When I was putting together the Pittsburgh preview for the Weekly, I noticed that Jacksonville’s defense has scored over 30 points in every game. Looking at past years, I see that they’ve allowed more points than any other team since the move to 32 teams in 2002.
The natural question is whether they can ever get that defense back on track. Is it overdue to start playing well? Or will teams just continue to pummel them all year? The Jaguars have 12 sacks, so there’s oddly some pass rush ability with that defense, which isn’t what you would expect.
Anywho, I looked at some of the other defenses that have been lousy. There are 30 others that have allowed over 30 points per game through the first four weeks since 2002 (not over 30 in every game, but an average over 30).
Of those 30, only three held opponents under 20 points in their fifth game. That’s 10 percent. And two others allowed exactly 20 point. Nine of the 30 (30 percent) finished up in the butt-kicker range yet again in their fifth game, giving up 34-plus.
The overall average was 28.2 points per game in Week 5. For this one, the game is in Jacksonville, where heat might be a factor, and the Jaguars have that pass-rushing angle to work (protection has been a problem for the Steelers). On our board, I went with 26 points scored when slotting the Steelers.
WORST DEFENSES, FIRST FOUR GAMES | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | First 4 | Next G |
2014 | Jacksonville | 152 | ? |
2012 | Tennessee | 151 | 30 |
2008 | Detroit | 147 | 34 |
2008 | St. Louis | 147 | 17 |
2013 | NY Giants | 146 | 36 |
2002 | Minnesota | 141 | 24 |
2002 | Detroit | 138 | 31 |
2013 | Philadelphia | 138 | 21 |
2012 | Kansas City | 136 | 9 |
2009 | Detroit | 134 | 28 |
2002 | NY Jets | 133 | 29 |
2002 | Kansas City | 133 | 25 |
2005 | San Francisco | 132 | 28 |
2002 | Buffalo | 131 | 49 |
2012 | Buffalo | 131 | 45 |
2003 | Arizona | 130 | 24 |
2012 | New Orleans | 130 | 24 |
2007 | Cincinnati | 129 | 27 |
2013 | Jacksonville | 129 | 34 |
2002 | Tennessee | 128 | 31 |
2006 | San Francisco | 126 | 20 |
2011 | Kansas City | 126 | 24 |
2010 | Buffalo | 125 | 36 |
2012 | Oakland | 125 | 23 |
2008 | Seattle | 124 | 44 |
2012 | Washington | 123 | 24 |
2013 | Minnesota | 123 | 35 |
2003 | San Diego | 122 | 27 |
2006 | Tennessee | 121 | 14 |
2007 | Detroit | 121 | 34 |
2013 | St. Louis | 121 | 20 |
—Ian Allan