Hey there. Been a while. I miss Greg Blache :)

[DarrellsMyHero28]

god forbid we build something. same old same old, it has to be now.

Its the combination of stop-gap, win now type moves like getting McNabb with the 3-4 defense that confuses me.

I feel like we're trying to ram a square peg into a round hole defensively and I'm not sure if there's really any point in experimenting with it while we have so few players that fit into the system.

Next year, when we can make FA moves and draft players who fit into Haslett's system I'll be ok with it. It just seems like a waste of time/energy on guys who likely won't be on the roster next year.

[SWFLSkins]

I miss Richie Petitbon.

[KDawg]

Art, I posted this in another thread about a week ago...

He didn't do things in his earlier years with the Steelers, either. This is a misconception. He took over in 1997.

In 1996 under Dick LeBeau the Steelers with 4th in points, second in yards. 5th in yards passing, 6th in TDs allowed and 4th in interceptions. Against the run they were 3rd in yards, 5th in TDs and 2nd in yards per attempt. They were second in turnovers. They finished 10-6 and made the playoffs.

Enter Haslett in 1997. Parenthesis... If you see a negative sign it's a bad thing in comparison. Positive sign means it's a good thing.

1997:

Total D (Points): 11 (-7)

Total D (Yards): 6 (-4)

Pass D (Yards): 18 (-13)

Pass D (TD): 22 (-16)

Interceptions: 6 (-2)

Rush D (Yards): 1 (+1)

Rush D (TD): 1 (+4)

Rush D (YPA): 1 (+1)

Turnovers: 4 (-2)

Record: 11-5

Analysis: His rush defense improved in year one, but not drastically enough to make up for the horrible decline in passing yards allowed. Does this look familiar?

1998: (First parenthesis is the comparison to the 96 defense, second is the comparison to the previous years defense)

Total D (Points): 7 (-3) (+4)

Total D (Yards): 12 (-10) (-6)

Pass D (Yards): 18 (-13) (0)

Pass D (TD): 3 (+3) (+19)

Interceptions: 17 (-13) (-11)

Rush D (Yards): 13 (-11) (-12)

Rush D (TD): 4 (+1) (-3)

Rush D (YPA): 3 (-1) (-2)

Turnovers: 16 (-12)

Record: 7-9

Analysis: His TDs allowed passing and points allowed dropped. Everything else got worse. Interesting.

1999:

Total D (Points): 12 (-8) (-5)

Total D (Yards): 11 (-9) (+1)

Pass D (Yards): 4 (+1) (+14)

Pass D (TD): 11 (-5) (-8)

Interceptions: 23 (-19) (-6)

Rush D (Yards): 26 (-23) (-13)

Rush D (TD): 13 (-8) (-9)

Rush D (YPA): 29 (-27) (-26)

Turnovers: 20 (-18) (-4)

Record: 6-10

Analysis: EVERY stat besides total pass yards allowed got worse from the Dick LeBeau years. Every stat except for Total D in yards and pass yards got far worse as well. So we see a trend. His pass D got better almost every year and his rush D plummeted from just his tenure. That's alarming to me.

[Tarhog]

Hope those life changes have been relatively minor ones

Come see us over at our place sometime, we'd love to have you check in once in awhile. Good to know you're out there. The world is just not as much fun without a larger-than-life Art in it

John

[SkinsHokieFan]

There is certainly a right to be skeptical of Haslett. His track record is mixed at best

Greg Blache though, no way did I want him further ruining this D. That was misery

[Special K]

Well, well, well, nice to see you posting Art

I agree with many of the sentiments you stated in your OP. I'm actually okay with the 3-4 in general, but, we clearly don't have the personnel to run it too effectively this year. I will agree that it is very nice to see Landry being utilized properly.

And yes, it's great to see a QB threatening big plays downfield, I love it.

Definitely happy with some of the things I see on offense, frustrated with several aspects of the defense, but I think I'm willing to wait some things out. Hopefully I won't be missing the conservative defense so much next year...

[Art]

Hope those life changes have been relatively minor ones

Come see us over at our place sometime, we'd love to have you check in once in awhile. Good to know you're out there. The world is just not as much fun without a larger-than-life Art in it

John

We'll see about stopping over.

Things are different here. At 7:15 the opening Sunday night, the fire department, paramedics and police were in my house checking out my little one and then I was driving her to Children's. She fell out the window, you see. Landed on a bag of black dirt and had nothing wrong with her. But, time is at a premium with two little monkeys running around .

