Impressive thing about those 8 Giant sacks

[Hostile]

The principle is fundamentally sound as the defenders get the ability to read the quarterback and play the ball. However, our players just maybe be much better at man coverage than zone so do better in that situation.

You can also play zone much tighter than we were earlier in the year and it does seems as though when we play zone we are executing much better with fewer blown assignments.

I will say that a big key to what we have been doing is mixing things up. It seemed like we kept giving the QB the same looks over and over again so they knew how exactly to attack us in any given situation. Now we are playing a much better mix of bump and run, man coverage and zone. On top of that, we may be trying to disguise coverages more.

I think a large part of this is the return of a healthy TNew. When you can add a premier cover corner who can just erase the other team's top receiver, it gives you alot more options to choose from. I think Wade has finally learned how to lean on his $50M corner (BTW, I do realize the defense had started to play better before he came back, but we went to a new level after his return).

Top notch post Eskimo. On the money.

 

[Eskimo]

Top notch post Eskimo. On the money.

Thanks, Hos. One of the things that perplexed me this offseason was why we were investing so much in CBs when all we played were these soft zones. It seemed as though when Wade took over he decided he was really going to make use of all these guys' coverage skills. The future looks mighty bright for the secondary with Jenkins, Scandrick and TNew out there blanketing people. If we can get Pacman to play to his ability, you are talking about potentially the best set of CBs any team has ever had.

I hope the move of Ball to safety works out. He looks to be a willing tackler and would bring some much needed coverage ability to the secondary. I wonder about the future of the in-the-box safety in this league.

 

[Shinywalrus]

I think T-New and Scandrick, as well as the recent transition of Henry's role, have been huge, and clearly there are some coverage sacks and a lot of coverage pressure.

But *I* could have been playing cornerback on 94's first sack.

I think there is a lot to how we have finally established our ILBs and DBs as legitimate pass rush threats that has left offensive lines with just enough uncertainty to force a higher number of missed assignments or slower blitz reads.

Lots of good things going on.

 

[adbutcher]

I think a big part of the improvement has been the tighter coverage that was absent earlier in the year. When the QB is under duress now, he doesn't have a wide-open outlet so he has to eat the ball now.

The blitzing has also become more creative and the players' blitz technique is much better than in the past - they aren't just trying to engage their blockers passively but are trying to evade them and get after the QB with ferocity not seen in BigD in many, many years.

How many years did we see Cowboys LBs run right into the chest of the RBs and then just stand there - it is like they didn't understand the purpose of the blitz was to get after the QB.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I feel very good about our chances to pressure, hit, sack, and rattle the young, and talented, Flacco. I think he's going to have major problems against us.

 

[khiladi]

I think you can count on the pressure. Flacco is not playing like a rookie but they can't keep up with us. Their defense is going to create problems for us, too.

Flacco forces passes and can be confused, from what I have seen. He does have a gun for an arm, but the way this defense is playing, I would think that Dallas should have at least 2 INTs.

 

[JerryFan]

The principle is fundamentally sound as the defenders get the ability to read the quarterback and play the ball. However, our players just maybe be much better at man coverage than zone so do better in that situation.

You can also play zone much tighter than we were earlier in the year and it does seems as though when we play zone we are executing much better with fewer blown assignments.

I will say that a big key to what we have been doing is mixing things up. It seemed like we kept giving the QB the same looks over and over again so they knew how exactly to attack us in any given situation. Now we are playing a much better mix of bump and run, man coverage and zone. On top of that, we may be trying to disguise coverages more.

I think a large part of this is the return of a healthy TNew. When you can add a premier cover corner who can just erase the other team's top receiver, it gives you alot more options to choose from. I think Wade has finally learned how to lean on his $50M corner (BTW, I do realize the defense had started to play better before he came back, but we went to a new level after his return).

This is 100% correct. It doesn't matter what scheme is suppose to work better it matters what scheme your players play the best.

 

[Paniolo22]

I think a big part of the improvement has been the tighter coverage that was absent earlier in the year. When the QB is under duress now, he doesn't have a wide-open outlet so he has to eat the ball now.

The blitzing has also become more creative and the players' blitz technique is much better than in the past - they aren't just trying to engage their blockers passively but are trying to evade them and get after the QB with ferocity not seen in BigD in many, many years.

How many years did we see Cowboys LBs run right into the chest of the RBs and then just stand there - it is like they didn't understand the purpose of the blitz was to get after the QB.

