waiting game

Many of us were talking during the season about a noticeable change in how offenses were attacking our defense. Around the time of the bye, they started challenging us more up the middle because they thought that was a weakness, and they were right. Hell, most times they don't even need the C to help on Kemo and he was able to release on Beason. And even before the bye it's not like we were really shutting down the opposing running game. They just didn't get a ton of yards because they didn't have a ton of attempts. For instance, LaDainian Tomlinson gashed us for 4.6 ypc, but that didn't look as bad because he only ran it 21 times. Actually, looking at the list of what RBs did against us is eye-opening:


LaDainian Tomlinson: 4.6 ypc
Matt Forte: 4.0 ypc
Adrian Peterson: 4.5 ypc
Chester Taylor: 4.0 ypc
Michael Turner: 3.1 ypc
Jamaal Charles: 4.5 ypc
Warrick Dunn: 5.2 ypc
Reggie Bush: 6.1 ypc
Deuce McAllister: 5.2 ypc
Aaron Stecker: 5.0 ypc
Edgerrin James: 2.4 ypc
Justin Fargas: 4.0 ypc
Michael Bush: 3.8 ypc
Kevin Smith: 4.7 ypc
Michael Turner: 4.9 ypc
Brandon Jackson: 7.3 ypc
Ryan Grant: 3.3 ypc
Warrick Dunn: 4.9 ypc
Cadillac Williams: 2.4 ypc
P.J. Pope: 7.3 ypc
Tatum Bell: 6.1 ypc
Selvin Young: 3.2 ypc
Derrick Ward: 14.3 ypc
Brandon Jacobs: 3.6 ypc
Deuce McAllister: 5.0 ypc


That's fucking pathetic, and was a year-long problem.

 

A dramatic upgrade would be fine by me, I don't think anyone else would object.

 

I'm not convinced we'll be able to get a dramatic upgrade at all this year at DT. Not sure what's gonna happen in the draft in terms of maybe getting some earlier picks, but the DT's aren't spectacular and there is not a tremendous amount of depth. We're strapped cash wise as well, and there aren't too many peeps out there worth the look. We could def. use another physical presence. I don't think anyobdy is really sold on Gary Gibson as a legit rotation player.

 

The only way to get a significant upgrade was to sign Haynesworth. He was out of our price range. Get a couple of quality guys in the rotation so we can keep our guys fresh and deal with injuries and we will be alright. We had a good run defense a couple of years ago with just Buckner and Carstens inside.....

 

Not remotely true. Did you even look at the stats I posted above? Shut the fuck up, Thelt. It's one thing for you to be a moron, but it's another thing altogether for you to keep repeating the same dumbass shit everyone says you're wrong about even after you're presented with facts that prove you wrong.

Shut.
The.
Fuck.
Up.

Shut the fuck up.

 

Quality rotation guys: where the fuck do we find them?

 

I guess you want to just forfeit the season then?

 

Going back to the LB's, how much of a contribution did they make to our declining run defense? They look good. Beason made the Pro-Bowl and Davis had his best year, at least statistically. Diggs is steady. But as been stated in this thread we gave up quite a bit of yardage on the ground, and the YPC as Collin pointed out wasn't very good either. Some people have pointed to gap integrity. We know the D-line played a factor in all this, but these guys in the middle should now be the strength of the D. Did they really perform that well?

 

The LBs made their plays overall, but we overpursued a lot (which I imagine is a leading factor in some of the issues on the right side).

Some of it, I imagine, is the second level worrying about the first - trying to get there too fast because you don't think someone else will do the job.

This type stuff - discipline, assignment, possibly technique - should get a revamp, which will help.

 

Moving Jenkins was still the right thing to do. Our team chemistry was better last year for him being gone. 12-4 matched our best record in franchise history. It was unfortunate that the playoff game went the way it did but Jenkins would not have made any difference. His team did not even make the playoffs.....

If we can pull off a trade where we get a first round pick for Peppers maybe we can add one of the top DT prospects in the draft and put him in the rotation. A rookie should not be expected to make too much impact right off the bat but rotating with Lewis, Kemo and maybe a lower level free agent he can contribute.

BJ Raji has good size and pairing him with Kemo on running downs should be effective. Peria Jerry is rated high on most mocks but he does not have the size of Raji and is not as great against the run. Ron Brace is another huge guy who can stuff the run.