[Tarhog]

Wow - can't imagine....glad things turned out okay - gotta be scary. I hear you on the time availability. Mine are 13 and 17 respectively. Wait for that. All kinds of new challenges

[mikeDinNYC]

Oh and another thing, as good as Blache's defense was, the Redskins were never a play making defense under him. They were good at getting 3 and outs until the last drive of the game when they usually blew it.

Every defense in the division was more of a playmaking defense than the Redskins.

That's a stone cold fact.

agreed... so true

[Art]

Alexander starts.

Landry spies on third.

Three and out.

Good.

[Art]

Landry spies on third again.

Genius.

People may not know this, but we are both older than Philly AND better. We lose only due to coaching arrogance, not skill. So far, good.

Deep pass here on series two.

[Art]

Deep ball. Check.

Run, since the Eagles have crap players and a crap defense. Check.

Hey, WE actually have great tight ends. Maybe if Tom Jackson remembered Cooley he'd not be surprised.

[Seabee1973]

Welcome back ART

I dont mind the switch if we switch next year and add more players it could still lead to a lapse in defense then people will be saying why didnt we switch this year or wait till we got everybody and then made the switch.

[Truant]

Prevent D in second quarter. Brilliant.

New QB in the game so sit back and let him get into a flow with short passes. Rush 3 and drop 8 so we're exposed by the short passing game. Haslett is a defensive guru.

[Major Harris]

Its the combination of stop-gap, win now type moves like getting McNabb with the 3-4 defense that confuses me.

I feel like we're trying to ram a square peg into a round hole defensively and I'm not sure if there's really any point in experimenting with it while we have so few players that fit into the system.

Next year, when we can make FA moves and draft players who fit into Haslett's system I'll be ok with it. It just seems like a waste of time/energy on guys who likely won't be on the roster next year.

that's part of the process. it's not overnight, and we are working with a cerrato roster for the most part. let the guys learn the system, a lot of them will be back. you fill in as you go. no sense in trying to remain mediocre.

[MusicCitySkin]

Yeah, I miss our defense giving up 21 points a game too.

Blache sucks my nuts. I am so sick of this myth floating around these boards about how awesome our defense was last year. It really wasn't.

[Bang]

With offenses becoming more and more pass happy, the 3-4 is the way to go to counter it. While we don't have the players we'd like, i still agree with the move. The players will come.

Howdy Art!

~Bang

[Devastate]

Would we be having this conversation if Andre Johnson hadn't make that great game-tying catch and we were 2-1?

Yes what particularly bothers me is our inability to stop the run.. In the dallas game, they ran at will, but it was their own stupidity that they went away from it early. Against Houston they kind of did the same thing but later in the game. In this game we did seem a bit tighter, but the 5+ yard runs were still abundant for the Eagles.

[skinsfan1523]

look people you are not going to get perfection right out of the gate. Damn give it time, it's best to figure out who can fit in the 3-4 now, then fill in the players who you need.

[Hollywood1127]

Shanny wanted the 3-4.

I blame him for not realizing how ill prepared we were/are to run the 3-4, but also for going out and getting Jim freaking Haslett.

If we stayed with the 4-3 and Blache were still here, our defense would be better...but that wasn't going to happen with Shannahan in charge.

I agree. But I will say that if we had the proper people in our 3-4, then Haslett would look better. I still like him as our defensive coordinator because he has head coaching experience. If we would get rid of Carlos Rogers and replace him with a better corner, then we might get more picks. D Hall is a pretty decent dude. We may not be getting our money's worth from him, but he will do us better than what Rogers is doing. Landry is a good strong safety and probably will work his way up to being one of the best in the league. Problem is, we need a free safety. Sean Taylor will be pretty hard to replace, because he was one of the best. This off-season we need to invest in getting a free safety. The defensive line is good enough for my taste. As long as we can stop the run, I'm happy. 4-3 is normally better for run-stop, but we aren't running that formation anymore, so we have to make do with the 3-4. Once we get a better secondary, our 3-4 will look much more dangerous. Steelers run a 3-4, because they have the people. Shanahan is thinking of the future. Once we get the proper players in our secondary, we will already have the experience to coach it.

Give it time. it will come. I like Jim Haslett.

[Skinzfever2010]

I don't miss anything about Blache. Threadstarter you failed and trying to play it safe while stating the obvious. Talk about missing Blache at the end of the year (risk).

Hail!