Did Demaryius Thomas fool Dick Lebeau

Yes, you can argue the play calling was bad by Dick Lebeau, especially in OT when it was apparent Ike couldn't cover Thomas. With that said, when you have a CB who is considered top 10, you expect him to be able to cover most WR's in the league and at the very least make the tackle after the catch. Now, Ike isn't Revis and just won't be able to cover the best WR's in the league without help, at least not consistently. But Thomas isn't one of the top WR's in the league...right?

Until recently, most people didn't seem to know who Demaryius Thomas even was. Even now, a lot of people seem to think he's a no name WR who just simply had a great game. The fact is, this kid is an absolute stud, and if he was in a high powered offensive system, he could be one of the best WR's in the league. Does anyone think that Dick Lebeau just didn't put enough thought into how good Demaryius Thomas is? Do you think he believed that Thomas wasn't that good and that Ike would have no problems covering him? Did Lebeau really underestimate a kid who was a star in College despite being in a run heavy system? Did two years of injuries and inconsistent play make Lebeau forget about Thomas?

Or did Lebeau just make several mistakes that game and it had nothing to do with him underestimating Thomas? It just seems odd for DL to see Ike getting beaten all game long and then leave him alone to cover Thomas in OT, unless he underestimated Thomas, then I guess it somewhat makes sense. It's just the only thing I can think of.

 

11 guys in the box in a game where you've been burned deep already is stupid against the Berenstain Bears. It was a foolish call. Thomas made a nice play and is a great player, but any base defense would have stopped that play.

Unless of course Mundy did that blitz thing on his own. If Clark was in, I'm positive it would have been different. Regardless of the play call, I don't see Clark losing the game like that. He's too smart.

The Steelers defended the Broncos in overtime the way they'd planned to do so on Thursday, and did not adjust for that brutal 2nd quarter. I do not understand. Play the pass first like any other team. Use your front 7 to stop the run. They can do it, they are great at it, even with a DL full of backups. Stupid.

Larry Fitz in the SB all over again.

 

YEP!

 

They caught us in the wrong alignment at the wrong time.I wish Lebeau would retire.I think he's a guru when it comes to Defense.The league has caught up with the 3-4 Zone Blitz.We may always be in the top 5 on Defense,But it does'nt scare anyone anymore.We need to either scrap it or put some new wrinkles in it,So other teams are confused again.

 

Not Thomas, but Tebow fooled Dick Lebeau. Several players said they watched lots of tape, and he had not been able to make those throws consistently before. The game plan was to make Tebow beat them by passing, and he did. There was a pass on Denver's last possession where Tebow missed an open receiver by throwing the ball in the turf about 5 yards in front of the receiver. That is how they thought he would play most of the game. No one predicted he would play that well. Still some stupid defensive calls and plays, but give Tebow credit.

 

Tebow did a great job.Now,I hope they beat those cheaters!!

 

That's just it. Tebow threw 21 passes, 5 of them being brilliant, another 2-3 being pretty accurate, and the other 10 just ugly. Still, our scheme was flawed, which is pretty strange and out of character for our defense.

 

That's just it. Tebow threw 21 passes, 5 of them being brilliant, another 2-3 being pretty accurate, and the other 10 just ugly. Still, our scheme was flawed, which is pretty strange and out of character for our defense.[/quote:3n4o660k]

The scheme assumed 5 good passes, 2-3 mediocre, and 10 ugly. If those 5 brilliant are just good, they either get defensed or picked, and the game is ours. I still think the plan was sound, but execution about 5% off.

 

Just because you didn't know who Demaryius Thomas was doesn't mean Dick Lebeau didn't know.

Coaches in this league have a pretty good grasp at who can do what and how good players on opposing teams are even if they don't get the media attention (that enables you to know about them).

Either Dick stupidly called a goal line defense on the 20, or one of the safeties got caught out of position and cheating up toward the line due to the formation. My money is on that it was on Polamalu or Mundy being out of position.

 

How could you possibly stay in man to man when your CB's couldn't cover
the opposing teams WR's? Lebeau should have changed up the moment he realized this,
Bad coaching mistake here. Again poor coverage skills also by our DB's.

You can have all the defensive statistics you want, this defense doesn't scare ANYONE,
including TEBOW!

 

Without pressure, no CBs can cover a WR man to man for more than a few seconds.

As far as adjustments, Im pretty sure that Dick made them. The Broncos scored only 3 points in the second half. And Tebow only threw for 51 yards in the 2nd half. It was at that point when Denver started running the ball effectively. In the 2nd half the Broncos were 19 carries for 83 yards...roughly 4.4 ypc...a really good average. Especially considering that Denver averaged only 1.6 ypc in the 1st quarter, just before they went on their scoring explosion.

In fact, Denver started running it effectively before the 2nd half. Dick adjusted IMMEDIATELY after the 3rd long completion of the 2nd quarter. Don't forget the 2nd TD by Denver was scored by Tebow on an 8 yard run which immediately followed a 4 yard run by him.

The statement that Dick LeBeau didn't adjust his defense is just flat out false and baseless.

The game pretty much played out like this:

The Steelers game plan was to stop Denvers run game by stacking the box and daring Tebow to beat them with the pass. He did and Dick adjusted, slowing down the passing game at the expense of the run game. In overtime, Denver caught the Steelers safties sucking up too far and passing on 1st down, something that they did only 3 times all game, and using the play action pass to perfection.

Instead of bashing Dick, how about crediting Tebow for playing a great game. He took what the Steelers gave him and constantly left them off balance.

That and Bruce Arians sucks (no thread on this MB would be complete without at least one of those thrown in there).

 

I'm well aware of who Thomas is. I drafted him in my dynasty fantasy football league because I knew how good he could be. I also followed him in College. I agree with you though, coaches usually have a good grasp on the abilities of players, but the playcalling by Lebeau was so bad the thought crossed my mind that perhaps Lebeau didn't truly appreciate the talent of Thomas.