#32 ranked defense at the turn. Dead last

[Bleu Star]

When we started this season, the defense was the last thing I was generally worried about. I was mostly worried about the collective ability of our offense to put it all together regularly to continuously challenge opposing teams to make adjustments. With a number of returning starters, the continuous streak of recent draft hits, and a solid coordinator coming in, why worry so much about the decensive side of the ball? Boy oh boy... This defense is a train wreck. Sadly, it is that secondary that has led our defense right into the mid season cellar. The Jaguars defense at #28 is looking down at ours. The Jags??? Really?

I do have faith that our Defense will turn it around. However, with the Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Bears, Packers, Commanders, and Eagles on deck, that defense will be tested mightily. Only three of our remaining eight opponents have top 10 offenses. That should provide some level of comfort. Unfortunately, we have quite the reputation for finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We do that extremely well... Realistically, I see 4 wins remaining. The Vikings, Giants, Raiders, and Bears. Then again, that remaining 8 leaves plenty of questions as to whether not things will go as one might hope. Can we go 6-2 in the last 8? Suuurrreee... Can we easily also fail to take the next step psychologically and go 2-6? Yes indeed. One thing remains true. Our defense is going to have to take themselves out of the cellar in order for this team to make worthy strides.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

Kiffen is getting clowned. This team will set a record for BAD that wont be touched for years.

 

[dupree89]

No doubt it's horrible. And it gets magnified when the offense cant sustain drives.

 

[Corso]

When we started this season, the defense was the last thing I was generally worried about. I was mostly worried about the collective ability of our offense to put it all together regularly to continuously challenge opposing teams to make adjustments. With a number of returning starters, the continuous streak of recent draft hits, and a solid coordinator coming in, why worry so much about the decensive side of the ball? Boy oh boy... This defense is a train wreck. Sadly, it is that secondary that has led our defense right into the mid season cellar. The Jaguars defense at #28 is looking down at ours. The Jags??? Really?

I do have faith that our Defense will turn it around. However, with the Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Bears, Packers, Commanders, and Eagles on deck, that defense will be tested mightily. Only three of our remaining eight opponents have top 10 offenses. That should provide some level of comfort. Unfortunately, we have quite the reputation for finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We do that extremely well... Realistically, I see 4 wins remaining. The Vikings, Giants, Raiders, and Bears. Then again, that remaining 8 leaves plenty of questions as to whether not things will go as one might hope. Can we go 6-2 in the last 8? Suuurrreee... Can we easily also fail to take the next step psychologically and go 2-6? Yes indeed. One thing remains true. Our defense is going to have to take themselves out of the cellar in order for this team to make worthy strides.

Ten and six, baby.
I will not back down until they have seven losses.

That said:

I worry about both sides of the ball for various reasons.

It seems when one side succeeds, the other falters.

Why? I couldn't say... Well I could, but the reason have been rehashed ad nauseum here.

All I hope is for wins. Whether it be a one point win or a thirty point win.

Just win. And when the playoffs start and Our Boys get there- who cares about point differential.

A win advances no matter how wide.

That is what I hope.

 

[mitchell2254]

39 TD's 11IINT's 99.7 Rating

 

[dstovall5]

I honestly thought our secondary this year was going to be A LOT better, boy was I wrong.

I understand the lack of pass rush doesn't help things, but our struggles have been much deeper then that. Earlier in the year our LBs were getting killed in the pass, because they kept biting too hard on run and leaving open the middle of the field. It seems like they've started to clean up that mess though, but now we've started suffering more injuries to our safeties - an already weak position.

Also in the off season we kept hearing about how Morris Claborne has been covering Dez in practice and has improved immensely, man those reports couldn't have been more wrong. Claiborne has gotten better as the year progresses, but it's been pretty brutal to watch, and to top it off he doesn't know how to tackle.

I also think our coaches are outsmarting themselves at times, or so it seems. Against Philly/Wash our coaches seen Carr shut down Garçon/Jackson, so what do they do? The very next week they play Carr 1 on 1 with Calvin for the majority of the game and he has the most yards EVER in regulation time, sickening. I'm not the most knowledgable on the defensive side, but even I know you DON'T play 1 on 1 with the best WR in the league, even if you have the best CB in the game (we don't).

Even though our defense has been atrocious through 8 games, there's still VERY positive things that our defense can build on. Turnovers is the biggest change we've seen with this defense, and it's a very positive one. This defense is basically the same as last years, but it creates a lot of turnovers and that's huge. The turnovers help mask the slow starts of our offense, and it allows us to hang with any team offensively.

