Hopefully it's not too little too late. However, Fewell as he did the last 6 games of 2011 to salvage our season and help us play to our immense talent level on the way to a Super Bowl win, has simplified things.
From Espn.com:
The Giants haven't allowed a touchdown on defense in the last 10 quarters.
"We've simplified things," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "(Defensive coordinator) Perry Fewell has done a great job putting in game plans that have allowed athletes to be athletes."
Now if only the Giants offense could do the same! This coaching staff LOVES to treat football like it's a chess game. Problem is the guys playing are football players not chess-masters.
So sad it took an 0-6 start to FINALLY simplify the system and let the players and the talent play.
Will they take the shackles off the offense and let our WRs start using their talent on the field too?
You've got 2 pro-bowl level WRs and a third emerging youngster in Randle and a pro-bowl level Qb and you can't score a friggen TD if your life depended on it? Seriously? This is 90% systematic and it all starts with TC and has affinity for complexity and out-smarting the other team rather than letting your talent just go out there and win you a game.
keep in mind tom's #1 priority is everything remains in house so 99% of whats actually going on stays far away from the media. when u actually end up hearing about it from the outside its the tip of an iceburg
the players hate this scheme, kiwi, rolle, phillips among others have come right out and said it at times.
whats happening now started in 2011 when there was a mutiny and rolle almost quit. the players begged perry to take the rookies off the field and simplify - meaning not so many checks based on what the offense is doing.
this D has an endless library of checks on pre-snap movement which relies on everyone knowing the playbook and the NFL in general inside and out. To make all the adjustments on each defensive call, align properly and communicate it seamlessly on the fly is almost impossible. fewell agreed to just run the original call during that last 6 game stretch and the vets were able to stay on the same page and look good. (And they had JPP playing out of his mind.)
of course, PF wasn't going to stick w/that strategy as it was akin to using his scheme on training wheels. nobody in the professional ranks is going to stick w/that, nor should they
but of course, we've gone right back to his usual ways and it shows, the players hate his scheme.
Here's a piece I wrote about Rod Rust on my blog.
Thought you might find it interesting.
Rod Rust - ( New Window )
W-L records of teams we faced in past 2 games is 4-10
Even if we remove our games, it's 25-16 vs. 4-8
Sure he has. What a load of fucking shit.
Please enlighten us all on what makes him "right". I'd love to know.
The D has not been the problem this year. They're not going to shut everyone out every game, but they've been solid all year until eventually the O screwed them hard enough that they fell apart. Now that the O isn't playing like the 2nd worst offense in the league, the D looks better. If you turn the ball over 5 times a game and go 3 and out on most other possessions, there aren't many defenses that are going to look good.
Plus, we're probably on pace for a record number of TDs allowed by the offense and special teams combined.
This DL gets pressure, they win
Beason and Hill are huge boosts, Thomas coming back healthy has helped, etc. There are a lot of things. One of them COULD BE a tweak or two in the gameplan, who knows, but its possible.
2. Hill/Beason are difference makers. Huge upgrades.
3. Prince has been a VERY good CB, which helps the entire defense.
4. The QBs we have played are very sucky.
Put that altogether, and things look good defensively.
I've never been a Fewell fan. But this has been his best coaching aside from the run in 11.
-Beason has been terrific
-McBride has been pretty damn solid
-Will Hill is all over the place making plays and is a hell of a tackler as well
-Rolle is playing great
-Prince has been good all year..you almost never hear his name during the game
Tuck showed some life today, hopefully we can get JPP to come around...and of course having played against Barkley and Freeman doesn't hurt..none the less, it's hard to shut out teams in the NFL and at the least we have a pulse now in the division
You rarely fail to disappoint
:)
arc asks this question every thread. If Fewell suddenly realized things that are simple work, why does he revert to complexity?
Joe is a mindless, results-oriented guy. He's still bashing the O for being too complex because of the results, but to my eyes, they've actually played a really controlled gameplan the past two weeks. They are running the ball better and Eli seems to be managing the throws better. Something has changed there. I thought for sure Joe would bang that drum, but instead he's focused on the D who has actually taken more chances and has played more man-to-man the past few games. Maybe because they have the personnel instead of some magic "Easy Switch"!
Even when Joe might have evidence to call something out, he swings and misses by picking the wrong unit.
Good to see you back!
What do I know..
Credit Fewell for some simplification before the season started. Last year, the defensive players were often confused. Fewell said he'd fix that this year. He did. Haven't seen them act like they had no idea what to do.
Calling the changes merely simplification is just foolish. Offenses would adjust accordingly and your defense would be worse.
With Rodgers, Romo, Rivers, Stafford left on the schedule, the defense will have to be even better.
Why not just stick with what works?
As far as simplification goes - I'd love to hear a reporter ask Fewell point blank - yes or no? If yes, he validates my argument about his defensive philosophy being overly complicated requiring too much reading and not enough reacting.
1) the improved run defense has allowed our guys to play much better on third down. Now many throws are contested, more QB pressure, some turnovers as well.
2) Eli/RBs turning over the ball so often was absolutely disheartening for this team. It gave up points, field position, kept our defense on field. It also created so much momentum & confidence for opposing teams.
