Reasons not to slit your wrists....yet.

The defense is terribad.  It is the worst defense in the league, and by quite a large margin.  However the offense is good.  Good enough in fact to make games competitive with NO help from the defense.

Now, I know that hope is the first step on the road to disappointment, but there are reasons not to give up entirely.

1.  Schaub continues to play well.  He is tied with Manning for TDs and is the FOURTH rated QB in the NFL right now.

2. Slaton had some nice runs.  Slaton was more decisive on his cuts and got upfield in a hurry.

3. Cushing, while he is making rookie mistakes, is also showing flashes of brilliance.  Did you see him run THROUGH the leadblock on his way to dominate MJD?  Sick!

Now here is the kicker.

Yes the defense is bad.  Yes it needs to improve alot.  HOWEVER, it only needs to improve A LITTLE to get us into position for a playoff run.

If the defense improves by just ONE touchdown a game, we are looking at a winning record in my opinion.  If the defense makes a slight improvement in 3rd down conversion rates, we are looking at a winning season.

The reality is we are good enough to hang around in 2 tough games based purely on offense.  So if that same offense is helped by a marginally improved defense, we are a much better team.

So while we ALL want to see a bonecrushing, run stopping wall of muscle.  The REALITY is that we only NEED a small improvement on defense.  Instead of giving up 28 points a game, give up 21, or 24.  Instead of allowing 11 third down conversion a game, allow 9.

Do that and we are in the playoff hunt.