Damn you, Rusty Smith! Damn you to Methopotamia!^ Oops, never mind. Too late.
You may be thinking to yourself, "bfd, you handsome gift to our existence, you studmuffin, you genius, why are you so upset about Rusty Smith's performance?" My response is quite simple, really, in that there's no way I want any defensive coach to return in 2011. Not a single one. Plus, I get a certain amount of enjoyment from claiming the "Worst Pass Defense in NFL History" award. Don't get me wrong: I want to win. But the sooner we make massive changes defensively, the better off we'll be in the long run.
Explanation of what this is here, and away we go!
Rusty Smith's 25.7 QB rating against us last week, and the absolute stone-walling of Chris Johnson, sent us plummeting down the defensive "leader" boards. Overall, we only have the 4th worst overall defense since 1987 (using Football Outsiders' DVOA, negative values are better):
| Team | Year | DVOA |
| DET | 2008 | 29.2% |
| DEN | 2008 | 24.7% |
| MIN | 2000 | 24.4% |
| HOU | 2010 | 24.2% |
| DEN | 2010 | 23.4% |
*Sigh*. And, sadly, there's a new leader atop the worst pass defense chart, as well:
| Team | Year | PassDVOA |
| DEN | 2010 | 48.2% |
| HOU | 2010 | 45.9% |
| DET | 2009 | 40.1% |
| JAC | 2009 | 39.8% |
| BAL | 1996 | 38.8% |
While we were limiting Rusty Smith, another rookie Sam Bradford (who, in all fairness, has been getting paid to play football far longer) was dropping 308 yards, 3 TDs, and a 113.3 QB rating on the Broncos (who have Champ Bailey, btw).
Accordingly, the QB rating against the 2010 Houston Texans has dropped, as well. We've gone from Kurt Warner's 1999 MVP season to a 102.7 QB rating, or Aaron Rodgers' 2009 season.
Seeing as we'll probably face Rusty Smith one more time (or even Vodka Collins), I see it as fairly unlikely we'll wind up as the Worst Pass Defense in NFL History. My fear, and I believe it to be founded, is this alleged improvement will be used as an excuse to keep Frank Bush employed. I still maintain Bush should've been fired after Game 3 in 2009. If Gary Kubiak stays around, he'll have to make a choice--loyalty or winning. As long as Bush is around, I don't see the defense improving.
Or, maybe, we could have Bush stand in the crane pose for the duration of the game. You know, to change things up.
Finally, this week's tribute to the defense brought to you by The Mavericks' "All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down":
^ Methopotamia is the worst place I could imagine. Sorry, Eric and texanphil.