In retrospect, Herrera agrees that the veteran-laden defense, 10 of whom ended up getting invited to last month’s NFL combine, may have just assumed they would be good again.

“Pretty much. I think that’s what it was,” Herrera said. “Sometimes there was a lot of complacency, where people just got comfortable with what they were doing, and what they did (in 2011).”

I guess we should prepare ourselves for a young defense that finds itself during the season, plays its ass off in the second half of the season, gets all kinds of critical acclaim after the season… and then regresses in 2014.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.