NFList

Bucs, Ravens boast top defenses

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print Sept. 18, 2000

Bucs DT Warren Sapp

The question posed to NFL insiders was: Who has the best defense in football? The vote was generally split between the Buccaneers and Ravens. The insiders requested anonymity.

1. Tampa Bay — "The biggest difference between them and the Ravens is Monte Kiffin, Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards. Dungy was an excellent coordinator, and right now, with Bill Belichick being a head coach, Kiffin is the best in the game, and Edwards is also a huge asset. The other factor is obviously talent. They have at least one Pro Bowl player in each area, and Warren Sapp can be as dominating as anyone."

2. Baltimore — "Did a great, great drafting job in recent years, drafting four players who are still very young, have exceptional speed and Pro Bowl ability in Chris McAlister, Duane Starks, Peter Boulware and Ray Lewis, and then filled in with some good free-agent pickups of former Pro Bowl players who can still play like Rod Woodson and Mike McCrary."

3. Buffalo — "Losing Bruce Smith, Thomas Smith and Kurt Schulz has to hurt them. I just don’t think people realize how important Thomas Smith and Schulz were to that defense. Very strong coaching and drafting keeps them up, but they are not very deep without the players they lost. Still great. Just ask the Titans."

4. Miami — "They have seven or eight quality defensive linemen they can rotate, a top middle linebacker, a premier corner, lots of speed and pretty good depth."

5. Washington — "Nobody added more talent during the offseason. The Redskins can start eight first-round picks, including two No. 1s, a No. 2 and Deion and Champ Bailey, at least three future Hall of Famers, and nobody in the history of football has had corners like Darrell Green, Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey." … "Do you realize you could make a case for Darrell being the cornerback of the ’80s, Deion was the cornerback of the ’90s and Champ could be the best for the next decade." … "If Ray Rhodes can motivate them and put them in position to make plays, they can be as good as anyone. They have seven or eight Pro Bowl-caliber players and some very good role players that nobody thinks about, like (Ndukwe) Kalu, who can really come off the edge and rush the quarterback."

6. San Diego — "They had no — and I mean no — offense last year, and they still finished 8-8 and one game out of first place. Joe Pascale is the most underrated defensive coordinator in years."

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2000 - 2001 Season