Anyone see the Seattle secondary yesterday?

I watched the NE/Seattle games yesterday, and I was just in love with the Seattle defense. I wish we could do the things they were doing to Brady. They have something interesting going on in that they aren't a defense that flies around the field but their CB's are huge and beat up the opposing receivers all game.

Brandon Browner is 6'4 220 pounds, and Richard Sherman is 6'3 195 lbs.



...I'm not sure what my point is other than I was jealous seeing a physical defense that was able to handle Brady's offense. It's a copycat league, so maybe defenses start to take notice of big physical CB's. I think maybe Hack has mentioned one like once or twice on these boards

 

Exactly the reason why we need to sign a large WR next season, hopefully Bowe. Brown and Wallace are not possession receivers. When they have a CB draped all over them, they are going to struggle to come down with that 4th down catch to keep the game going. It seems like either our WR's are wide open or they can't catch. They can't go up and get the ball over a CB and that's hurting our offence. We need a big, physical WR like Bowe. We also need a Jimmy Graham type TE. I love Heath, but he's a dinosaur. He has no speed to get down field.

 

It was a thing of beauty wasn't it?

 

Their front 7 is nasty as well. They absolutely mauled the Packers O line a few weeks ago. I was a skeptic but Carroll is building a heck of a team in Seattle.

 

not to mention their safeties

 

There is a lot more to it than that.

First, even if our corners were 6'10" tall, the scheme calls for Ike to play press sometimes, while Lewis plays with a 10 yard cushion. That won't change just cause the guy is bigger. The scheme is the scheme.

Second, in order to be a physical corner, you must be able to use that to your advantage. Ike has been trying but the officials aren't going to allow him to do that. Maybe there was a time when they would, but right now even when his arm gets grabbed by the WR, it is interference on his part.

 

I was going to bring this up too..Loved watching those 2 beasts up in Seattle do work...

 

Yes, you are correct, the officials will not let Ike do what Revis routinely does. Cromartie does alot of the same thing -- those guys get away with it, not Ike has a reputation for PI so he will always get called.

 

The Seahawks's defense is pretty darn good, and I like their Defensive Backs.

However, I wish we had the NY Giants Dline. Those guys are studs and bring pressure on every play just from the front 4.

 

Of course there's more to it than that, I'm just saying I love their physical (but smart) style of play.

Ike is losing a step so he's putting his hands on people. I don't buy that the refs just don't let him get away with it because I've yet to disagree with one of the PI calls against him. He flat out grabs guys, and I don't know why he think he'll get away with it. I've been a huge Ike fan but he's lost it.

 

Exactly. The refs don't just wake up in the morning and randomly pick a guy they're going to start targeting, and Ike didn't get the reputation he has out of the blue. Ike draws flags because he commits blatant penalties, and he gets away with a lot more than he gets called for. He's not even trying to hide it, he flat out bear hugs guys at times. Revis is very physical and there's a lot of arm checking, but he doesn't flat out grab guys around the shoulders, at least not nearly as often as Ike. Every CB will hold at times, but Ike does it on every throw sent his way. It's a well deserved reputation.

 

While I agree with some of your statements regarding the WRs, we also need to remember that Ben doesn't always place the ball well. He's doing much better, this season, and I think the increase in reception % reflects the fact that he is placing the ball more accurately which allows for the WRs to make more catches.

 

Yeah, you have to be Revis or Cromartie to get away with that...

 

I honestly believe that we could have a line which does this, if we changed our profile some. Going to a 4/3 would IMO be the smart thing to do this offseason, but I'm not running the FO. This is especially true if DL leaves.

Heyward, Hood, McLendon, and Ta'amu if he survives on the roster with his recent run in with the law, that is a good DT list. Woodley and Worilds make up the DE on one end. I'm not sure that we currently have a DE to play the other end other than Keisel, but maybe we do. We MUST find a way to fix our lack of a pass rush without selling out the farm to get to the QB.