 

[kramskoi]

When we started this season, the defense was the last thing I was generally worried about. I was mostly worried about the collective ability of our offense to put it all together regularly to continuously challenge opposing teams to make adjustments. With a number of returning starters, the continuous streak of recent draft hits, and a solid coordinator coming in, why worry so much about the decensive side of the ball? Boy oh boy... This defense is a train wreck. Sadly, it is that secondary that has led our defense right into the mid season cellar. The Jaguars defense at #28 is looking down at ours. The Jags??? Really?

I do have faith that our Defense will turn it around. However, with the Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Bears, Packers, Commanders, and Eagles on deck, that defense will be tested mightily. Only three of our remaining eight opponents have top 10 offenses. That should provide some level of comfort. Unfortunately, we have quite the reputation for finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We do that extremely well... Realistically, I see 4 wins remaining. The Vikings, Giants, Raiders, and Bears. Then again, that remaining 8 leaves plenty of questions as to whether not things will go as one might hope. Can we go 6-2 in the last 8? Suuurrreee... Can we easily also fail to take the next step psychologically and go 2-6? Yes indeed. One thing remains true. Our defense is going to have to take themselves out of the cellar in order for this team to make worthy strides.

It is not just the secondary, which has virtually no depth, but the defensive line that is the crux of the matter. No pressure equals no good Cover 2 based defense, even if the Cowboys don't run it exclusively. They get pressure against the reticent guys like Foles and Griffin, none against uppper-echelon callers like Rivers, Stafford and Manning. It is the story of the defense this year. I am not sure if this gets solved until next year. Perhaps the return of Ware can give them a lift but they just don't get to the good guys on teams with winning records.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Its pathetic. If the organization really wanted to win there would be firings and a switch back to the 3-4 asap.

 

[Corso]

Its pathetic. If the organization really wanted to win there would be firings and a switch back to the 3-4 asap.

So you're saying the organization really doesn't want to win?

And switching back to the 3-4 mid-season is the answer?

Making sure I got you right...

 

[TheCoolFan]

We'd be even worse with the 3-4 right now after all the injuries to the DLine. A lot harder to find 3-4 personnel on the streets during the season

 

[ftghb]

So you're saying the organization really doesn't want to win?

And switching back to the 3-4 mid-season is the answer?

Making sure I got you right...

It's ironic, really. All these knee-jerk reaction moves (get rid of rob ryan's 3-4 in favor monte kiffin's tampa 2, stripping jason garrett's playcalling duties and installing a WC offense oriented bill callahan....etc.) were designed as quick turnaround solutions to help push us over the top.

In actuality, these moves were so poorly planned out that not only are they not helping us, but have actually set the organization back 2-3 years. Ordinarily, we would have already formulated a good guess of jason garrett's abilities as a HC and fired him, instead we tried to slap a band aid to a bullet wound by bringing in an OC who doesn't even share the same offensive philosophy. While rob ryan ran a defense that was down to 3rd string players (still doing better than this year's D), we flipped the defense entirely to a new scheme with the same players, crazy enough to expect a better result.

Nobody talks about our complete lack of identity on both sides of the ball. We have a west coast offense guy calling essentially norv turner's offense, and are trying to run a tampa-2 scheme with 3-4 personnel. We can't even evaluate players correctly at this point because half the contingency is questioning the scheme fit. I certainly don't question this organization's will to win, but clearly the right people are not in charge when haphazard moves are made without any sort of foresight whatsoever. (I haven't even talked about all the bad contracts paid out to washed up players on the books yet)

 

[Corso]

It's ironic, really. All these knee-jerk reaction moves (get rid of rob ryan's 3-4 in favor monte kiffin's tampa 2, stripping jason garrett's playcalling duties and installing a WC offense oriented bill callahan....etc.) were designed as quick turnaround solutions to help push us over the top.

In actuality, these moves were so poorly planned out that not only are they not helping us, but have actually set the organization back 2-3 years. Ordinarily, we would have already formulated a good guess of jason garrett's abilities as a HC and fired him, instead we tried to slap a band aid to a bullet wound by bringing in an OC who doesn't even share the same offensive philosophy. While rob ryan ran a defense that was down to 3rd string players (still doing better than this year's D), we flipped the defense entirely to a new scheme with the same players, crazy enough to expect a better result.

Nobody talks about our complete lack of identity on both sides of the ball. We have a west coast offense guy calling essentially norv turner's offense, and are trying to run a tampa-2 scheme with 3-4 personnel. We can't even evaluate players correctly at this point because half the contingency is questioning the scheme fit. I certainly don't question this organization's will to win, but clearly the right people are not in charge when haphazard moves are made without any sort of foresight whatsoever. (I haven't even talked about all the bad contracts paid out to washed up players on the books yet)

Dang... good points.

Good post.

That made me stop and think.

Props, my friend.

