It occured to me that the Giants only scored 13 points two weeks ago, and the Broncos only 24 last week, which would be considered a success most of the time, if not all. While the 49ers gave up over 400 total yards of offense to the Giants in week 1, followed by over 150 rushing yards in week 2 against the Broncos, stats that would normally be considered inexcusable, the 49ers seemed to do their job, keeping both teams out of the endzone.

It was the same way with the New England Patriots last year. They ranked down in the 20's yardage-wise, but were a top five defense because they ranked only 6th in points allowed and forced a variety of turnovers. The Chicago Bears defense allowed the fewest points, yet they also ranked in the lower half in team defense in terms of yards allowed.

So obviously, yards allowed rankings are not all that important.

However, when you look at teams that don't do well in the yardage department, you're typically looking at teams that play in a lot of close games. This is not Hollywood-we do not want to be in close games. We prefer to blow our opponent out of the water the good old fashioned way-like we did in 1994. We love it when the game is over at the end of the first half, and the only thing left is making the final score look pretty and getting the backups some nice playing time.

The New England Patriots were the perfect example of a great team that was in too many close games for comfort last season. Super Bowl champions, yes, but how close did they come to losing it all? Well, within a non-call on an instant replay in vs. Oakland away from being out in the divisional playoffs.

No, we don't want to be one of those teams that gives a lot of ground just to hold an offense to a field goal. We want to destroy the opposing offense early, forcing their QB into the ground, ripping their running back to shreds, blowing up their blocking schemes and chasing runners down in the backfield...wait a minute, what was that first thing we just mentioned? Forcing their QB into the ground?

That is something that has clearly been missing from this current version of the 49ers' defense. We've all heard the term "it all starts up front." This is the obvious truth. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage wins, period, end of discussion.

Two weeks ago at New York, the 49ers blitzed for several straight plays and achieved their goal-they threw off Kerry Collins and shook him up. But along the way, Jim Mora Jr decided it was time to get back to his fundamentals, and that is DON'T BLITZ, send four, never disguise anything because, after all, he can't trust this young defense. Oh no. No, he's got to play our new 6'2" 205-LB "press corner" Mike Rumph 7-10 yards off the ball repeatedly so that Kerry Collins can throw the quick in for a good 8 guarenteed yards and possible yards after the catch all the way down inside the 49ers' ten.

"Oh, but we held them out of them out of the endzone that play, and that's what counts!!!" Bull. If it takes the opposition getting inside the ten to start trying, start playing in a professional manner, something IS wrong. You can't just go through life sitting back and waiting for something to happen. That's what I do, but it's not advisable.

You've got to ATTACK, especially in athletics. You've got to dictate what happens.

In order to accomplish this in the National Football League on defense, one must send the BLITZ. That's the only way to get the so-coveted "pass rush" which defines all great defenses. Think about it. Which great defense just rushed four men, dropped everyone else off and put their DBs 7-10 yards off of the WR? I don't think the Doomsday and Steel Curtain defenses did that, although I wasn't alive during those periods. The highlights and my own logic are enough to convince me. Perhaps Mora Jr confused the Steelers with the New Orleans Saints.