Is this the most talented yet misused defensive front we've had in years?

[dckey]

I believe that the pass rush was non existent because of the secondary.  If you re-watch the TD drive by Torrey Smith, Cam was releasing the ball with 2 seconds on crossers.  You will not be able to sack him if he is throwing that fast.  The DB's and especially LB's need to be better on those crossers.  We lost to IND on those, IF Cam would have stuck to the crossing routes they would have scored.  That whole drive until the end he was hitting crossing routes than he decided to test the edges and we played better D. 

[RandyHolt]

Has anyone seen many stunts this year? I suspect there were plenty of failed ones that I missed, but if so why don't ours work?

 

The game plan yesterday was clearly to not blitz often and it was just enough that Cam didn't ruin yet another party in our barn.  Manusky deserves credit but feel that sort of defense is not sustainable. Heck, we got turnovers and still almost lost.  I think a modern day defense wins most decisively by attacking the LOS and QB - dictating what the offense has to do. It renders OCs games plans and a week of practices, useless.  Yeah defenses have to change it up, but early pressure can make many QBs wilt for the rest of the game. You never know if you can get a QB to check out until you try. 

 

My weekly battle cry - we need to get a helmet on the chin! That right there is the key to glorious victory.

[NeverSurrender]

21 hours ago, Burgold said:

Team was so scared of Cam killing us with his legs and breaking contain that they played super-passive. It very nearly lost us the game.

Im going to take a different angle here.  The defense forced 2 turn overs and held on a crucial 4th quarter stand.  I think they won this game for us.

[OVCChairman]

3 minutes ago, NeverSurrender said:

Im going to take a different angle here.  The defense forced 2 turn overs and held on a crucial 4th quarter stand.  I think they won this game for us.

 

 

I'm with you bud... I think they did a good job.  I thought we were toast the way that drive was going, but they did what they needed to do.  

[Vanguard]

1 hour ago, RandyHolt said:

Has anyone seen many stunts this year? I suspect there were plenty of failed ones that I missed, but if so why don't ours work?

 

 

Good question.  I wish I could sit with Chris Cooley and break down the defensive line's snaps.

[bird_1972]

1 hour ago, OVCChairman said:

I'm with you bud... I think they did a good job.  I thought we were toast the way that drive was going, but they did what they needed to do.  

 

I agree but I was hoping for a defense that imposes it's will on offenses. I'm disappointed that I haven't really seen that at all. Especially in the pass rush dept. 

 

I also think our ILBs are weak. Don't see them flying to the ball at all. 

[skinny21]

So, to be fair, Carolina is a tough offense to matchup against.  Newton isn’t a great qb, but he can keep plays alive due to his size and movement, and he can run.  McCaffrey is a mismatch with most linebackers as is Olsen against most backers and safeties.  Their receivers are good enough with Newton buying them extra time to get open.  That’s not even factoring in their run game.  

 

Point is, that’s really tough on a defense - the corners have to play well through the whistle and the front seven has to play both run and pass D at a high level while worrying as much, or more about containing Newton (gap integrity) rather than just pass rushing.  

 

I don't think our D was quite up to the task, but they did a solid job limiting McCaffrey and the run game, and the turnovers really made the difference.  

 

They face a fairly similar test this week, but Prescott isn’t quite the threat Newton is.  

[Going Commando]

The difficulty of the blocks they scheme for Ryan Kalil impressed me.  He's 33 and still one of the best centers in the league.

[OVCChairman]

16 hours ago, bird_1972 said:

 

I agree but I was hoping for a defense that imposes it's will on offenses. I'm disappointed that I haven't really seen that at all. Especially in the pass rush dept. 

 

I also think our ILBs are weak. Don't see them flying to the ball at all. 

 

of course that's what we hope for... but it's a lot easier said than done.  What we also have to remember, is were talking about 2 2nd year players, and 2 rookies on the interior.  They have not come anywhere near their true potential, and they've already taken one of the weakest parts of the team over the last 20 years, and made it a strength... and they're gonna get better.   I would imagine that, as they continue to develop, we will see more sets where Allen / Ioan are lined up at End, in situations where previously it was Kerrigan / Smith... That lets Kerrigan / Smith sell out on pass rush instead out of situation instead of necessity.  

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

So supposedly we just released Ziggy Hood.

