I hear y'all, honestly, but I think the Eagles, Cowboys, and 49ers were all overrated last year, save for the Eagles OL which was dominant.
Last year is not a good one by which to judge as I think the quality of play reflected too many teams in transition, like 1991.
I think Quinn called a Hell of a couple of games in the playoffs, but when push came to shove with the game on the line the Cowboys defense finally caved after time and again bending but not breaking after the 49ers crossed midfield. Late in the game the 49ers scored and never looked back. I also don't think our 2022 defense would have withstood long vs. the 2021 Tampa team. We caught them at the right time.
It's unfair to hold our defense to an unyieldingly high standard given we just handed the 49ers the football a couple of times, but caving late is the staple of a defense that isn't stout and lacks the horses up front to carry the team. You knew it was a matter of time before they caved, and I never felt confident they would actually come up with a stop.
It felt like we were on borrowed time, not like our defense was defeating them.
McCarthy said it best himself:
“Kellen wants to light the scoreboard up. But I want to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense "
IOW, let's play one way on one side of the ball to cover up flaws on the other (not to mention cover for my turnover-prone QB). You don't see KC taking that stance. Fuck no. They go for it.