We outrushed our opponents by 300 yards, despite a paltry 8-5 showing. We had a 1000 yard rusher, and another with over 800 yards. I wouldn't call that pathetic.
I can't speak to whether there were three-man fronts, but it is possible to load the box using a three man-front. I remember all year thinking that that it was awfully hard to run when the safeties did not have respect the long ball, and could cheat up. It made blitzing easy, since you just had to cover the quick throws underneath.
It may be that we are seeing the same thing two different ways. You could probably get away with dropping eight in coverage if you are close enough to the box when you start. With normal QBs, the safeties must play back. That's like taking two away from the defense.