 

I know Caleb Brantley has been Inactive on game days for awhile now, maybe this is to move him up to the Active roster?  Maybe bringing in Lanier?

[method man]

21 minutes ago, Alcoholic Zebra said:

So supposedly we just released Ziggy Hood.

 

I know Caleb Brantley has been Inactive on game days for awhile now, maybe this is to move him up to the Active roster?  Maybe bringing in Lanier?

 

Nope. It's probably to activate McGee

[TD_washingtonredskins]

With Hood being released, is it possible that our top-4 DL will be: 

 

Matt Ioannidis

Daron Payne

Jonathon Allen

Tim Settle

 

It still amazes me that just a couple years after trotting out Cowboy and Giant retreads along our DL, we now have a young, fully homegrown rotation who is living up to (or exceeding) draft status. 

 

Amazing what happens when you invest in something like this!

[Wildbunny]

53 minutes ago, method man said:

 

Nope. It's probably to activate McGee

That's a possibility, but AFAIK, McGee hasn't been cleared from PUP yet, and when that happens they'll stil have two weeks to decide if they clear him for Roster or send him to IR. And during those two weeks McGee doesn't count against the 53. So that seems a bit early in that case.

 

But I may also have missed the point that he was cleared from PUP or whatever they call that. Still an interesting move from the team to released Hood instead of anybody else, he was always reported as a strong locker room presence and voice.

 

So, I found this weird....

[Koolblue13]

Our defensive front was outstanding. We haven't beaten an offense like that in a very long time.

 

We'll run almost the same against Dallas and win again. 

[Malapropismic Depository]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Hood was a Cowboy by the end of the week.

[method man]

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

That's a possibility, but AFAIK, McGee hasn't been cleared from PUP yet, and when that happens they'll stil have two weeks to decide if they clear him for Roster or send him to IR. And during those two weeks McGee doesn't count against the 53. So that seems a bit early in that case.

 

But I may also have missed the point that he was cleared from PUP or whatever they call that. Still an interesting move from the team to released Hood instead of anybody else, he was always reported as a strong locker room presence and voice.

 

So, I found this weird....

 

I wonder how many snaps he's gotten this season? As a DL, it's not as if he's contributing on teams either

[Tedskins 21]

Let’s bring Junior back!

[Wildbunny]

7 hours ago, method man said:

 

I wonder how many snaps he's gotten this season? As a DL, it's not as if he's contributing on teams either

48 snaps.

That's all he got.

[Malapropismic Depository]

22 minutes ago, Wildbunny said:

48 snaps.

That's all he got.

 

Who woulda thunk that Jordan Reed would have over 4 times that amount at this stage

[Panninho]

Daron Payne has looked like our best D-line player the last two games. Strong against the run and with more consistent push in the passing game. Love it. Hope he keeps the trend up.

[Koolblue13]

I wonder how our Dline ranks in sacks.

[skinny21]

Speaking of which... Ioannidas has 3 of the team’s 10 sacks and that’s with pretty limited playing time.  So why are people questioning his production this year?  That’s an honest question BTW.

Edit: Io has taken about 47% of snaps, Allen ~78%, Payne ~ 76%.  

 

@Koolblue13 - Allen and Payne each have 2 sacks.  So our dline has 7 of the team’s 10 sacks.   

 

The bad news is that we’re on pace for a total of 32 sacks (compared to 42 sacks last year).  The good news is that they still play Eli twice... so maybe they make up ground there, lol.  

[Koolblue13]

7 sacks from the line is pretty good. I'm sure Kerrigan will show out against the eagles or someone like that and pad the stats.

 

I think game planning has a lot to do with it too. Lots of containment, like again Cam. 

[Anselmheifer]

 

I DVR'ed this game and then didn't watch it. Looks like Payne hat a couple of highlights. 

[skinny21]

6 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

 

I think game planning has a lot to do with it too. Lots of containment, like again Cam. 

I agree with this.  It’s a trade off I’d be happy with - a much improved rush D for 10ish fewer sacks.  

 

To be honest though, I think our rush D hasn’t faced much of a stiff test... team’s seem to get away from the run as they have less respect for our corners and backers in coverage.  If the D limits Elliot, I’ll likely change my tune. If they get away from the run because Prescott has a field day, well, I’ll still probably be in wait and see mode.