Looking through NFL.com at the defensive stats for the NFL on the more common ways to rank a defense, I noticed something very interesting.

Having played the Jets, Bengals and Browns we have played statistically 3 of the top 16 defensive teams. Let me say that again. All of those teams were in the upper half of the league in terms of defense.

The ranking goes like this....

Defense - Total yards allowed per game:

Jets-11th

Bengals-10th

Cleveland-16th

Defense - Total Points allowed per game:

Jets-9th

Bengals-13th

Cleveland-14th

I know there are a ton of posts about how we are lucky at this point, doomed at this point, Flacco sucks, etc. However, looking at the stats and rankings, you have to be a little impressed with the team at this point. I know that Flacco hasnt looked great in 2 of the 3 games and the offense has been a bit shaky, but as a team, we are playing pretty well against some tough defenses. While other teams may be fairing better than us, they are playing some of the worst defenses the league has. A nice chunk of our remaining games are against defenses in the lower half of the rankings.

Think of it this way... 1 more touchdown in each of those games and we are 3-0 and we all feel a lot better about our team as a whole. I think that all of the doom and gloom by everyone (including myself) should really be shelved considering the official numbers.