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redsk1 · 12-22-2008, 10:36 AM

From PK's MMQB:

No wonder Tennessee wins every year. The Titans have the best defensive depth in recent NFL history. No Albert Haynesworth 'til the playoffs? No Kyle Vanden Bosch 'til the playoffs? No worries! We'll just trot out a second-round pick from Eastern Michigan, Jason Jones, to get 3.5 sacks and force three fumbles in a game for AFC home-field advantage through the playoffs. We'll just start a free-agent from UCLA who didn't even play football in 2007, Dave Ball, for Vanden Bosch, rotate him with Jacob Ford and get four quarterback hits out of them. And when Jevon Kearse, the left end, goes down early in the second half, we'll throw a fourth-round pick from Winston-Salem State, William Hayes, in the game, and he'll get a sack of Ben Roethlisberger, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Tennessee 31, Pittsburgh 14. The score is surprising enough, seeing that the Steelers had been playing like the '65 Packers. But it's who the Titans won with. For much of the second half, this was their six-man rotation on the defensive line:

William Hayes, Tony Brown, Jason Jones, Dave Ball, Jacob Ford, Amon Gordon.

Fourth-round rookie, 2006 street free-agent, second-round rookie, 2008 street free-agent, sixth-round pick in 2007, practice-squad addition last week.

"First of all, these players are good, solid NFL players,'' defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said over the phone afterward. "Second, we have a great defensive line coach, Jim Washburn, who gets them ready to play, no excuses. And our GM, Mike Reinfeldt, doesn't get enough credit for knowing what we do on defense and going out and getting players who fit what we do. We get injuries, and we've got players to plug in -- and if you don't have that in the NFL today, you're not going to win.

"In our defense, we don't blitz much, maybe 15, 16 percent of the time. So the defensive linemen have some freedom to play their games, instead of worrying that there's going to be a blitzer coming through the gap to their right so they've got to avoid going in that direction. When you don't blitz, the defensive ends can use all their skills.''

Schwartz is a thinking man's coordinator. He's not afraid of relying on inexperienced players to get pressure because he knows his secondary can cover. He knew entering Sunday's game that he could get a few pile-pushing rushes from a 305-pound practice player, Gordon, who pressured Roethlisberger into one of his sacks and fumbles. "Roethlisberger was holding the ball so long because of the superb coverage in our back end,'' said Schwartz. "That allowed our front to get to him.''

Winning home-field, Schwartz said, is a nice reward. But he thought it was more important to beat a great team, wherever the game was player and whatever it meant for January football. "Coach Fisher told the team this was all about being battle-tested,'' said Schwartz. "We'd rather play at home, obviously, in January, but it doesn't tilt the field totally in your favor. What helps is knowing how we can play when we come up against a really good team like Pittsburgh.''

You model after this! Good coaching, drafting, a plan in place that starts from the top. Yes, I have just the slightest man crush on Jim Schwartz. He'll be a HC soon. Young, smart, 8 years at Tenn under perhaps the best coach in football. That would make too much sense if we were to hire him. It wouldn't matter as long as VC is around though.

12-22-2008, 10:36 AM	#137
redsk1 The Starter Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,351	Re: If You Ran the Redskins... From PK's MMQB: No wonder Tennessee wins every year. The Titans have the best defensive depth in recent NFL history. No Albert Haynesworth 'til the playoffs? No Kyle Vanden Bosch 'til the playoffs? No worries! We'll just trot out a second-round pick from Eastern Michigan, Jason Jones, to get 3.5 sacks and force three fumbles in a game for AFC home-field advantage through the playoffs. We'll just start a free-agent from UCLA who didn't even play football in 2007, Dave Ball, for Vanden Bosch, rotate him with Jacob Ford and get four quarterback hits out of them. And when Jevon Kearse, the left end, goes down early in the second half, we'll throw a fourth-round pick from Winston-Salem State, William Hayes, in the game, and he'll get a sack of Ben Roethlisberger, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Tennessee 31, Pittsburgh 14. The score is surprising enough, seeing that the Steelers had been playing like the '65 Packers. But it's who the Titans won with. For much of the second half, this was their six-man rotation on the defensive line: William Hayes, Tony Brown, Jason Jones, Dave Ball, Jacob Ford, Amon Gordon. Fourth-round rookie, 2006 street free-agent, second-round rookie, 2008 street free-agent, sixth-round pick in 2007, practice-squad addition last week. "First of all, these players are good, solid NFL players,'' defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said over the phone afterward. "Second, we have a great defensive line coach, Jim Washburn, who gets them ready to play, no excuses. And our GM, Mike Reinfeldt, doesn't get enough credit for knowing what we do on defense and going out and getting players who fit what we do. We get injuries, and we've got players to plug in -- and if you don't have that in the NFL today, you're not going to win. "In our defense, we don't blitz much, maybe 15, 16 percent of the time. So the defensive linemen have some freedom to play their games, instead of worrying that there's going to be a blitzer coming through the gap to their right so they've got to avoid going in that direction. When you don't blitz, the defensive ends can use all their skills.'' Schwartz is a thinking man's coordinator. He's not afraid of relying on inexperienced players to get pressure because he knows his secondary can cover. He knew entering Sunday's game that he could get a few pile-pushing rushes from a 305-pound practice player, Gordon, who pressured Roethlisberger into one of his sacks and fumbles. "Roethlisberger was holding the ball so long because of the superb coverage in our back end,'' said Schwartz. "That allowed our front to get to him.'' Winning home-field, Schwartz said, is a nice reward. But he thought it was more important to beat a great team, wherever the game was player and whatever it meant for January football. "Coach Fisher told the team this was all about being battle-tested,'' said Schwartz. "We'd rather play at home, obviously, in January, but it doesn't tilt the field totally in your favor. What helps is knowing how we can play when we come up against a really good team like Pittsburgh.'' You model after this! Good coaching, drafting, a plan in place that starts from the top. Yes, I have just the slightest man crush on Jim Schwartz. He'll be a HC soon. Young, smart, 8 years at Tenn under perhaps the best coach in football. That would make too much sense if we were to hire him. It wouldn't matter as long as VC is around though.