 

[Bleu Star]

It just doesn't work that way. We needs to find a way to plug the gaps in the current defensive set. To say Claiborne has been a major disapointment to this point would be putting it lightly. Our defensive line has to get pressure. No doubt there. Our secondary also has to seriously get it together. While the Jakar Hamilton plug in was something we hoped would suffice, he was clearly a step too slow both physically and mentally against the Lions. The absence of JJ Wilcox is making things rough back there right now. On another note, I was VERY impressed with Jeff Heath's play last week and hope he continues to build upon that when given the opportunity.

Its pathetic. If the organization really wanted to win there would be firings and a switch back to the 3-4 asap.

 

[TTexasTT]

One thing I know for sure. This defense WILL NOT fall one spot in the defensive rankings

 

[loublue22]

2nd in the League in takeaways, though

 

[Bleu Star]

That's definitely nice to see for a change this year. Silver linings don't create championships though.

2nd in the League in takeaways, though

 

[StarBoyz83]

So you're saying the organization really doesn't want to win?

And switching back to the 3-4 mid-season is the answer?

Making sure I got you right...

It doesnt seem like they care about winning as long as they are popular. If nothings done about the defense we have 0 chance at anything this year.

 

[StarBoyz83]

It just doesn't work that way. We needs to find a way to plug the gaps in the current defensive set. To say Claiborne has been a major disapointment to this point would be putting it lightly. Our defensive line has to get pressure. No doubt there. Our secondary also has to seriously get it together. While the Jakar Hamilton plug in was something we hoped would suffice, he was clearly a step too slow both physically and mentally against the Lions. The absence of JJ Wilcox is making things rough back there right now. On another note, I was VERY impressed with Jeff Heath's play last week and hope he continues to build upon that when given the opportunity.

Yes a midseason switch back to the 3-4 would be hard but they need to do something drastic!

 

[Corso]

It doesnt seem like they care about winning as long as they are popular. If nothings done about the defense we have 0 chance at anything this year.

I respectfully disagree.

Although I do agree with your passion.

I share it as well- it just flows in a different direction.

Good show, brother.

 

[BigStar]

When we started this season, the defense was the last thing I was generally worried about. I was mostly worried about the collective ability of our offense to put it all together regularly to continuhously challenge opposing teams to make adjustments. With a number of returning starters, the continuous streak of recent draft hits, and a solid coordinator coming in, why worry so much about the decensive side of the ball? Boy oh boy... This defense is a train wreck. Sadly, it is that secondary that has led our defense right into the mid season cellar. The Jaguars defense at #28 is looking down at ours. The Jags??? Really?

I do have faith that our Defense will turn it around. However, with the Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Bears, Packers, Commanders, and Eagles on deck, that defense will be tested mightily. Only three of our remaining eight opponents have top 10 offenses. That should provide some level of comfort. Unfortunately, we have quite the reputation for finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We do that extremely well... Realistically, I see 4 wins remaining. The Vikings, Giants, Raiders, and Bears. Then again, that remaining 8 leaves plenty of questions as to whether not things will go as one might hope. Can we go 6-2 in the last 8? Suuurrreee... Can we easily also fail to take the next step psychologically and go 2-6? Yes indeed. One thing remains true. Our defense is going to have to take themselves out of the cellar in order for this team to make worthy strides.

This team will eak in? Who on O scares

When we started this season, the defense was the last thing I was generally worried about. I was mostly worried about the collective ability of our offense to put it all together regularly to continuously challenge opposing teams to make adjustments. With a number of returning starters, the continuous streak of recent draft hits, and a solid coordinator coming in, why worry so much about the decensive side of the ball? Boy oh boy... This defense is a train wreck. Sadly, it is that secondary that has led our defense right into the mid season cellar. The Jaguars defense at #28 is looking down at ours. The Jags??? Really?

I do have faith that our Defense will turn it around. However, with the Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, Bears, Packers, Commanders, and Eagles on deck, that defense will be tested mightily. Only three of our remaining eight opponents have top 10 offenses. That should provide some level of comfort. Unfortunately, we have quite the reputation for finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We do that extremely well... Realistically, I see 4 wins remaining. The Vikings, Giants, Raiders, and Bears. Then again, that remaining 8 leaves plenty of questions as to whether not things will go as one might hope. Can we go 6-2 in the last 8? Suuurrreee... Can we easily also fail to take the next step psychologically and go 2-6? Yes indeed. One thing remains true. Our defense is going to have to take themselves out of the cellar in order for this team to make worthy strides.

I almost have to turn a blind eye bc of the TURNOVERS!!! I know, etc, and then this guy, but really the D has set up to O to win most of these games...every single ONE. Yes SD was like why? but outside of that rb circle pass I don't see the REAL problem with the D outside of pressure. It's one or the other , PICK ONE!!! but not just bland coverage's. Man cover 2 with some lb blitzes offset by DB coverage, I know they called it that time....do it again jagoff if you have CONFIDECE in your scheme...