Defense after 4 Games

[Majic]

Lmao what? This is utter nonsense.

Your original post implied when you give up over 11 yards per attempt passing, rush defence does not matter. Clearly it did yesterday else the game would have been lost!

 

[BlindFaith]

I seen Bland on the short end of the play 4 or 5 times. Giving up 1st downs every time.

He only gave up 4 receptions, so 4.

The long play which has everyones undies in a bunch.

The TD, which wasnt a 1st down and wasnt his fault as he was playing outside leverage on Collins expecting Downs to help, which he didnt and jumped the shorter route.

The sideline pass where the WR dove to barely stay in bounds and had help from the ground. And bland was still on him like a blanket.

I dont recall the 4th.

He was burned on one play. It happens. Look at what CeeDee, Pickens and Flourney did to the vaunted Houston secondary. And the vaunted Houston pass rush. Guess they are just a bunch of bums and jags too?

And Houstons pass offense is 5th in the league. 1 spot ahead of us. And thats with Collins missing the first 3 games.

 

[BlindFaith]

It might help for him not to take the snap 12 yards off the line, but he often does. It’s like he’s afraid of getting beaten deep, so instead he gets beaten (and easily) underneath, and then gives up another 10+ YAC.

You think Bland just decides to do that? Or is that CPs scheme?

QW and Clark had a chat with CP.

I have a feeling CP is in over his head. His scheme and play calling has not helped the defense.

Maybe hes being told to keep things simple. Bend but dont break and let the offense do its thing. Problem is that offenses already know how to beat his scheme. Why do you think TEs are running wide open every week?

And injuries have hurt us, especially bad in the secondary.

 

[morasp]

He only gave up 4 receptions, so 4.

The long play which has everyones undies in a bunch.

The TD, which wasnt a 1st down and wasnt his fault as he was playing outside leverage on Collins expecting Downs to help, which he didnt and jumped the shorter route.

The sideline pass where the WR dove to barely stay in bounds and had help from the ground. And bland was still on him like a blanket.

I dont recall the 4th.

He was burned on one play. It happens. Look at what CeeDee, Pickens and Flourney did to the vaunted Houston secondary. And the vaunted Houston pass rush. Guess they are just a bunch of bums and jags too?

And Houstons pass offense is 5th in the league. 1 spot ahead of us. And thats with Collins missing the first 3 games.

On the long pass to Noel he broke in and when bland jumped it he took off. Noel is a burner and bland couldn't recover.

 

[adamhawk71]

Each game it seemed they improved a little bit in different areas.

Yesterday, in the 2nd half was much better. Run defense seems it improved overall this year. With the exception of the QB's running all over us. But they did kept Stroud in check a little better.

Pass defense still an issue. Still too many wide open receivers. Too many long plays downfield. And yesterday, there was too many near misses as well. Even though a few may have been caused by some finally much needed pressure. But I can't say that for sure.
Maybe someone with All 22 Access can take a look.

Still giving up too many points though.
TB & GB could help in not giving up that many points as both teams have not looked all that great. But you never know. And I still do not trust this defense yet.

But I feel some very slight encouragement. As I said, each week something has improved a little. And getting JPJ and getting some injured players back will only help.

It was nice to see a nice stretch where they stopped a team from just moving up and down the field.

 

[BlindFaith]

On the long pass to Noel he broke in and when bland jumped it he took off. Noel is a burner and bland couldn't recover.

Yes. It was a good play call on 2nd and short. Bland did recover enough to chase him down and prevent him from potentially scoring.

But it was a bad play by Bland. Not going to deny it. Just saying it happens to every corner.

But this complete over reaction, saying hes always burnt, should be cut, wouldnt start on any defense...its just absurd.

 

[Bullflop]

You think Bland just decides to do that? Or is that CPs scheme?

QW and Clark had a chat with CP.

I have a feeling CP is in over his head. His scheme and play calling has not helped the defense.

Maybe hes being told to keep things simple. Bend but dont break and let the offense do its thing. Problem is that offenses already know how to beat his scheme. Why do you think TEs are running wide open every week?

And injuries have hurt us, especially bad in the secondary.

I honestly think CP is a capable DC who will get better as the players available to him improve. It really seemed to make a noticeable difference with the presence of Joey Porter lately. He'll likely get better with the passage of time. That goes for him and Christian Parker, also.

Give it time and I do believe you'll stand a good chance of being deservedly pleased with the results. The bevy of injuries lately had a terrible effect on the back end of the secondary. Good results take time and plenty of it. We've gotta be willing to wait. CP can only be as good as his players allow him to be.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

You think Bland just decides to do that? Or is that CPs scheme?

QW and Clark had a chat with CP.

I have a feeling CP is in over his head. His scheme and play calling has not helped the defense.

Maybe hes being told to keep things simple. Bend but dont break and let the offense do its thing. Problem is that offenses already know how to beat his scheme. Why do you think TEs are running wide open every week?

And injuries have hurt us, especially bad in the secondary.

He did it all last year, too, and Parker wasn’t here.

He’s afraid of getting beaten deep.

 

[LouBrown]

Your original post implied when you give up over 11 yards per attempt passing, rush defence does not matter. Clearly it did yesterday else the game would have been lost!

Correct, the run defense didn't matter.

