How do they fix it? Looking ahead

[Playmaker3128]

I personally think Dan Quinn is being a bit stubborn. His array of pass rushers is exposed at times. And while he plays Hankins somewhat, he doesn't have him in there all the time. He's going to have to sacrifice some pass rush to stop the run. I'm interested to see how many snaps Hankins played, because when he's in there he makes a difference from what I see.

While I like what Quinn preaches in terms of every man to the ball, and pin your ears back and get to the qb. Its obviously leading to over aggressiveness in the run game. Have to dial it back some.

 

[RonnieT24]

This question isn’t a knee jerk reaction to just a single game. This defense has been getting gashed by the run all season and it’s not improved no matter what scheme is being utilized.

So the question is , “what roster positions. ,specifically, have to be addressed via the draft and free agency to balance out the disparity between the pass and rush defense?

We are aware of the offenses issues of inconsistency but for this thread I’d like to just hear about the defensive side of the ball and how to fix it, because I think its obviously beyond repairing this season.

Give us some gems of wisdom

I don't think it's really all that complicated frankly. Go back to a 3 linebacker set and ditch the 3 safety look. No matter how much we love Kearse and Wilson neither of them has enough rocks in his pocket to consistently take on offensive linemen at the point of attack. Hell most linebackers are too small to do it for too many snaps a game but they're 30-40 pounds heavier than Wilson and Kearse which makes a ton of difference, not just in girth but also in the upper body strength to get hands off them. The "Big Nickel" was actually exposed against the 49ers in the playoff game but we've stuck with it.. Teams have decided that if you're going to put Parsons, a 240 LB at DE and Kearse a 210 safety at LB they need to find out if they really can hold up against the run. So far the answer has been a resounding no..

 

[RonnieT24]

The way Micah was talking, according to the other thread, it would seem the players are leaving or not getting to their gaps, and freelancing.

It may well be that when Kearse and Wilson are lined up as essentially linebackers leaving their gaps is the only chance they have at making the play. If they stay in there and take on the guy who outweighs them by 100 pounds not only do they not make the play but they might get hurt in the process.

 

[RonnieT24]

Excellent and well thought out insights. I hope what you say about it being fixable is true, but that remains to be seen. My main problem is that it’s seems to be getting worse and if it was fixable with the current personnel, I would think that we’d be seeing incremental improvement instead of the opposite

I think as teams get more and more tape on how to attack it it will continue to get worse. Quinn has to make the adjustment.. Either Kearse or Wilson has to go to the bench on run downs and replaced with a 250 pound heat seeking missile called a linebacker.. It's really that simple.

 

[Wizarus]

There is no quick fix ...... This is a fundemental defensive scheme problem, they lose containment because everyone and I mean everyone is concentrating too much on getting to the QB or going for an interception.

We are getting gashed in the middle or killed on screens.
Quinn is only good at being aggressive and has not adjusted or held his players accountable for losing containment.
I do not see it getting fixed this year.

I mean yeah, people were screaming about the lack of turnovers despite solid defensive play. This is what people wanted.