You are 100% correct. We were all screeeeeeeaming for Wade to play tighter coverage. Now we have a great mix going on. I think this is they key factor in our success.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

We were only rushing 4 or 5 at the most on all of them. I have watched the video on NFL network several times now and it was simply our team overpowering the Giants OL. I don't know how many years I watched this team send more than 5 and still get zero pressure. Credit the Secondary for keeping the receiver covered just slightly longer too. This is the defense I expected to have when Wade got here and Ware is finally at the production level I expected him to be at when we drafted him.

Wade usually only sends five pass rushers. He doesn't send more than 5 very much. He's been that way for quite some time, including when he was at Buffalo. However, he sends 5 a lot..probably 30-40% of the time. I think what's been more impressive is the pressure the defense has gotten with 4 pass rushers. In the past we could get pressure, but only when we were sending 5. If we were sending 4, we pretty much relied on Ware and perhaps Ratliff if he somehow got a one-on-one (he kills centers and guards one-on-one).

But in general, Wade getting pressure with 5 pass rushers is nothing new. It's getting them with 4 pass rushers. Although I do believe that the corners have GREATLY stepped up their play lately and that includes Anthony Henry who has played quite well the past few weeks.



YAKUZA

 

[adbutcher]

Wade usually only sends five pass rushers. He doesn't send more than 5 very much. He's been that way for quite some time, including when he was at Buffalo. However, he sends 5 a lot..probably 30-40% of the time. I think what's been more impressive is the pressure the defense has gotten with 4 pass rushers. In the past we could get pressure, but only when we were sending 5. If we were sending 4, we pretty much relied on Ware and perhaps Ratliff if he somehow got a one-on-one (he kills centers and guards one-on-one).

But in general, Wade getting pressure with 5 pass rushers is nothing new. It's getting them with 4 pass rushers. Although I do believe that the corners have GREATLY stepped up their play lately and that includes Anthony Henry who has played quite well the past few weeks.



YAKUZA

Bingo! I was going to write a post expressing just that but I got busy at work. Great observation as usual Yak!

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Not to mention our pre-snap disguises.

Madden pointed it out, and it was beautiful. Hamlin baited Manning into thinking he had a Cover 1, with single high, instead Hamlin came back over the top of Newman in a 2 shell, and Newman was able to jump the inside route.

Playing tight on a receiver, and disguising your coverages. Finally! Finally!!!

That play, along with better blitz schemes, is the kind of thing I've been dreaming of for years. I used to see other defenses with good DCs confuse and trick opposing QBs into easy INTs, but we never seemed to do it, ever. Thanks, Mike Zimmer. And we all know about his famed conga-line, don't-dare-stunt, run-directly-into-traffic blitzes.

And Wade has said repeatedly that the reason we didn't play more press like this last year was that -- paraphrasing of course -- Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones sucked. It's just about that simple. Wade talked about Jenkins' athleticism and long arms helping him in press coverage from the day we drafted him. And then of course Scandrick turned out to be a home run, too.

Please stay with us one more year and help draft us a good safety and maybe a couple other defensive players, Wade.

 

[kmd24]

Just for kicks...

http://i29.***BLOCKED***/albums/c269/coolmoe/2008DallasDefenseWeek15.png

I love it when data matches perception. We are really getting off the field on third down lately.

 

[Eskimo]

Just for kicks...

http://i29.***BLOCKED***/albums/c269/coolmoe/2008DallasDefenseWeek15.png

I love it when data matches perception. We are really getting off the field on third down lately.

4 straight games around 25% is just outstanding 3rd down defense. We have really been bringing it lately. It seemed earlier in the season we were doing a reasonable job on 1st and 2nd down but teams were converting an unreasonable number of 3rd and longs.

 

[Eskimo]

Wade usually only sends five pass rushers. He doesn't send more than 5 very much. He's been that way for quite some time, including when he was at Buffalo. However, he sends 5 a lot..probably 30-40% of the time. I think what's been more impressive is the pressure the defense has gotten with 4 pass rushers. In the past we could get pressure, but only when we were sending 5. If we were sending 4, we pretty much relied on Ware and perhaps Ratliff if he somehow got a one-on-one (he kills centers and guards one-on-one).

But in general, Wade getting pressure with 5 pass rushers is nothing new. It's getting them with 4 pass rushers. Although I do believe that the corners have GREATLY stepped up their play lately and that includes Anthony Henry who has played quite well the past few weeks.



