Poll: Are We Who We Thought We Were?

We sit here at 1-3 with a quarter of the season gone. We have a lone victory against the Raiders and three straight losses against the NFC North in the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. We rank #11 in total offence and #3 in total defense. We rank #21 in passing offence and #2 in rushing offence. We rank #10 in passing defence and #2 in rushing defence, but yet we are still 1-3. We've had close loses and a rather close victory. We have faltered in the red-zone and only have four passing touchdowns on the season, good for joint 26th in the league.

Defensively we are shutting the run down, that can't be denied. However we've also allowed 9 passing touchdowns, good for the 3rd worst record in the league. You would think with so many teams passing on us, we'd have the opportunity to turn the ball over, well that hasn't happened. We are one of only two teams not to record an interception on the season, the other being the New Orleans Saints. Despite that, we top the league with 14 sacks on the season, which is an incredible return this early in the season.

We have scored just 79 points on the season, good for 22nd in the league and we are averaging 19.8 points per game which is good for 25th in the league. However we have turned the ball over 5 times through the air. We have allowed 9 sacks, which is good for 22nd in the league and we average 6.7 yards a play which puts us 26th.

What is the point in all these stats? I want to know if we are who you thought we were going to be at the start of the season? Do we have the record you thought we would? Are we struggling in the areas you thought we would? Are we excelling in the areas you thought we would? Here are a few thoughts from me:

• I'm not surprised to see us at the top of the pile with our ability to stop the run.
• I had us at 2-2, but not surprised to see us at 1-3 considering the teams we've played.
• I'm surprised that we have generated as many sacks as we have.
• I'm not surprised that we are struggling to score points and our turnover differential is terrible.
• I'm not surprised to see us giving up big plays through the air with the state of our corners.
• I am surprised we haven't given up more yardage through the air however.
• I am also surprised that we have moved the ball reasonably well through the air between the 20's.