I think any NFL team can win about 6 games alone each year by just winning the turnover battle.
Prince and Trumaine McBride have played extremely well.
Rolle and Thomas in the Nickel are better than Ross and Hosely.
Will Hill is a beast.
Jon Beason is a beast.
Spencer Paysinger and JaQuain Williams have played well in supporting rolls.
THAT is why our defense is better, not scheme. Better players doing what they do well are in position to make plays.
PERIOD
"We've simplified things," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "(Defensive coordinator) Perry Fewell has done a great job putting in game plans that have allowed athletes to be athletes."
“He went back to the old ways. He solidified: ‘Regardless of they give us A, B, C or D, this is what we’re doing,’ ” safety Deon Grant said on Monday. “Before, trying to protect certain people or whatever the case may be, we had a different call for A, a different call for B and so on.
“Guys mentally were faster with it (against the Jets). That’s the way it was last year and in the beginning of the season this year.”
Now, the question is, will it remain that way?
All of those issues, as well as assignment problems against the Green Bay Packers, led to Fewell simplifying things. Suddenly, it was the offense that looked confused and the Giants’ defensive backs who were sure of themselves.
We’re extremely confident in our group,” Rolle said, “and we’ve proven to ourselves last week what kind of defense we can be if we put our minds together and practice hard throughout the week.”
Fewell generated those good vibes in practice and meetings with his simplified (or as Grant put it, “solidified”) plan. The odds are, given the results and the rebuilt confidence of his secondary, he won’t change much this week.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any of that anymore,” Grant said of the checks that led to confusion.
Okay, but this is a complex league. And if you haven’t noticed, there are some pretty good quarterbacks standing in the way of any Super Bowl aspirations the Giants might have. Keeping it simple against Sanchez is one thing; doing it against Romo, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees is quite different, right?
“But when you have it the way he had it, we still were tricking the offense,” Grant said, meaning the defense disguised what it was doing individually, not as a disjointed group. “We were able to play with the quarterback and all that stuff, but it was within the defense.”
Perhaps no one benefited more than Grant. At this point in his 12-year career, the 32-year-old former second-round pick uses smarts to get in better position to make a play. If those around him aren’t comfortable, he’s not comfortable and can’t make adjustments. It’s part of the reason he has been limited to only one interception and six passes broken up this season.
However, four of those six pass breakups have come against the Jets and New England Patriots — the two games with the most “solidified” game plans.
“Yeah, and that was all about disguising and getting back to my leverage,” said Grant, who nearly had an interception early in the third quarter of Saturday’s game. “It was just about playing the ball.”
Too bad we wasted that 7th round pick on Jon Beason... I guess we never needed him, all we needed to to is flip the simple switch.
“That’s one of the reasons practice has been so good this week,” the Giants’ safety said the other day as the locker room emptied following the final full practice of the week. “It’s just guys getting back to what they know, being comfortable.
“We’ve got our playmakers on the field. We’re putting guys in position to make plays. It’s going to show. You’ll see what happens.”
Phillips wasn’t alone in his optimism. A few players were enthused by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s willingness to get back to basics this week. The plan is apparently to rid themselves of many on-field checks in favor of getting back to basic schemes that worked last season.
Gone will be the confusion, the “I was right” excuses between players executing different calls, the not-so-veiled grumbling from Antrel Rolle wanting to be a “ball hawk” and the passive approach from defensive backs trying to figure out what to do.
Also eliminated will be the ridiculous rate of third-down conversions by opponents, the quick releases from quarterbacks giving the pass rush little time and the receivers running free for uncontested touchdown grabs.
Well, at least they can only hope all of these things will be cleaned up for a defense that has yet to turn in a dominating performance this year.
“From the front to the back. It’s been everything, it hasn’t been right,” safety Deon Grant said. “But this week (Fewell) got back to, ‘Forget it. I’m going out there with the guys I’ve got, I’m going back to last year’s mentality.’
Fewell wants to see it this week. He has to. In a lot of ways, he’s simplified the game plan by getting back to what worked last year.
2) Never allow Mark Herzlich to play anymore
3) Tell our Def Ends to try hard to get to the QB on 3rd down
4) Have our play-making Safety Antrel Rolle make a few plays
and last but not least...
5) Don't think so much, it can only hurt the team
RE: Changes that have been made to the defense in recent weeks
A: On defense, we were adjusting too much and just not playing fast and I think the second half of the Chicago game, we saw how good we can be if we simplify things. I think we were trying to do too much at times, as a coaching staff and as players. Once we got to a stage where we could simplify things and play a lot faster and play with our eyes and speed and talent, you could see the results on the field.
They dont have Tuck's comments about the changes/simplifying things in the transcript, but he was asked about it, you can see it in the clip on Giants.com
Said (paraphrasing)
"We wanted to go out there and see if they were better than us. We were beating ourselves, things were too complicated, too many checks, playing on our heels... we wanted to attack more". He also confirmed that the changes (simplifying things) took place at half time during the Bears game.
TT's transcript & Tuck's video - ( New Window )