Very good points…and tu shay. Perhaps I’m still a little sore that he joined his son Lame Kitten which seemed to lead to the collapse of ’08. Who really knows…

Remember monte had the number one defense in 2005 without Sapp and Lynch.

I think they set some kinda record for least yardage given up in that playoff game vs. skins.

And his defense was good enough to win NFC south in 07.

Heck yea you take him back! After what we’ve seen defensively? Are you people nuts?

There’s more talent on this Buc defense than the 2008 top 10 defense of the Bucs. BTW, the 2008 Bucs held opposing QBs to a 75.3 rating…compare that to the current rating of 95…

Check it out
2008 2012
LDE Kevin Carter Michael Bennett
UT Jovan Haye Gerald McCoy
NT Chris Hovan Roy Miller
RDE Gaines Adams/S. White Adrian Clayborn/D. Bowers

SLB Cato June Quincy Black/Adam Hayward
MLB Barrett Ruud Mason Foster
WLB Derrick Brooks Lavonte David

LCB Philip Buchanan EJ Biggers
FS Tanard Jackson Ronde Barber
SS Jermaine Phillips Mark Barron
RCB Ronde Barber Eric Wright

Person for person each member of the of the 2012 Bucs defensive line is far better than their 2008 counterpart.

At SLB, Cato June statistically speaking is no better than Black and Hayward. As a matter of fact, both Black and Hayward have done very well when on the field this season (especially Black against the run). I’ll try to be fair and call this a push…even though June only played in ONE NFL game the rest of his career after 2008.

I’m going to call the MLB Ruud vs Foster matchup in favor of Foster. Ruud had his deficiencies against the run, Foster against the pass, the needle is clearly pointed up for Foster, it was all downhill for Ruud after 2008, Considering the SLB battle was a push, it’s only fair if 2012 gets the nod in this battle.

At WLB, even though it was Brooks’ last season in the NFL and he had clearly lost a step or two and David looks to be a burgeoning super star in the making. I’ll give the nod to the 2008 Bucs WLB because of Brooks’ HOF career.

So far the 2012 Bucs defenders have a 5-1-1 edge over the 2008 squad that was top 5 when Kiffin announced he was leaving with 4 games left.

LCB People love to hate on EJ Biggers even though he has been the best cover CB for the Bucs this season by far. Hate on him all you want, he’s the best we have and under a decent DC he would probably be excellent. We let him go, we have Al Harris all over again. He’ll go on to be a really good player for a good long while for another team. Either way. Buchanon’s 2008 season was his last in Tampa, he played a few more years and was decent for the Bucs. To make the Biggers haters happy, I’ll give Buchanon the nod though I tend to see it as more of a push.

FS Ronde Barber will make the Pro Bowl this season and deservedly so. Tanard Jackson had potential and occasionally lived up to it. That being said, this is closer than the numbers should indicate, but the edge goes to Barber.

SS Mark Barron vs Jermaine Phillips. I really liked Phillips, Barron has done some good things. That being said, they are very similar players except Phillips missed the last 5 games and was replaced by Sabby the GOAT. I have to go with Barron simply for the reason that his forearms aren’t made of glass. Advantage Barron and 2012 Bucs

RCB Wright isn’t as bad as we think, Barber not as good as we thought. Still the 2008 version of Barber gets the nod over Wright due to production and not being suspended.

Final tally? Person to person, the 2012 Buccaneers defense has better players by a 7-3-1 edge. The big difference of why better players don’t equal a better defense? A terrible defensive coordinator vs. an excellent one. Say what you want about Kiffin, but the truth is, is that he had those average defenders playing great defense for the first 12 games of the season.

December 21st, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Sherida’s defensive number are similiar to his year in NY where he had the worst pass defense..hmm heard that recently

++++++++++++

That was me. Before Sheridan Giants D was 3rd in NFL, opposing QBs had 76.7 rating and sacked 42X. With Sheridan Giants D was 30th in NFL, opposing QBs 95 rating and sacked 32X. Post Sheridan Giants D rebounded to 13th, opposing QBs rating was 80 and sacked 48X.

That 95 rating is pretty much the same as the Bucs have done this season… the 32 sacks is wishful thinking.

I don’t care what anybody thinks of Kiffin. He could be 105 years old and still be a better defensive coordinator than Sheridan.

Ron Meeks is the man you want anyways, check out what he did with the Colts. A team that invested most of their cash and draft picks on their high-powered O and he still cranked out top 10 defenses 5 out of his 8 seasons there and then they’ve been in the bottom 20 all 3 seasons since he left (they were 31st the year before he got there, 7th in his first year). The guy is the miracle worker.

His #1 draft pick of Gaines Adams was legendary.

The reason he’s unemployed, is that he can’t adapt to innovative offenses like Oregon’s (63 pts). Oh my!

Put ego aside, step aside, let the master do his work. No brainier.

Get dave Wannstedt !! cowboys had pressure when he was there and shiano knows him from the U AND CHI-TOWN