People underestimate the loss of Timmons had on this defense...

Shazier is obviously exceptional and was the keystone of the defense, but we lost an anchor in Timmons and never replaced him. I understand that he was slowing down, but his "weaknesses" were unnecessarily amplified by plays where he was asked to cover small quick running backs. It's a tall task for any ILB to cover small fast running backs man to man.

This biggest issue is that there is nobody on this team that I feel confidently in enough that can bring down big strong running backs. Timmons always was able to do that, even at the end. If you insert Timmons into our defense today, he is instantly our best run stopping defensive player. Harrison was very good at that too, but he himself is gone as well.

I like Vince Williams a lot, but he isn't the anchor that we need in the middle. We have been blessed by having great ILB play over the years, from Farrior/Foote to Timmons and then to Shazier, but with Timmons gone and Shazier likely done, we need to look at this position. Williams is great as the second ILB, but we need an anchor. A guy we can count on for consistency and durability, as well as a better run stopper.

Beyond that, I thought the CBs played a lot better this year than previous years, and they were usually beat as a result of a lack of a pass rush. While we had a bunch of sacks this year, they didn't seem to come against good teams in key moments. Like today, no pressure, no sacks, no turnovers. Not what we need.

Both safeties should be replaced. Neither bring what we need. We might want to consider pivoting to a base 4-3 next year as well, as most of our pressure came from up the middle. In this senario, I would take Dupree off the field and run Williams as a hybrid OLD/ILB depending on what the offense was running. He showed that he can rush the passer and is generally a better player than Dupree. Then whoever we find to be the anchor of the defense would be the primary ILB, with Watt on the other side. We would also need another good interior lineman. Perhaps that is too much to bring in for next year and we attempt again with whatever mess we sent out there today.

Haden obviously needs to stay as well.

Ugh. A frustrating loss for sure considering wee were generally healthy.

 

Agreed Vince really is just a guy.

God I feel like this defense needs so many upgrades.

I wonder if Davis would play better as the free safety(Mitchell's spot)?

We could use a guy who lays the lumber at the strong safety spot.

 

I am obviously used to Polamalu at SS, but Davis doesn't seem like a natural fit at the position. Maybe at FS like you said? I feel like we need a faster player at SS. I never recall seeing Davis in deep coverage or running down a player who breaks free like I remember seeing Polamalu.

We also are in desperate need of a "commander" on D. I think this was Shazier, but with him likely done, we need another player. I know Heyward is the captain, but I don't feel like he is a commander. I could obviously be wrong though.

 

i agree about this team needing a leader on def how many times since shazier got hurt have you seen the def running around before the snap when its obvious they dont know where they should be lining up then after the snap being out of position causing big plays for the other team

 

When you loose both your starting ILBs from a year ago it showed.