Originally Posted by
outdrawed
"Looks like both teams have poor passing games, with MIA's pass D being among the NFL's best against a strong schedule."
Every time people use ypg as a measure of a team's ability on defense, I want to scream.
Miami has given up the 3rd fewest yards per game through the air in the league. That has nothing to do with them having a good pass defense, and everything to do with teams getting an early lead and running the ball the whole game. Teams have thrown on Miami 267 times, fewest in the league. Only one other team (Oakland), has had fewer than 300 pass attempts again. On that note, Miami is giving up an insane 7.66 yards per attempt, which is good for 3rd worst in the league. Miami's pass defense sucks, but since their run defense does too, and they have seldom been in the lead all year, teams aren't passing on them.
The same applies for the Jets. They aren't 19th in pass defense. They're dead last in yards per attempt, and second to last according to DVOA.
The lesson is this. Yards per game is a terrible stat to measure a team's ability to do something. I have a feeling I'm going to be repeating this for the rest of this season, and well into next season.