 

The packers have 6 rookies on defense and they made hamburger out of the texans last night, pete carrol has a young defense he drafted and put together, thats well coached and swarming to the ball, not many teams would be starting 5 old players who are pedestrian at best on their defense like the steelers are doing week in and week out, while they have younger players to replace them with on their roster, but then again no team has a 75 year old defensive coordinator like the steelers have that finds experienced players easier to coach than young ones, we cant coach up rookies to start like pete carrol and dom capers are doing because the coach dont want to do what it takes to teach the young guys how to play their position at a high level, any rookie corner could out play ike taylor with a little technique coaching but we dont start our young players, we make them rot on the bench while watching the old guys stink up the field on game day... ....

 

For the record...browner and sherman..both my ho's


Hack

 

quit it hack, you're a movie star and we all know you have ho's all over the place. :-D

 

A better question would be ,Anyone see the Steelers secondary lately? They were last seen getting off a plane in Denver but failed to show up for the game and haven't been seen or heard from since.

 

Doesn't Pittsburgh always go after big corners? Not huge 6'4" guys, but that's because those guys are practically nowhere to be found. But we always seem to pick out guys that are 6'0"-6'2", and remember that most cornerbacks are smaller than that. Average is probably 5'11" or so. Ike is 6'2", McFadden 6'0", Lewis 6'0", Allen 6'1", Brown 6'0". Gay and Frederick are the only CBs I can think of recently drafted that are under 6 feet, and they were a 5th and a 7th. The rest of those guys were 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.

...And for years we've been asking the FO to take smaller, quicker guys, because the big long type wasn't working for us. Brown and Allen were a great compromise, with good height and quickness. I sure wish Brown would step up, though. Allen too, for that matter.

 

No doubt, Pete is building something in Seattle. Check out the NFL.com link with a most excellent pic of Richard Sherman barking at Brady after the game. Good stuff. First time trying a link. Hope it works.

http://m.nfl.com/news/0ap1000000080294/seahawk-bashes-brady-after-beating-patriots/

 

For the record...browner and sherman..both my ho's


Hack

 

completely different scheme...they play 4-3 with a lot of man press coverage...


we play a 3-4 with a lot of zone blitzes...its the reason you see a lot of cushion with our dbs...we barely play man...although when we did last year against new england...you saw how well it worked... a lot of the time people get on ike and while he did have a bad game thursday night ...a lot of it it scheme based

 

NOPE dont buy into it because those same CB's and SS/FS COULD NOT PLAY IN PITTSBURGH! Yep, it is a fact because this team runs such an elusive scheme we couldnt draft players they use as football is different in this town? SOOOOO tired of the teams excuses on why we dont have DB's that cover? Look, please somebody go find out where there CB's were taken in what round and look how many times this team passed themn over and tell me who we took as a DB instead? Keenan Lewis was a 3rd round pick i believe and he WOULD NOT START for another NFL team! PERIOD! DL is a 3-4 genius but cmon, you cant tell me as someone just mentioned that they run a 4-3 and those guys are different players? HOW? They dont tackle like we do? They actually press and cover and get INTS's? What a joke as it is an excuse and nothing more. You cant tell me DL couldnt win with these guys, and only are current players work in his system. I CALL BS! Plain and simple we have drafted too many guys that MISSED. Wasted picks and they are all in the same position.

 

i remember reading early in camp or before, thearticle on how we can become more aggressive on defense because of our young corners being better as man to man corners. they said how this is a change from our zone coverage guys. it was supposed to help our pass rush and give them a second longer to get to the qb. it seems to me the staff just doesn't want to give up the old guard just yet.

i have been ike's biggest fan and pimped him in that draft. i loved the pick. ike has given us alot of uninjured good seasons, even if he can't catch very well. it's time for us to make a move and put the young man to man corners that we put so much faith in to get on the field and let the cards fall where they may. it's time to break ike in to the safety position for his last few years. he can still runn well enough and could be one of if not THE fastest safeties out there. he can tackle and would be much better served with the play in front of him. he knows the system.


i also believe that the defensive alignment will change as the passing game becomes more evident. we may start seeing a hybrid type player that DC's will start using to retaliate with. big safety types may become the new norm at LB, similar to spence, or even lighter in weight. SS types, that can run. then some FS types with corner quicks and ability like robert golden. we have or had some of these guys in place, before spence went down.


why have we only talked about how the defense could work with these players and never actually try it. sure there's a comfort level with the vets but times are changing and so are our vets abilities. no time like the present to try what we thought was going to work back in june.