I thought Denver was supposed to have an elite defense, too. Man does Sean Payton have a lot of egg on the face after he just ripped the job by last year's coaching staff in Denver.
It was the right call, both from an analytical standpoint and obviously from a results standpoint. There have been some pretty extensive studies/articles on why coaches don't do that more down 2 TDs in the 4th.
They haven't been bad, but any top 5-10 defense wouldn't be satisfied with the performance. Our expectations have just become extremely low as far as what we expect for a high quality defensive performance.
The one area of the field where you can't take a dark on 3rd down and of first this undisciplined squad takes an enormous sack to knock them out of FG range. Why are you even making a playcall that allows for that deep of a drop to even risk that there?