And I think that's in line with Philbin's thinking. You need to be able to pass and you need to be able to stop the pass. If you do those things, you will be successful. I think that was a giant philosophical switch from Sparano/Parcells, where it was more about stopping the run and having a stout OL to make holes for the RBs. I'm not impressed with Ireland's ability to manage a roster, but I don't think he's had the easiest of jobs switching between the two coaching regimes.
What it comes down to IMO is that Ireland chose to improve the pass defense at the expense of the run defense⦠In a passing league, that may not have been such a bad move.