance of the game and the squad that they faced put that at the top (or bottom) of the list. Can't argue with any of the points you've made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted June 20, 2017 Author Share Posted June 20, 2017 The defense couldn't stop Willie Parker in that game. I broke something after that loss, don't remember what. Sigh. One of the most disappointing games of the drought era. That Pittsburgh loss was one of the most disappointing Bills' memories I have. Didn't Lindell miss a chip shot FG also? I would say that is THE signature loss of the drought. I'm not even sure what else would be close (at least in terms of importance). The combination of the importance of the game and the squad that they faced put that at the top (or bottom) of the list. was 19 and that was the first game i had ever attended. sad day for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted June 20, 2017 Author Share Posted June 20, 2017 (edited) oh, and in other slightly related news, Mcdermotts 2015 defense finished 18th on the list. Edited June 20, 2017 by Stank_Nasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) espn insider has some interesting articles of top 30 offensive and defensive units from the last 30 years based on DVOA. The 90 offense came in at 22. and i was shocked to see the 04 defense all the way up at #4! http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/page/Outsiders30Defenses/football-outsiders-30-best-nfl-defenses-30-years-2017 "The 2004 Bills were the best team of this century to miss the playoffs, ranking No. 1 in DVOA for both defense and special teams. They had one of the greatest defenses that almost nobody remembers. The Bills led the league with 39 takeaways and allowed a league-low 4.32 yards per play. They tied for third with 45 sacks even though Aaron Schobel (8.0) was the only player with more than five. In one absurd December game, they allowed Cleveland a grand total of 26 yards in a 37-7 victory. The Bills did this with a lineup that probably included no Hall of Famers, unless London Fletcher or Pat Williams sneaks in some day. The Bills would have entered the playoffs red-hot as long as they beat Pittsburgh in Week 17. The game was in Buffalo and the 14-1 Steelers were resting starters. The defense held Tommy Maddox to 120 passing yards but somehow let the Steelers hold onto the ball for nearly nine minutes with a 26-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The Steelers won 29-24, and the Bills missed their best chance at the postseason since the Music City Miracle" http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/page/Outsiders30Offenses/football-outsiders-30-best-nfl-offenses-30-years-2017 "The Bills led the NFL in offensive DVOA for 1990, but they wouldn't make this list if their postseason performance weren't incorporated. They scored 44 points on the Miami Dolphins (eighth in defensive DVOA that year) and then demolished the Los Angeles Raiders (13th in defensive DVOA) 51-3. In the Super Bowl, of course, they scored only 19 points instead of 22" top defense was 91 eagles and top offense was 07 pats. no surprises there as both were just urneal. was surprised to see that 04 defense up there. so many people give them crap for facing a bad schedule but DVOA takes that all into account. impressive. That defense was great and I remember the Cleveland game. I think that the Browns actually had very close to 0 yards of net offense going into their last drive and I remember the bar I was watching the game at was in a fever pitch hoping that they could actually hold them to 0 for the game. But I also remember that the quality of the teams that they played that season was also pretty low until they ran into the Steelers. Edited June 21, 2017 by vincec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveFor1Outta5 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 That defense was great and I remember the Cleveland game. I think that the Browns actually had very close to 0 yards of net offense going into their last drive and I remember the bar I was watching the game at was in a fever pitch hoping that they could actually hold them to 0 for the game. But I also remember that the quality of the teams that they played that season was also pretty low until they ran into the Steelers. I remember that season starting out terribly. Willis McGahee came in and gave the offense a boost. The team proceeded to go on a winning streak against weak opponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folz Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 (edited) I would say that is THE signature loss of the drought. I'm not even sure what else would be close (at least in terms of importance). The combination of the importance of the game and the squad that they faced put that at the top (or bottom) of the list. The only other games during the drought that come to mind as far as being close to that level of disappointment, although playoffs weren't on the line like in the Steelers game, was the Monday night loss to Dallas, letting them comeback and take that one still burns, and maybe the Leodis fumble against the Patriots in 2009; Pats scoring 2 TDs in the last two minutes of the game. But, I'm surprised the 90s teams only made the list once, and at 22, as far as offense goes (I don't have ESPN Insider, so just going off what the OP said). I wonder if it is a different era issue (more points get scored now). Other possibilities from the available excerpt could be that DVOA limits the value of big or long plays because they aren't as repeatable. The K-gun scored fast, which meant a lot of big plays. DVOA also, apparently, takes into account field position based on special teams. The 90s teams were excellent, so maybe that weighs in too.What else? Or were they just not as prolific as my memory tells me they were? As I said, didn't see the whole article, so I'm not sure which teams are on the list, etc. Just surprised that the 90s team wasn't better represented. Edited June 22, 2017 by folz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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