Bill B Presents TMC's Pick the Position Poll

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

You're telling me that Gregg Williams has deliberately held the reins on Carter and is not allowing him to go after the quarterback? So then, the plummet in defensive rankings is all by design?

One could defend Andre Carter by demanding that the secondary step it up and blanket everyone like they're supposed to.

One could defend the secondary by demanding that the defensive line get the quarterback sooner. Neither positions are doing their job.

I'm not buying into the notion that Williams is somehow holding Carter back in pass rushing situations. He only averaged 4.5 sacks a year in San Fransisco before being moved to linebacker. So his "mad pass rushing skills" apparently failed him there too, -- unless of course, the 49ers had exactly the same philosophy that Gregg Williams has. I find that difficult to believe. Andre Carter is yet another hideous miscalculation in scouting personnel by this front office.

What's hard to understand here? Williams and Blache don't let the ends chase the QB up the field on every down. They ask them to play gap control on 1st and 10 and 2nd and mediums/shorts. Take a look at the D next time, you don't see Carter and Daniels running upfield like crazy right off the snap unless it's an obvious passing situation. They kind of keep themselves in front of the tackle they're going against, that way they're able to work off the block and get to a RB coming through either gap. With all the screens being called in the league these days, having your ends just chase the QB all day is a bad idea. Your ends constantly get drawn up the field, the ball goes over their heads, and suddenly the defense has lost containment and the screen goes for a big gainer. Or on draw plays to an RB, same thing, the ends come up the field and suddenly the defense is vulnerable on the edges.

They're not asked to chase down the QB with abandon like some ends around the league are. If Freeney were a Redskin, you'd be wondering what the hell is wrong with him when he only put up 8 sacks.

In a Gregg Williams defense, you know a DE is having success by looking at his tackle numbers, not by looking at his sacks. If a DE is controlling his gaps then he'll make plenty of tackles, keeping RBs from gaining more than two yards, and forcing the defense into second and long.

If we had a secondary, we'd be able to blitz to get our sacks. We need CB SS and DT, our ends are more than adequate.