The defense is a hot mess

[Sydla]

The defense gave up 270 yards and 19 points in the final 3 quarters once the offense stopped turning the ball over.

They gave up 130 yards and 7 points in the second half last week.

They’ve had some bad quarters, but they’re not abysmal by any stretch.

That's like putting a cherry on top of a turd sundae.

They are not very good defensively. The team won't do squat this season if the defense doesn't improve, even to mediocre. I was willing to live with yards and points as long as they were creating turnovers and sacking the QB, but they are not even doing that. It's just a bad defense all around.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

The offense was a hot mess too for half the game. People were talking superbowl before the season started. After the second half, who was still thinking superbowl at that time, or let alone playoffs? The team redeemed itself towards the end, but still lucked out. Right now, I need to see more before thinking we will make it to the playoffs even.

 

[Doomsday]

It is about as bad as it gets right now.

The only 2 punts the Falcons had today came after a WR dropped a pass on third down so the defense basically got ZERO stops.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Are you stupid?

let me make it clear. I’m not sticking up for Nolan, I don’t think he is a good coordinator. I’m commenting on clowns like you absolving the players.

the players suck.

is that clear enough for you or you want to lie some more?

The only one lying is you. Lying to yourself. You are trying to use the players as a scapegoat for Nolan sucking. You need to get out of your feelings because you can't engage in a sports debate without calling someone stupid then I'm not sure if this site is the place for you or at least you shouldn't debate with me. Go debate with a child your age.

 

[CATCH17]

Atlanta had more success moving the ball last week against Seattle than they did today. The point total today was wildly misleading. Atlanta actually drove the field for a grand total of 16 points.

Oh I agree..

The offense screwed the defense bigtime.

It’s just that we had a few busted coverages and we couldn’t get off the field in critical moments.

I don’t remember very many negative plays from their offense.. It was either positive yards or no gain.

 

[loublue22]

if we keep Seattle under 35 it would be a miracle

 

[Jack Burton]

Hot Mess is a lot better nickname than Hot Boyz.

 

[Sydla]

Oh I agree..

The offense screwed the defense bigtime.

It’s just that we had a few busted coverages and we couldn’t get off the field in critical moments.

I don’t remember very many negative plays from their offense.. It was either positive yards or no gain.

The Falcons were 50% on third down and 100% on fourth down. We had one sack. Forced no turnovers. Gave up 39 points (and could have been more if Jones doesn't drop an easy TD).

There was nothing about this game that should make one thing, gee, this defense wasn't that bad.

PS - Not directed at you specifically, by the way.

 

[conner01]

does this explain why good pass rushers are not beating their man?

It could

 

[BigTx66]

It's a miserable defense, whether the blame is on the coaches or the players. The obvious failures are by the players, such as the overpaid/overhyped D. Lawrence, no linebackers who can cover a screen, and a litany of defensive backs who can't cover. This team is going to be winning by a wing and a prayer if this little league type defense is the best the team can put on the field. Appears to be another overhyped and underperforming group of players that PT Barnum (J. Jones) has sold to us fans....

 

[Kaiser]

Don't other teams have that problem though?

Sure, Atlanta's defense gave up 40 points in three quarters. I just looked and 11 teams gave up 30 points or more this week.

 

[stiletto]

Sure, Atlanta's defense gave up 40 points in three quarters. I just looked and 11 teams gave up 30 points or more this week.

So you are saying there is a "chance" this defense won't be bad??

 

[Kaiser]

So you are saying there is a "chance" this defense won't be bad??

Well, at the risk of being unpopular...nyuk, nyuk...

The defense will be fine when they settle into the scheme the players get enough reps to execute well. Especially when LVE gets back and DLaw gets comfortable rotating between 4-3 and 3-4 sets.

We gave up 380 yards today to the Falcons. Last year the Falcons offense per-game average was....380 yards.

 

[stiletto]

The only one lying is you. Lying to yourself. You are trying to use the players as a scapegoat for Nolan sucking. You need to get out of your feelings because you can't engage in a sports debate without calling someone stupid then I'm not sure if this site is the place for you or at least you shouldn't debate with me. Go debate with a child your age.

Curious, how many coordinators do these players have to suck for before you agree that the players and talent evaluation by defensive scouts may be a problem? I am not a fan of Nolan nor Marinelli nor just about anyone since Zimmer but there seems to be no play makers on defense. No coordinator can fix that! Tank has mailed it in since getting paid. We are hosed.

 

[stiletto]

Well, at the risk of being unpopular...nyuk, nyuk...

The defense will be fine when they settle into the scheme the players get enough reps to execute well. Especially when LVE gets back and DLaw gets comfortable rotating between 4-3 and 3-4 sets.

We gave up 380 yards today to the Falcons. Last year the Falcons offense per-game average was....380 yards.

Hope and pray you are right bubba but it's not looking good. Will have to be a miracle turn-a-round starting next week.

 

[DanA]

There is stuff I will give the DC a pass on. Diggs making rookie mistakes, some secondary struggles, and if we had issues with at 3T with Gallimore/Hill.

But the D-line struggles are on Nolan. There is talent there with Lawrence and Griffen. And I can see how good Aldon Smith still is, so people need to stop with the 5 years crap. That debate has been settled.

Sure Poe isn’t a star like he was in 2013/2014 but he’s still above average, and Hill / Gallimore are looking decent.

The reason the D-line looks so bad is the ridiculous stuff Nolan is asking them to do. Lawrence should not drop into coverage, and he shouldn’t be rushing from a two point stance so much. Same goes for Griffen

 

[DuncanIso]

It's a miserable defense, whether the blame is on the coaches or the players. The obvious failures are by the players, such as the overpaid/overhyped D. Lawrence, no linebackers who can cover a screen, and a litany of defensive backs who can't cover. This team is going to be winning by a wing and a prayer if this little league type defense is the best the team can put on the field. Appears to be another overhyped and underperforming group of players that PT Barnum (J. Jones) has sold to us fans....

Is anyone surprised that Nolan is doing a bad job?

 

[Sydla]

Is anyone surprised that Nolan is doing a bad job?

Only the homers. He was the worst hire this offseason by far.

 

[stiletto]

Only the homers. He was the worst hire this offseason by far.

I feel that way but at the same time I am still shocked he is worse than 1-15 Marinelli. LOL It really does look worse. They need to move some people in and out just to try to do something.

If they are gonna be all about analytics, a 15% improvement would make the team a lot better. I mean a 5% improvement would help at this point.

 

[calicowboy54]

Don’t get me wrong, I was tired of our predictable four man rush, which was exclusively a one gap scheme, and regularly getting gashed by the run. The opposition knew exactly what we were doing. But, this isn’t the answer either.

It’s all sizzle and no steak. Instead of being predictable it’s just unsound. And at some stage we’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback. Let Griffen and Lawrence occasionally put their hands in the dirt and get after the quarterback.

This defense sucks and it’s not the talent. It’s the rediculous scheme.

i think we will be better on back half of the year. you are switching dline from 1gap play the run on the way to qb to a 2gap read the flow of the play. then you have the secondary where you have players saying this defense is more chess than ball and hammer. they are still learning. we need to give them half the season. if it’s sucks still in december we need to move on next year.