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Better Bucs Defensive Super Bowl Performance


biggie.

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It's not remotely close. The 2002 Buccaneers pass defense was phenomenal all season and particularly in road games. They had the best road pass defense I have ever seen. I believe it was 4.8 YPA. Something like that. It is the reason that Tampa Bay team was perfectly suited to dominating playoff games away from home.

Given the huge interception numbers of 6.1% of opponent passes, it led to a ridiculous Adjusted Yards Per Attempt of 3.12. That is not a misprint:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/tam/2002.htm

In contrast, the 2020 Buccaneers had a nice defense but it equated to a regular season Adjusted Yards Per Attempt of 6.83. More than double:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/tam/2020.htm

2002 had a far superior defense in the postseason because they were superior overall. That's why these comparisons are indeed silly. I don't know one handicapper who uses DVOA. It would be asinine to use DVOA, because DVOA flies in the face of base logic. Pro football is based on a common draft and league parity. Even the gap from the top team to the bottom team is not much at all, given the standards in other sports. If Jacksonville had defeated Kansas City it would be a surprise and a brief story but nothing like some of the famous college upsets of all time. Quarterback level varies wildly in the NFL. That's what dictates outcomes these days, given the rules and application of them. Otherwise the more you adjust away from all things being the same in the NFL, the more you are wrong. And that's what DVOA attempts to do...mesmerize by adjusting anything and everything. Only suckers fall for it. 

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15 hours ago, evilflamingo said:

Agree with all of those as more impressive than the Seahawks. You should also add 2000 Ravens which defense allowed 0 points, 152 total yards, had 5 takeaways and 1 defensive score. 

For the Bucs, I'd say 2002 slightly ahead of Sunday's display. 

The 2000 Ravens were playing against Kerry Collins. The 2002 Bucs played against the league MVP and the 2020 Bucs played against Patrick Mahomes.

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3 hours ago, biggie. said:

The 2000 Ravens were playing against Kerry Collins. The 2002 Bucs played against the league MVP and the 2020 Bucs played against Patrick Mahomes.

Yeah, you can't impact who you're up against. 2000 Ravens had already disposed of Gannon's Raiders in the AFCC where they gave up 191 yards and 3 points (a FG on a short field after a Dilfer INT), with 5 takeaways. But it's OK to disagree and since this isn't even the topic of the conversation, I suggest we leave it at this. 

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9 hours ago, biggie. said:

The 2000 Ravens were playing against Kerry Collins. The 2002 Bucs played against the league MVP and the 2020 Bucs played against Patrick Mahomes.

They also dismantled everyone the entire season, including the postseason. And I literally hate the Ravens.

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1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

They also dismantled everyone the entire season, including the postseason. And I literally hate the Ravens.

Yep. That Giants team was coming off a 41-0 beatdown win in the NFC Title game too, it's not like they were slouches. 

The Ravens defense actually SCORED more touchdowns over the course of 4 postseason games (2) than they actually gave up (1). We can quibble around the edges around strength of competition and stuff like that but from a dominance standpoint, they basically pitched a perfect game for a month straight. 

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9 minutes ago, SalvadorsDeli said:

Yep. That Giants team was coming off a 41-0 beatdown win in the NFC Title game too, it's not like they were slouches. 

The Ravens defense actually SCORED more touchdowns over the course of 4 postseason games (2) than they actually gave up (1). We can quibble around the edges around strength of competition and stuff like that but from a dominance standpoint, they basically pitched a perfect game for a month straight. 

The 2000 Ravens and 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs effectively got Cover 2 made illegal and illegal contact a point of emphasis due to their dominance/physicality. People have conveniently forgotten that for some reason. Everyone remembers Ray, but people have somehow forgotten Boulware. That Back 7, even aside from the rush that the Bucs had with Brooks, Phillips, Lynch, and Ronde Barber was a "no fly zone" combined with unbelievable (and today very illegal) physicality. 

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1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

The 2000 Ravens and 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs effectively got Cover 2 made illegal and illegal contact a point of emphasis due to their dominance/physicality. People have conveniently forgotten that for some reason. Everyone remembers Ray, but people have somehow forgotten Boulware. That Back 7, even aside from the rush that the Bucs had with Brooks, Phillips, Lynch, and Ronde Barber was a "no fly zone" combined with unbelievable (and today very illegal) physicality. 

That’s another point.  2020 Bucs did it against the best QB in the league in an era with arcade mode offense.

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38 minutes ago, Jlowe22 said:

That’s another point.  2020 Bucs did it against the best QB in the league in an era with arcade mode offense.

You can make the argument that the 2002 Bucs did the exact same thing. Rich Gannon was the hands down MVP and that offense was unreal, with 2 HOF WR's and a solid running game.

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