Analogy of the Week

Today marks the start of a new series of weekly installments that will showcase the best analogy (idiom, metaphor, or even hyperbole, we don't discriminate here) generated that week by either myself or one of our other esteemed contributors*. Without further ado, the Analogy of the Week is:

A defense that can pressure the quarterback without blitzing is like a girl who looks good without makeup.

As the gears grind in your heads processing that one, it should all make sense very quickly. A defense that does not rely on the blitz to get to the opposing QB allows itself to do what its players were put on the field to do. Linemen rush, apply pressure and break the pocket. Corners cover. Linebackers and safeties read keys to sniff out the rest of the play. Excessive blitzing will backfire on you sooner or later (see the Jets' loss to the Colts in the AFC title game) if your opponent is prepared for it. A team that relies on the blitz to play effective defense is usually trying to mask some other weakness.

A girl who can look good even without makeup allows herself to be a complete person and bring all redeeming qualities to the table with equal emphasis. That's not to say she presents herself like a 13 year old tomboy, it just means she does not need to rely on getting totally dolled up and accessorized to make a solid self-presentation. Think Jennifer Aniston vs. J-Woww from Jersey Shore. Not the best example but it's workable. Both are very attractive in their own right, yet given the choice, you always take the one with an arsenal that goes beyond implants, eye shadow, and hair extensions. And just like a over-blitzing defense will eventually get burned, the J-Woww type girl will eventually have to deal with the lights turning on once the bar closes (or as I like to call it, "The Moment of Truth"). And finally, if I'll be allowed an unsubstantiated generalization, the girl without 9 lbs of Clinique on her face is much more likely to have a decent personality and intelligence level, while the concealer queens are usually the ones trying to compensate for the fact that they don't know the difference between Penn and Penn State.

The moral of the story is substance will take you farther than flash.

*Partial credit to Ryan, aka NotAsGoodAsYouThink's #1 Fan, whose analysis of the Jets/Colts game planted the seed for this analogy. And before I go, I will point out that you can make the same comparison by replacing a blitzing defense with either a homer-reliant baseball team or a basketball team that can't win without the 3-pointer.