Impactful difference in this year's team so far

[erod]

Hopefully fewer injuries, obviously, but that's not the main reason for optimism in my mind.

Not once did I see a Steelers receiver just running free in the secondary the other night in the first half. Not once did I see players pointing around before the play in mass confusion. I didnt' see a line getting completely blown off the ball every play. Guys looked like they knew what to do. Last year, it's like we were playing with 9 guys, 7 of which who could actually see. Mass confusion constantly.

The defense might be, dare we say, average this season. Just average would be a vast improvement. Anything beyond that would be a football miracle.

My prediction for this this has been 8-9 or 7-10. If Quinn can coach this up on defense, perhaps 10-7 or 9-8? The trend is in the right direction. That's encouraging.

That is what is making this preseason interesting.

 

[CATCH17]

Hopefully fewer injuries, obviously, but that's not the main reason for optimism in my mind.

Not once did I see a Steelers receiver just running free in the secondary the other night in the first half. Not once did I see players pointing around before the play in mass confusion. I didnt' see a line getting completely blown off the ball every play. Guys looked like they knew what to do. Last year, it's like we were playing with 9 guys, 7 of which who could actually see. Mass confusion constantly.

The defense might be, dare we say, average this season. Just average would be a vast improvement. Anything beyond that would be a football miracle.

My prediction for this this has been 8-9 or 7-10. If Quinn can coach this up on defense, perhaps 10-7 or 9-8? The trend is in the right direction. That's encouraging.

That is what is making this preseason interesting.

I think scheme change alone along with a bend don’t break style will get us to average.

If we can disrupt the QB at all then we might be a little better than average.

Rankings don’t matter though. I’ve seen some awful Cowboys defenses be highly ranked. Just keep
Point totals against low and turnovers high. I’ll take that over a top ranking.

 

[JoeKing]

You just jinxed us.

 

[Doomsday101]

I hope for greater impact by defense, especially in terms of take aways. But we need to do a better job of winning 3rd down battles and getting off the field

 

[McKDaddy]

We seem to have added some talent in places it was sorely needed. Now, we just need it to come together on the field.

 

[MarcusRock]

If we can disrupt the QB at all then we might be a little better than average.

Therein lies the rub, young grasshopper. Who else do we have besides Gregory to get there consistently? Heck, we don't even know if Gregory will get there consistently. As an offense, I'd make Gregory beat me and add help/double him if he does. Someone has to emerge in the interior because Lawrence ain't getting there consistently either. It's a big IF, that much I'll tell you. Hope the backers are up to the task.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

I said before the game that I wanted to see improved communication on the D which was horrible last year. While the D was not perfect, they did the 2 things I wanted to see. The held their own in the run game and I didn't see any blown assignments. Now let's get the real players out there and lets see what's up with RG, DLAW, Diggs and the others that either didn't play or only played a series or two. I think this D has the opportunity to be vastly improved.

 

[Big_D]

We’ll see how these young players develop but they definitely made some key additions at DT, LB and in the secondary that have the arrow pointing up.

 

[Praxit]

>>>>Super Bowl Baby..!! <<<<<

 

[CowboyRoy]

Hopefully fewer injuries, obviously, but that's not the main reason for optimism in my mind.

Not once did I see a Steelers receiver just running free in the secondary the other night in the first half. Not once did I see players pointing around before the play in mass confusion. I didnt' see a line getting completely blown off the ball every play. Guys looked like they knew what to do. Last year, it's like we were playing with 9 guys, 7 of which who could actually see. Mass confusion constantly.

The defense might be, dare we say, average this season. Just average would be a vast improvement. Anything beyond that would be a football miracle.

My prediction for this this has been 8-9 or 7-10. If Quinn can coach this up on defense, perhaps 10-7 or 9-8? The trend is in the right direction. That's encouraging.

That is what is making this preseason interesting.

If healthy, 9-8 is a joke record to be honest. If we remain relatively healthy this team should be in the 12 win range.

 

[Crown Royal]

Hopefully fewer injuries, obviously, but that's not the main reason for optimism in my mind.

Not once did I see a Steelers receiver just running free in the secondary the other night in the first half. Not once did I see players pointing around before the play in mass confusion. I didnt' see a line getting completely blown off the ball every play. Guys looked like they knew what to do. Last year, it's like we were playing with 9 guys, 7 of which who could actually see. Mass confusion constantly.

The defense might be, dare we say, average this season. Just average would be a vast improvement. Anything beyond that would be a football miracle.

My prediction for this this has been 8-9 or 7-10. If Quinn can coach this up on defense, perhaps 10-7 or 9-8? The trend is in the right direction. That's encouraging.

That is what is making this preseason interesting.

Really good point. The sheer volume of mental errors by both the offense and defense over the first 6 weeks or so was embarrassing. New coaching staff in the year of Covid certainly didn't help, but so painful to watch.

 

[Risen Star]

What was nice about the first game was the lack of flags. It was almost like the coach had the team ready to play.

 

[pitt33]

Time will tell.

Let’s see what happens these next two games and beyond. I still want to see plays made in the backfield. The tackles need to be disruptive. The linebackers need to make plays. That being said, Quinn has to be an upgrade. That defense was unwatchable last year.

 

[Ranched]

In a game in which few starters saw the field for either team due to it being an extra preseason contest, the win means very little.

 

[charron]

Note to any wanna be coaches....do not attempt to completely change schemes when you have no offseason to implement the changes. It's not rocket science. Coaching is teaching and one of the best ways to teach all the technical details is to get out there on the field.

 

[Diehardblues]

I’m not sure we can properly access until regular season begins with our starters going against opponent starters.

 

[TequilaCowboy]

I think the biggest impactful difference this year will be on the defensive coaching the guys will get from DQ and staff. It appears already that they are buying into the defense and just a matter of repetitions and PT. Even the young guys in the secondary seem to play with the aggressiveness you see when you are confident in your ability and the coaching. I am looking forward to seeing how their development goes during the season.

 

[visionary]

They were not confused because the other team is playing vanilla

 

[Vanilla2]

Ol sunshine pump Erod is back ladies!

 

[Jstopper]

They were not confused because the other team is playing vanilla

Or get this. Maybe because they actually understood their defensive assignments