Fire the coach, the defense is bad, we weren’t prepared, we were out coached

And all of that is coming from the Patriots message board. Maybe we aren’t so bad? Maybe they aren’t so good?

 

We aren't as bad as what all think. We lost our best defensive player and his back up in one game, fix this and a few small things on D and we are good enough. Re sign Bell lots don't like that but hey we scored 42 vs the so call best defense in the Jagoffs something is working there so don't change it. The NFL is becoming an offensive league keep the weapons we have at least for the next 2 years. IMO coaching has to step up and make the right calls on the field, we are just as good as anyone else if not better!

 

I really like your optimistic view, it makes me feel better but I disagree. Yes, the rules now make it so offense is what you need a lot of but having absolutely no defense isn't going to win championships. Yeah, the SB was all offense but the games leading up to it were about the defense, the Eagles defense is what beat the Falcons, and a strip sack and fumble recovery turned the Vikings game into a blowout but that play was a major turning point as the Eagles began making the Vikings 1 dimensional.

The Steelers are not capable of sustaining a lead, the only way they really can is by scoring on every possession. The Jags game is a good example, yes, the team got behind early because the defense let them march downfield and score on their opening drive and then the offense gave them 2 gifts. The offense then got within a single score at a time they were clicking and had the jags defense on their heals, the problem was every time the Steelers scored the Jags would match it, and with ease.

We saw this even with Shazier, they can't stop the run even against teams with no real QB, and so they have to sell out against the run which leaves a horrendous secondary in coverage and that always results in QBs like Bortles looking like a HOFer and it has cost this team in big games. Look at the Tebow game, the defense was aging and had issues stopping the run and so we had 9 guys at the LOS letting Tebow complete only 10 passes but for 316 yards, that is 31.6 yards per pass.

It isn't just the calls on the field that are hurting the defense, we seriously do not have the talent, at this point I'm saying Burns is average at best, Davis is close to being a wasted pick and Dupree, and I'm calling it now, is a bust. Yes, it is a harsh assessment but the biggest disappointment is Dupree, he worked with a respectable trainer who said he may be the DPY only to get taken out of plays by TEs and his only sacks were coverage sacks that occurred well after the standard 3 seconds. It isn't the sacks that bother me though, it is the inability to set the edge on run plays, it seems big run plays on the outside happen on his side of the field more often than not, and this is after a full offseason of training, in other words he can't transition his training to the filed, AKA Ziggy Hood.

 

I agree with what your saying however your thoughts on some players I don't. I really feel getting rid of Mitchell will only improve Burns and Haden, Mitchell offered no over the top help. That is a major factor in why we gave up so many long plays. I also feel that coaching has to improve to put the best players on the field as well as using the skills they have to the best fit. Example getting more man and less zone as we look bad in that, taking the major weapon away like in the Pat's game. We let Gronk own us at the end, why cause we didn't double him WTF? Heyward is good and so is Tuitt however they way they get used makes them invisible some times. I will give you Bud he is a disappointment but not no where close to what Jones was.

 

You make some valid points and I agree 100% with your view on Mitchell. The thing with Burns is he gets burned when he plays man, he takes to long to change direction on dig routes and he bites on the double move almost every time, I think he is below average as an NFL CB and he was picked way to high in the draft, we probably could have got him in the 3rd round.

The safety play is just bad, flat out bad and nothing can fix that except new players. Davis is what he is I'm afraid, I still have a slight glimmer of hope for him just like I have for Dupree. Heyward and Tuitt are really good, but you saw when Tuitt got hurt, his replacement, Alualu isn't very good, I see why the Jags let him walk. That right there is another big issue, there is no depth on the D-line, by the 4th quarter Heyward and Tuitt are gassed, the team really needs some solid DTs.

For what it is worth, Burns may get better or he may even regress further, it is hard to tell. One thing that I don't like is he doesn't want to tackle, that is very evident along with the fact you can teach quickness, and he doesn't have it. He is slow on direction change and that is why he gets burned so bad on double moves, it takes him time to stop and change direction and once he stops it takes him too long to get up to speed.

I hold out hope that you are correct but I fear that the lack of change in staff means more of the same. What the team needs is a solid draft with at least 2 defensive guys that can start because there isn't enough cap space to get a FA that is worth anything. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

Presumably they only play against weak QBs and a real team would destroy them. Just guessing there.

It's been such an odd season around here. Putting to one side whether regular season wins matter or not if we can't win in the play-offs, the team posted the third best regular season record in the history of the franchise. And yet, this season has been probably the most negative I've seen on TSF.

I can understand it to an extent, because the 2017 team isn't anywhere near the level of, say, the 1978 team. But it's interesting to see that it's happening on other team's boards as well.