Let's talk defense

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Yep, the Ryan Clark thing was a mistake. Add him to a long list of players that we develop and then refuse to keep in exchange for the high priced free agent. Brilliant.

Seriously though, who'd have thought that our pass rush was so dependent on ... Shawn Springs? Huh?

And you can't discount the fact the Springs is a very capable blitzer in his own right. Just a couple of years ago he had six sacks. First guy to lead a team in ints. and sacks.

[D'BOYZ]

Originally Posted by That Guy

have you seen our QB play? his numbers are vastly deflated. he's the only one that looks useful for the 2006 haul thusfar.

Can argue there i'll give the benefit of the doubt until I see at least 3 more games.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

The defense sucks because of Brunell. It's his fault!

The funny thing is, this comment sounds ridiculous, but when the offense is 6 for 27 on third downs over the course of two games, the defense is on the field for far too long. And since all but a couple of those third down tries were passes, it IS Brunell's fault.

[Schneed10]

I notice more than a few things wrong with the D:

The CBs are horrible in run support. The LBs and the line tends to stretch plays out, occupying blockers. But where the hell are Rogers and Wright to seal the corner?

No pass rush. Duh.

Kenny Wright is downright awful. Just awful. Penalties all over the damn place.

We can't blitz because Rogers is average in coverage and Wright sucks.

Archuleta is always out of position.

No big plays. Only one turnover. Only one or two sacks.

[Schneed10]

I wonder if Griffin is healthy from his knee issue? I wonder if Daniels is healthy too.

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by Southpaw

The funny thing is, this comment sounds ridiculous, but when the offense is 6 for 27 on third downs over the course of two games, the defense is on the field for far too long. And since all but a couple of those third down tries were passes, it IS Brunell's fault.

I think our defense isn't in terrible shape....

Springs returns soon.... we can take the texans, I'm not petrified.

Offense is worse than '04. Which is sad. That scares me.

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by Hog's Breath

Our defense is no way near as aggresive as they were last year. I don't remember us blitzing with any DBs last night. Could be wrong, though. Also, with all those three and outs the defense was just worn down which could explain our shitty tackling later in the game.

This is the problem I have with way we build a team. We give up draft picks to get these free agents and they don't pan out like we hoped they would. So now our obvious need is the D-line and no draft picks to pick up some young stud.

Merriman, and Wolfork two young studs we could have gotten in the draft, but oh! I forgot DC's are like the Spinach in your fridge. We're not done yet, still trading our draft choices for FA's with injury history, has been players that at one time may have been good players but injuries have mared their careers, therefore we get them cheap.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I wonder if Griffin is healthy from his knee issue? I wonder if Daniels is healthy too.

My thoughts exactly.

[hesscl34]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I notice more than a few things wrong with the D:

The CBs are horrible in run support. The LBs and the line tends to stretch plays out, occupying blockers. But where the hell are Rogers and Wright to seal the corner?

No pass rush. Duh.

Kenny Wright is downright awful. Just awful. Penalties all over the damn place.

We can't blitz because Rogers is average in coverage and Wright sucks.

Archuleta is always out of position.

No big plays. Only one turnover. Only one or two sacks.

We truly need Springs back in action. Speaking of Springs, does ANYONE know when he is expected back??

[redsk1]

i couldn't figure out if the boys o-line was that good or our d line was that bad.

i really hadn't ever watched Carter play for the 49ers. For a pretty athletic guy he looks really slow. Why did we get him?

The only positive was Taylor had a great game. It seems he is finally getting some good recognition from the announcers like madden and michaels.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I wonder if Griffin is healthy from his knee issue? I wonder if Daniels is healthy too.

i kind of hope they aren't healthy (and close to recovery) to at least explain why they've been as anonymous as Carter.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

[warriorzpath]

At least maybe the redskins can cause the most dropped passes by an opposing team this year. Isn't that funny that most people didn't notice both the Minnesota and Dallas receivers dropped an unusual number of passes.

[jermus22]

Here's my assessment of the defense:

1. We had some tremendous hitting early on. Sean Taylor especially beat the stew out of Cowboys receivers and Mike Rumph really laid out Terry Glenn on a hit.

2. What happened to our run defense? We used to control the line of scrimmage, but we're now forcing the linebackers and safeties to come up and make plays. We seem especially weak on the left side, and also somewhat up the middle.

3. Without Shawn Springs, our secondary is average at best. Carlos Rogers played better last night, but Wright, Rumph, and Archuleta were weak, and the injuries to Springs and Pierson Prioleau have only hurt us more.

4. Why in the world did we let Ryan Clark go for Adam Archuleta? I said it earlier in the year and got heavily criticized, but I'll say it again: is Archuleta really worth the big contract when Clark could get the job done for less money? In fact, I would go so far as to say that Archuleta ISN'T as good as Clark (for our style of defense).

[jermus22]

Here's are some possible solutions to our defensive problems:

1. Move Philip Daniels back to RDE and Renaldo Wynn back to LDE. It would probably fix some of our problems against the run on the left side. Warrick Holdman isn't playing too bad, but Andre Carter seems like a liability in run defense.

2. Use Carter and Demetric Evans as pass rushing specialists. Carter would be a valuable asset in those situations and Evans has probably provided more pass rush than any of our other lineman.

3. Send Archuleta on more blitzes and use any one of our LBs to cover the TE. Archuleta should be far more effective on the move instead of working out in space.

4. Continue to use Sean Taylor in support of Kenny Wright and/or Mike Rumph in coverage. Taylor was a beast last night when it came to making hits over the middle and in the flat. Have Carlos Rogers play man-to-man on the opponents' #2 receiver, leaving the #1 guy covered by Wright and Taylor. Occasionally drop a LB (probably Lemar Marshall) into a deep zone away from Taylor and use the other LBs and Archuleta on occasional blitzes to help the DL.

More than anything, I'm frustrated at the defense's inability to stop the run last night. Sure, they didn't give up a bunch of big plays, but they didn't do enough to force Bledsoe into 3rd and long situations--where he is especially weak. We need to fix our pash rush problems and get Shawn Springs back.