Wondering what others take on this is?

I'm still not convinced that we don't have the defensive players to be good/great. I hope another couple of games doesn't change my opinion on this. Remember this is only my opinion and I'm not even sure it is a good one but: It is my believe that we play way too conservative on defense and that is the source of our defensive problems. I know DL is known for his exotic blitz and defensive schemes. However it seems each year we grow more conservative on defense. It started a ways back as we would get leads and play the second half not to lose and has grown into, what seems to me, playing the entire game not to lose. We had defenses that were so good they could do this. The players changed but the attitude didn't. Personally, I believe we have the players to play a more aggressive game. Essentially, we have the right answers to the wrong questions. I realize people will say we don't have the secondary to be more aggressive and that our D-line doesn't put enough pressure on the QB...you may be right. We don't really ask them to put that much pressure on the QB, at least not in this defense. I guess I see this as a "what do we have to lose?" kind of situation. You know, "unleash he..." nevermind!

 

ATTACK and let the chips fall where ever they may. We may actually turn into an exciting product to watch.

 

Yeah, I think you just said what I was driving at in a lot less words. lol

 

Agreed, attack cause the defense can't get much worse than it is. If your going to change something, do it aggressively.

 

My thought is it is much tougher to complete a 40 yard pass than it is a 4 yard pass. Play press coverage and for the QB to take a 7 step drop and force deep throws. Outside of a few QB's this has to be the mentality. College football is all about spread schemes and getting the ball into the hands of the playmaker quickly. Force these new NFL QB's to hold the ball and throw it accurately 30+ yards downfield.

How many times do you see Darren Sproles or Percy Harvin or even Antonio Brown take a 5 yard catch and turn it into 35+? A lot more than you see these guys run a 40 yard route and catch the deep ball.

 

well AB can because he's the awesomest wr in the league and bestest returner alive and all around good guy steeler type dude that's awsome and stuff.

 

Exactly what I was saying in the 4-6-1 thread. And you are spot on that's how you Attack the spread....I remember the first time I saw the spread it was a playoff game in 87 or 88 I think...We were beating Swain County 7-6 at half time and Heath Shula was their QB. We had a fierce run D and we where laying it to them...

Well to make a long story short they came out in the Pistol and 4 WR'S to start the second half and they beat us to death ..Like 50 some to 12 was the final . The moral to the story is I grew up watching this Offense first hand and later Coaching against it , very hard to stop ,but the best way IMO is to be aggressive not passive.

 

If we start using those exotic blitzes, being aggressive on defense, we'll be fine. Otherwise, expect more of what we've seen the last 6 quarters from our D.

 

Our Dline draft pics have not developed is why I think (bad word) Lebeau hesitates to get aggressive.

 

I also believe it is much tougher to catch a pass after running at full speed for 40 yards than it is after running 4. In addition to have to throw a ball 40 yards you need to adjust to the weather conditions, the flight of the ball, turn your head around while running forward etc. A 4 yard route takes almost all of those out of the equation. When was the last time a WR had to adjust to a 4 yard pass? Rarely if ever. The QB rifles it to him where he is supposed to be.

In addition the game of football has significantly changed over the past couple of years. It can be debated if that is good or bad in another thread but not really fair to compare this defense to defenses much more than a few years ago due to those changes.

 

Two excellent points.

We're getting smoked playing conservatively so let the guys pin their ears back and attack and try to force some things to happen. Can't get much worse than it already is. I think playing within the scheme also hurts development, as I haven't seen much improvement in our guys the longer they stay with us, which is a problem. If we always play the same way and expect the same things from our players, their growth potential becomes limited.

Forcing the deep, low-percentage passes would be a good shift from what we have been doing for many years, which is basically giving up the short stuff. Putting our CB's 1-on-1 may open the door for some huge offensive plays, but like Haweye states, it's harder to complete a 40-yarder than it is a 4-yarder. Plus, if our guys get burned, it seems easier to catch a contested pass than one that falls right into your lap (see Sweed, Limas).

 

If they were playing fundamentally sound football then attacking makes sense. However, with what we've seen through two games attacking is just setting yourself up for failure. Players aren't maintaining gaps, getting off blocks, or just making tackles. Until they start doing those things on a consistent basis then we'll see more of a conservative defense. You have to crawl before you can run.

 

Yeah, I'm not saying I have the answers but I FEEL like if we are going to go down we might as well go down in flames. Might even learn something about ourselves in the process. I just can't wrap my head around the thought that we don't have the talent. At this point, I can buy into what we are and aren't doing on defense more than I can that we don't have the players. Like I said...I hope I'm not convinced otherwise!

 

I agree with you. I've posted similar sentiment in other threads.

Playing not to lose does not equal playing to win.