The Secondary has to fix itself right now

[whcarm]

I think everyone thought we would have one of the best secondaries in the league this year. I mean, we have Newman, Henry, Glenn, and Williams. All of them are very good players. Free safety has always been a question mark but I don't think Davis or Pile are guilty for all of our problems thus far.

Look what we have allowed to happen in the first three games.

Against San Diego McCardell got 123 yards and 2 tds and Parker got another 75 yards.

Against Washington Moss got 159 yards and 2 tds and Thrash got another 42.

Against San Francisco Lloyd got 142 yards and 2 tds and Battle got another 68 yards and 1 td.

So, we have made very average receivers look like pro bowlers every week.

So what is going to happen in the next two weeks when we really do face some pro bowl receivers.

This week we have to face Moss, who has always killed us. Then next week we have to face Owens.

If our secondary doesn't figure out why it is so weak (and do it quickly) then Moss and Owens are going to eat our defense for lunch.

 

[dguinta1]

It figures we would have to play Moss next.... Scary!

 

[austintodallas]

This week we have to face Moss, who has always killed us. Then next week we have to face Owens.

Don't forget Burress and Toomer the week after that. Not exactly cupcakes.

 

[BARRYRAY]

Agree somewhat but we all been crying for a cover FS, also the pass rush gets a partial too, it has been missing, or in 3-4 I guess you call it successful blitzing..

 

[Canadian BoyzFan]

Makes teams beat us short. Make them drive the ball 80 yards on 12 plays.
We are solid against the run for the most part......just don't give up big plays.

Until we stop this.....evey team is going to do it.

 

[Rack]

The Secondary has to fix itself right now

The secondary? Try the pass rush. Our secondary is struggling cuz opposing QBs are too comfortable.

 

[JDSmith]

We've given up some big plays.

Moss had 159 yards, but unless I'm mistaken 110 of them came on two passes.

Lloyd had 142 and 89 of them came on one play.

Let's look at our overall performance so far: We've allowed 57% of pass attempts to be completed, middle of the pack. We've given up 7 TDs, near the bottom of the league (we know at least 3 of them were on the aforementioned long passes). We've got 5 picks, near the top of the league. We've got 9 sacks, near the top of the league.

Right now we are making some plays, and we are blowing some plays. We've done some things well and then we've screwed up enough times to make our numbers look bad. Seems about right to me for a young D learning a new scheme. We've obviously got some talent or we wouldn't be making any plays. We're giving up some big hits because we're young and making mistakes. I think things will even out in that department as the season progresses and guys get more comfortable.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The safeties are really causing us a problem at this point.

 

[Rack]

I don't think it's the safeties. I think it's the lack of a pass rush.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I don't think it's the safeties. I think it's the lack of a pass rush.

And how are you going to fix it Rack?

 

[Rack]

And how are you going to fix it Rack?

To start off with, GROZ. That's a given.


Hire a coach that already knows the intracacies (sp?) of the 3-4 defense.

Play Glover less in the 3-4.

Simplify what I have Ware do. Basically I'd play him a lot less at OLB (for now) and just tell him to kill the QB in our nickel/dime defenses.

Play Spears and Canty more.

Preach "ATTACK" to them, instead of technique. I can live with them allowing the QB some space to run every now and then (especially vs the Raiders since Collins isn't exactly Mike Vick) as long as they're going all out on their pass rush.


But the biggest thing? GROZ.

 

[FRDRCK]

In my opinion, the reason Santana Moss got those two touchdowns is because Newman wasn't covering him. Henry is just not fast enough and Parcells just said 2 minutes ago that his legs were gone because of a short week.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

To start off with, GROZ. That's a given.


Hire a coach that already knows the intracacies (sp?) of the 3-4 defense.

Play Glover less in the 3-4.

Simplify what I have Ware do. Basically I'd play him a lot less at OLB (for now) and just tell him to kill the QB in our nickel/dime defenses.

Play Spears and Canty more.

Preach "ATTACK" to them, instead of technique. I can live with them allowing the QB some space to run every now and then (especially vs the Raiders since Collins isn't exactly Mike Vick) as long as they're going all out on their pass rush.


But the biggest thing? GROZ.

But Rack the nature of the 3-4 is that the lineman don't rush the passer first, they have to hold their points of attack... no matter who the defensive coordinator is.

There isn't a team out there that gets a great rush on every play. It just doesn't work that way due to rules changes and what not.

Yes, I would like to see a more consistent rush myself but our safety play up (from a coverage standpoint) has been very inconsistent. Our safeties are biting too hard on the wrong receivers... just like what Davis did yesterday.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Henry wasn't covering Moss either.

This Moss thing has been beaten to death. Suffice to say that we have problems covering the deep ball.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Henry wasn't covering Moss either.

This Moss thing has been beaten to death. Suffice to say that we have problems covering the deep ball.

And I think you and I agree that the safety play (or lack there of) has caused the majority of our problems.

 

[Alexander]

Yes, I would like to see a more consistent rush myself but our safety play up (from a coverage standpoint) has been very inconsistent. Our safeties are biting too hard on the wrong receivers... just like what Davis did yesterday.

What I want to know is how people just assume that a "consistent" pass rush is something that can be manufactured and second, even funnier, is this idea that it is somehow Zimmer's responsibility.

The secondary players are the ones making errors. The only way you can hold the coach responsible is if you believe they are being put in bad positions. To me, I see mental errors and blown coverages and that signals user, not system, failure.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

In my opinion, the reason Santana Moss got those two touchdowns is because Newman wasn't covering him. Henry is just not fast enough and Parcells just said 2 minutes ago that his legs were gone because of a short week.

Our safeties aren't doing well in their coverage responsibilities.

 

[Alexander]

Our safeties aren't doing well in their coverage responsibilities.

Nobody wants to hear that. It is just easier to say GROZ and "rush the passer" than come to grips with the fact that we have two safeties who are not doing their jobs 100%.

 

[ddh33]

I don't think anything needs to be scrapped. There are just some things that need to be tweaked. A couple of busts in a new defense, and suddenly everyone looks bad. I think it will sort itself out. But you also have to keep in mind that big pass plays are going to happen sometimes.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

What I want to know is how people just assume that a "consistent" pass rush is something that can be manufactured and second, even funnier, is this idea that it is somehow Zimmer's responsibility.

The secondary players are the ones making errors. The only way you can hold the coach responsible is if you believe they are being put in bad positions. To me, I see mental errors and blown coverages and that signals user, not system, failure.

I agree 100%.

And hell I don't care how good of a pass rush you have you aren't going to get to the QB (very often) if they're employing a 3 step drop or on a down & distance that forces the lineman to respect the running game first.

If the secondary keeps messing up their assignments it won't matter if we have the same pass rush as the '77 Cowboys.