Wintermute
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I think the 2005 team was the best by a pretty significant margin. Rex went down in the preseason, and they started out 1-3 starting a rookie 4th round pick quarterback. Then they went 9-2 the rest of the way and really dominated teams defensively more than the 2001 team did.
I really think the 2005 defense was clearly better than the 2001 defense. The 2001 defense allowed a lot of long drives, but was very stingy about giving up touchdowns. The 2005 defense was not only stingy about giving up touchdowns, it was stingy about even allowing a team to pick up a first down and get a drive going. You can see this when you look at the more advanced statistics (the kind I like).
The 2005 defense led the entire NFL in the 2 stats that I think are the best indicators of defensive performance: points allowed per defensive possession and net yards allowed per defensive possession. In contrast, the 2001 defense led the NFL in points allowed per defensive possession, but ranked only 14th in net yards allowed per defensive possession because they allowed a lot of long drives.
Also, the 2005 team also got really, really unlucky in that playoff game against the Panthers. 2 separate times, the Panthers got long touchdown passes to Steve Smith after the corner slipped. You don't often see that happen twice in the same game.
Yards allowed and sacks are overrated.