Great defenses get themselves off the field. In the playoffs you're gonna get into games where your offense does nothing and you have to be able to keep the other team off the field when that happens. Even our great offense in '99 had that type of game vs Tampa, and it was our defense that kept us in that game long enough for the offense to score that big TD.
Truth is our defense let us down in that game. They didn't finish on too many plays, letting Case escape and look like Steve effin Young. They did play well for much of the game, but in a matchup where the offense came up short the same could be said about our defense. And yes, I know, our secondary was banged up, but still that was a team loss, with the Rams losing on both sides of the ball.