They won because of how good the offense is.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

The theory of this defensive scheme is to give Safety help on the Field (wide) side.
- That is the side Bland plays.
- They didn't really do that because of limitations at Safety and because Amee Speed played 42% of the Boundry (short) side CB snaps.
- It didn't help that ReddyvSteward play 71% of snaps at NCB because Diwns had to play Safety full time.

Bland is the same guy that was an INT machine in Quinn's scheme
- That scheme was all out pass rush with run defense as a low priority.
- Bland also had a Safety over the top which let him play tighter in the short area.

It should help once Porter is playing 100% of snaps instead of 45%.

I like the analysis, but I’m not I agree that Bland is “the same INT machine”. We had Flus here last year, and Bland was the same as this year.

Honestly, Bland’s big year seems like it was 5 years ago now, but I know it wasn’t.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

He only gave up 4 receptions, so 4.

The long play which has everyones undies in a bunch.

The TD, which wasnt a 1st down and wasnt his fault as he was playing outside leverage on Collins expecting Downs to help, which he didnt and jumped the shorter route.

The sideline pass where the WR dove to barely stay in bounds and had help from the ground. And bland was still on him like a blanket.

I dont recall the 4th.

He was burned on one play. It happens. Look at what CeeDee, Pickens and Flourney did to the vaunted Houston secondary. And the vaunted Houston pass rush. Guess they are just a bunch of bums and jags too?

And Houstons pass offense is 5th in the league. 1 spot ahead of us. And thats with Collins missing the first 3 games.

Do you believe he is a quality CB still? This game, which was by no means stellar for him, seems to be more of his norm than what he was delivering a few years ago.

I see him playing off the WR by a ton of yards most every snap, and I feel like I often see him 4-5 years away when the catch is made.

Do you not see it that way?

 

[DallasInDC]

It takes a long time to get those average to go down. They key is they look and play better.
They may only finish 25th but if they are playing like they are 15th is huge. That will take some time. We will see,

I don't disagree.

good news is there is incremental improvement year over year 5pts a game better on defense. unfortunately, the defense is averaging 1 more penalty per game and 6 yds more. Conversely, offense has also gotten better year over year but not as dramatically 2 pts per game better and offensive penalties is 1 less per game for 2 yds less. funny enough, the actual results reflect these changes in that we are a half a game better than last year (2-2 v 1-2-1).

 

[BlindFaith]

He did it all last year, too, and Parker wasn’t here.

He’s afraid of getting beaten deep.

Well, that was Eberfails scheme and he was fired.

You do realize that the players dont just decide where or how they lineup, right?

Bland doesnt just decide when he plays press, when he plays off, when he plays man or zone.

Heck, even leverage technique is based on formation and the defensive play call.

Now, the real questions are - since CP is calling the plays, does he not trust Bland and the defense? Is he being told to call safer type coverages? Does he simply not know what hes doing?

 

[BlindFaith]

I like the analysis, but I’m not I agree that Bland is “the same INT machine”. We had Flus here last year, and Bland was the same as this year.

Honestly, Bland’s big year seems like it was 5 years ago now, but I know it wasn’t.

And lets not forget, last year Bland played a majority of the season with a bad foot. Ultimately sitting out the last couple. And had foot issues the prior year as well.

It doesnt look like hes gimpy this year. And said coming into camp he felt good. But bad feet dont always get good.

 

[Jarv]

Add this to the practice list

I was telling the wife we should have Pickens and C. Brown back there for the last hail Mary. No one listens...lol

 

[Ironicalicon]

Still not decent but at times it is. I've seen progress in different areas every game.

 

[BlindFaith]

Do you believe he is a quality CB still? This game, which was by no means stellar for him, seems to be more of his norm than what he was delivering a few years ago.

I see him playing off the WR by a ton of yards most every snap, and I feel like I often see him 4-5 years away when the catch is made.

Do you not see it that way?

No, I dont see it that way at all.

Hes given up 13 receptions so far. Go back and look at each of them. Hes been right there on most of them. I mean nearly hand on the ball close.

He had the one where he got pushed to the ground on what was clearly offensive pass interference that wasnt called.

He gave up the big one yesterday.

The first game there was a drive or two where it looked like miscommunication where he gave up a couple. But I write that off to it just being the first game.

A new scheme. New players. And a rash of injuries is what I see.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

Well, that was Eberfails scheme and he was fired.

You do realize that the players dont just decide where or how they lineup, right?

Bland doesnt just decide when he plays press, when he plays off, when he plays man or zone.

Heck, even leverage technique is based on formation and the defensive play call.

Now, the real questions are - since CP is calling the plays, does he not trust Bland and the defense? Is he being told to call safer type coverages? Does he simply not know what hes doing?

Good questions. Yes, I do realize that. I also know that players often don’t do what they’re told because they either don’t want to, they don’t recognize that they are supposed to, or they aren’t disciplined enough (or trust their abilities enough) to follow the direction.

If it was all scheme, then why did we go away from the scheme that clearly worked better? Honest question. Our defense (I wanna say in ‘23?) was in the top 20-25%, right?

We are about 25% through this season and it’s as bad as last season, or somewhere in that area. I get we have to allow for a ramp up with a new DC, but am I the only one who sees our DB nearly ALWAYS giving up 10 yards underneath? It’s like we have 10 players on defense, and whoever has the middle third is just ABSENT.

 

[charron]

They improved but still pretty bad.

 

[morat1959]

Our new DC is a mastermind. Give him time. I fully expect to be the #1 defense in the league in year 10 of his coaching tenure as a DC.