CCBoy
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Rivera’s defenses don’t often blitz much, preferring to rely on rushing just four and drop seven back in coverage. In terms of the more common coverage types, Rivera’s scheme has always hinged on a variety of zone looks, with quarters and Cover 3 the most popular by far. While it would be unfair to say that Rivera and Del Rio have made zero tweaks to the scheme over the years, they’ve remained much more stagnant in how they operate defensively when compared to the rest of the league.
This scheme relies, by design, on talented players that play fundamentally sound football. Rivera’s best defenses in Carolina featured studs like Luke Kuechly, Kawann Short, James Bradberry and others. In Washington, much of his success stemmed from a dominant defensive line that featured interior defenders like Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne with Montez Sweat and Chase Young rushing off the edge. Allen and Payne remain, but Washington made the decision to jettison off Sweat and Young at the trade deadline this year.
That’s part of the problem in Washington: not enough talent. Without a dominant pass rush, young corners like Benjamin St-Juste and rookie Emmanuel Forbes have been picked apart by opposing quarterbacks, while the predictability of the scheme makes it easy to figure out ways to beat the defense. In fact, Washington is allowing the second most yards per play and second most passing yards on the season while ranking third from the bottom in pressure rate.
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...ders-defensive-scheme-ron-rivera-jack-del-rio
That was a big part of the Cowboys’ dominance of this team on Thanksgiving, as Dak Prescott was rarely under pressure and not sacked once. He completed 68.8% of his passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns, having his way with a defense that kept running the same coverages and never sped up Prescott’s process.
One would think that Rivera would have tried to switch things up after firing Del Rio immediately following that game, but he really hasn’t. Perhaps it’s a problem with the players themselves, or maybe Rivera doesn’t understand the root of their defensive struggles, but Washington has continued to get beat in the same way each week. That’s why the Cowboys enter this one as heavy favorites to win, and why it’s likely that Prescott and this offense will have another big day.
This scheme relies, by design, on talented players that play fundamentally sound football. Rivera’s best defenses in Carolina featured studs like Luke Kuechly, Kawann Short, James Bradberry and others. In Washington, much of his success stemmed from a dominant defensive line that featured interior defenders like Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne with Montez Sweat and Chase Young rushing off the edge. Allen and Payne remain, but Washington made the decision to jettison off Sweat and Young at the trade deadline this year.
That’s part of the problem in Washington: not enough talent. Without a dominant pass rush, young corners like Benjamin St-Juste and rookie Emmanuel Forbes have been picked apart by opposing quarterbacks, while the predictability of the scheme makes it easy to figure out ways to beat the defense. In fact, Washington is allowing the second most yards per play and second most passing yards on the season while ranking third from the bottom in pressure rate.
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...ders-defensive-scheme-ron-rivera-jack-del-rio
That was a big part of the Cowboys’ dominance of this team on Thanksgiving, as Dak Prescott was rarely under pressure and not sacked once. He completed 68.8% of his passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns, having his way with a defense that kept running the same coverages and never sped up Prescott’s process.
One would think that Rivera would have tried to switch things up after firing Del Rio immediately following that game, but he really hasn’t. Perhaps it’s a problem with the players themselves, or maybe Rivera doesn’t understand the root of their defensive struggles, but Washington has continued to get beat in the same way each week. That’s why the Cowboys enter this one as heavy favorites to win, and why it’s likely that Prescott and this offense will have another big day.
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There will be players on the field with call ups from PS, earning game check $$$ that highly ellipses their net worth. The game film is invaluable.