YAKUZA

Henry definitely not looking as inept as he has most of the season during the last month. I still cringe at the idea of him getting singled up on quick WRs who had been eating his lunch all-year. Hopefully with Pac back and us thin at safety we can continue to use Henry to his strengths - his physicality against bigger WRs and receiving TEs.

I do like his play recently but I still think he needs to move to nickel safety.

 

[dmq]

4 straight games around 25% is just outstanding 3rd down defense. We have really been bringing it lately. It seemed earlier in the season we were doing a reasonable job on 1st and 2nd down but teams were converting an unreasonable number of 3rd and longs.

2 of those teams are pretty good too. Press coverage. Who would have thought.:shoot6:

 

[jobberone]

He's playing like a rookie vs. teams whose defenses are ranked in the top half of the league. He's got 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions vs. those teams (in 8 games), with 176 yards/game at 6.2 YPA and a 58% completion percentage.

How's he done in the last 9 games. Particularly how has he done in the previous 8 games up to the Pitt game. Romo didn't do so good against the Steelers either.

The answer is the Ravens led the entire NFL in offense in scoring in those games preceding the Pitt game.

 

[LeonDixson]

Thanks, Hos. One of the things that perplexed me this offseason was why we were investing so much in CBs when all we played were these soft zones. It seemed as though when Wade took over he decided he was really going to make use of all these guys' coverage skills. The future looks mighty bright for the secondary with Jenkins, Scandrick and TNew out there blanketing people. If we can get Pacman to play to his ability, you are talking about potentially the best set of CBs any team has ever had.

I hope the move of Ball to safety works out. He looks to be a willing tackler and would bring some much needed coverage ability to the secondary. I wonder about the future of the in-the-box safety in this league.

I agree wholeheartedly with all your posts in this thread, Eskimo. Regarding your comment on Pacman, though, I would just say that his CB play has been pretty darn good. Even with his limited games he's got a ton of passes defensed and a few near-picks. I'm waiting for him to actually catch one of them and take it to the house. Maybe Flacco will panic under the hot breath of Ware and Ratliff and throw one to him.

 

[jobberone]

I agree wholeheartedly with all your posts in this thread, Eskimo. Regarding your comment on Pacman, though, I would just say that his CB play has been pretty darn good. Even with his limited games he's got a ton of passes defensed and a few near-picks. I'm waiting for him to actually catch one of them and take it to the house. Maybe Flacco will panic under the hot breath of Ware and Ratliff and throw one to him.

AJ has played well. We can use his play and the depth it gives us.

 

[Eskimo]

I agree wholeheartedly with all your posts in this thread, Eskimo. Regarding your comment on Pacman, though, I would just say that his CB play has been pretty darn good. Even with his limited games he's got a ton of passes defensed and a few near-picks. I'm waiting for him to actually catch one of them and take it to the house. Maybe Flacco will panic under the hot breath of Ware and Ratliff and throw one to him.

I agree that Pacman has been unfairly disparaged here due to a couple of missed assignments early in the year, a couple of dropped INTs, his poor performance on punt returns and the off-field issues that got him suspended during a criticial juncture of the season when we were thin at CB.

However, I agree that his play at CB has been exemplary overall and I covet a top-3 of Tnew/Pacman/Scandrick. If this comes to frution, I wonder if we can move Jenkins to a hybrid S/CB type spot to get him on the field because he has great potential and may be big enough to handle safety - unfortunately, it seems as though his best skills are as a bump and run corner - anyhow great depth at the very worst and possible trade bait if a great opportunity comes along after next year (I would want Pacman to show he can play a year incident free before I move him).

 

[LeonDixson]

I agree that Pacman has been unfairly disparaged here due to a couple of missed assignments early in the year, a couple of dropped INTs, his poor performance on punt returns and the off-field issues that got him suspended during a criticial juncture of the season when we were thin at CB.

However, I agree that his play at CB has been exemplary overall and I covet a top-3 of Tnew/Pacman/Scandrick. If this comes to frution, I wonder if we can move Jenkins to a hybrid S/CB type spot to get him on the field because he has great potential and may be big enough to handle safety - unfortunately, it seems as though his best skills are as a bump and run corner - anyhow great depth at the very worst and possible trade bait if a great opportunity comes along after next year (I would want Pacman to show he can play a year incident free before I move him).

I would NEVER, EVER trade any of our other CB's with the idea that we can depend on AJ; I just wouldn't do it.