LeBeau vs. Butler

Maybe we shouldn't have pushed the old man out so soon in favor of that hay seed we have now.

Titans' D is 9th in YPG, 17th in PPG, 2nd in sacks, 7th in INT.

Steelers' D is 27th in YPG, 13th in PPG, tied for last in sacks, 26th in INT.

For those who will point out the difference in PPG, the Titans have allowed 5 defensive and special teams TDs, which obviously are not on the defense. Subtract those and they give up 18.5 PPG.

 

I think the Titans has a better front than the Steelers. It was time for Lebeau to go to give Butler his just due. He stuck around for the opportunity to be a defensive coordinator as we block other opportunities for him to move on. It's only year two. He has no OLBs worthy of the steeler tradition and the secondary is still a work in progress. I would give him two more years to see an improvement before throwing him out with the bath water.

 

I like how you're already debating with somebody who hasn't even disagreed with you yet. It's obvious you're just looking for friction. Your posts reeked of it.

 

Butler has a crapton of top draft picks in the front seven.

 

I watch the game last night and despite some good numbers and solid pressure by the titans it's the same DL defense that would have people cursing one minute and cheering the next.

 

I think we are being hasty here.


Give Butler some time. I am sure he will come around given the current injury bug biting at the front seven.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong:
Heyward 1st
Tuit 2nd
Hargraves 3rd
Jones 1st
Shazier 1st
Timmons 1st

 

Plus Dupree 1st, though obviously he hasn't had him this year yet.

I know people reacted poorly to the Shazier criticism last week, but on that 25-yard run by Blount in the 2nd half, he completely vacated his lane to throw himself into the churn, and out of the play. He did manage to help run Blount down 25-yards later, but he seems to lack instincts you need to be great.

 

And most of them are still young. This defense is a very young defense. We all knew and accepted that there would be growing pains.

 

I didn't pay much attention to names TTF I was looking more at what type of schemes they were running out of. I did notice that the DE'S were part of the pressure packages and that they were getting near bortles, quite frequently. Williams and McCourty were names that jumped out.

 

Isn't he just a db coach anyway? I mean he's not the dc right? If TN is playing good and it's because of Dick then wouldn't that be like saying we are good because of Joey Porter?

 

He is the assistant HC and defensive coordinator

 

Wow. I didn't realize that.

 

I'm more worried about Shazier injury history. He seems like another Kendrell Bell but I'll give him some time. But they have a big decision to make on his 5th year option.

 

There will be no decision. He'll get the 5th year or an extension. Bank on it.

 

I liked Woods, thought he was a good DE and didn't like losing him. Same with McLendon.

Cajun

 

Way too early for this thread.

LeBeau is a proven coach with decades and decades of upper level experience .

Butler is a solid LB with years of NFL coaching experience but a baby in upper level coaching ( DC or HC ) . Developing a defense as a DC is one thing .... Calling a defense on game days is another. Butler may be a solid DC building the parts and scheme he desires but struggles implementing that on game days. We just don't know. We also don't know how much support he's getting from his asst or HC and the complicated dynamics that goes on there .

There is a problem , the extent we don't know, and injures aren't helping. There was a problem when LeBeau was here too which is why there was a change to begin with.

Cajun

 

Tomlins fault

 

Nailed it. I wasn't big on the Butler hiring because I wanted to see change on the defensive side of the ball, but to be fair to him, I don't know if the problems we see are mostly his fault or not. We don't really know the power he has or the dynamic of the coaching system within the organization. Tomlin is a defensive coach yet we haven't seen any improvement on that side of the ball since he took over the team (it has slowly gotten worse and worse). Two different DC's now and yet the results are the same.

 

Indeed and agreed.


People need to understand that it is going to take more than two years for a defensive coordinator like Butler to develop their style of defense. Give him two more years to then pass judgment should results like these be more of the same.



It also does not help that some of his star talent is injured either.

 

I truly believe that lebeau knew how to maximize the talent that he was dealt with... with schemes to cover up the weaknesses. Imagine, if lebeau had the young crop of dB's that we have now? But on the other hand....I don't believe that we would have JJ or Dupree and the young guys wouldn't be playing their 1st yr.

 

Maybe too early to make that judgement but the early indications are not good for Butler. Our defense got worse when DL left and we've seen no improvement in year 2. I'd probably argue we've gotten worse. Given the high draft picks on our defense we should be significantly better than we are. So there are problems but I'd agree it's too early. If we see no improvement next year then a change needs to be made.

I'd also question the FO's job at drafting players of late. But we also need to see another year or two out of those high picks before we can make that judgement.

I want to see improvement in the 2nd half of this year. We need to see that or our season is lost. Butler will be on thin ice in 2017.