Generally speaking, I thought the coaching staff did a masterful job getting the most out of its defense in 2017. You can quibble with some usage patterns—I certainly would say the team needed to get Takk McKinley more involved earlier in the year—but this defense improved by leaps and bounds.
One player who had a down year by 2016 standards was, perhaps inevitably, Vic Beasley. After leading the NFL in sacks with 15.5 a season ago, Beasley finished with just five in 2017. He was close on a handful of pressures and probably could have had eight or so, but some regression was expected, and we saw a ton.