for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

Perry Fewell and his Bend-and-Snap Defense

D_Giants : 10/15/2014 10:13 am
As a long-time Giants fan I cannot recall a defensive coordinator who consistently controls 1st and 2nd downs only to give up 3rd-and-longs (i.e., 3rd and 15-25) by not rushing the QB. Fewell's units routinely put other teams into unenviable 3rd downs, only to rush 3--and sometimes 2--DLs. This tactic invariably enables the QB to wait, find, and hit a receiver who is now sufficiently far downfield--and open. Such plays are double trouble: they inflate the opposing offense's morale and deflate the Giants' defense's morale. Also, they keep the Giants offense off the field. What is the benefit, if any, of pulling back the DLs and putting more stress on your DBs?

Blitzing is risky, but on third-and-long it can discombobulate a QB already concerned about the stress of covering the necessary distance. Aggression on third down can be a key to winning defensively. The very same Giants defenders who can look so poor when Fewell rushes only 2 or 3, can look equally impressive when they blitz, or at least rush four. I wonder if Fewell is more concerned about not losing (through finesse) than winning (through intimidation and aggression).
LOL  
mattlawson : 10/15/2014 10:15 am : link
GREAT thread title man

The ability of opposing teams to convert third and long  
Chef : 10/15/2014 10:19 am : link
with great regularity is infuriating!
He strikes me as a guy who believes so much in his game plan  
Ben in Tampa : 10/15/2014 10:19 am : link
that he does not make adjustments even in the face of continued failure.

He also seems to be reluctant to deviate from his philosophies. Every year it seems like the defense is out of sync/not communicating/too complicated early on and it takes a few weeks to simplify and improve.
it's the soft coverage more than anything. And this year it has been  
Victor in CT : 10/15/2014 10:21 am : link
more frustrating (before injuries to DBs) watching all that talent they brought in go to waste. YOu cannot play 5 yds off the LOS in the NFL today. You have to jamm at the line. The Giants WRs didn't seem to like it on Sunday, did they.
I also find it frustrating  
Lionhart28 : 10/15/2014 10:22 am : link
that there is vary little disguising of blitzes and very little use of stunts. He seems to just expect our DL to beat their man or a double-team every time and we don't have the horses for that right now.
Strange timing for this post  
Scyber : 10/15/2014 10:23 am : link
Considering the Eagles were only 4-13 on 3rd down this week.
.  
arcarsenal : 10/15/2014 10:24 am : link
Did anyone watch the DAL/SEA game?

Why did Seattle allow Dallas to convert more than half of their 3rd down attempts.. including a crucial 3rd and 20 late in the game?

Did Dan Quinn forget how to coach defense or did he lose Byron Maxwell, get dangerously thin at CB and have to shuffle and try to find ways to not get exposed in the secondary? (They did anyway)

Sound familiar?

Seattle has not been a blitz heavy team, either. They've been able to get tremendous pressure with their front 4 which has allowed them to play aggressive with their CB's and give them help over the top.

If you watched our front 4 against PHI, you'd notice that they were getting stonewalled on every single passing down and that Foles had a huge pocket to throw out of nearly every time.
This theory...  
FatMan in Charlotte : 10/15/2014 10:25 am : link
or continued commentary that he doesn't seem to make adjustments is ridiculous.

I hate the idea of "halftime adjustments" too. Parcells used to say all the time that nobody waits for halftime to make adjustments, they just used the time to communicate certain things while everyone was present.

To infer that any coach doesn't make adjustments isn't insightful, it actually highlights a huge lack of knowledge on what really goes on.

Coordinators are constantly looking at formation pictures and discussing strategy with other coaches and players throughout the game.
RE: it's the soft coverage more than anything. And this year it has been  
arcarsenal : 10/15/2014 10:26 am : link
In comment 11921293 Victor in CT said:
Quote:
more frustrating (before injuries to DBs) watching all that talent they brought in go to waste. YOu cannot play 5 yds off the LOS in the NFL today. You have to jamm at the line. The Giants WRs didn't seem to like it on Sunday, did they.


Dude, you really need to watch more football games. I don't mean this as an insult but you are under this impression that every team but the Giants are jamming on every pass play. It doesn't work that way. And if you paid more attention to other defenses, you'd realize it.
Yup  
old man : 10/15/2014 10:32 am : link
And even when we had the players able to blitz on 3rd D(Stray/Tuck/Osi), which we obviously do not have at the moment, he signaled it at least 1/2 the time so we still got beat in the vacated zone.
The timing of our blitzers has been notoriously poor as well. How many times do they rush to the line and have to stop on a dime to not be offside, and lose momentum.
He seems to be guessing more than knowing when to blitz.
Worse than that, when opponent is inside our 10 the secondary is 3 yds deep in the endzone, that's an invitation to score a TD right in front of defender.
fatman  
SBlue46 : 10/15/2014 10:32 am : link
Fewell is making adjustments but they dont work...
does that mean he has no clue or are our players
not executing...which I hate when coaches use
that excuse. Its because they didnt do what was
asked or got out muscled. .
RE: RE: it's the soft coverage more than anything. And this year it has been  
Victor in CT : 10/15/2014 10:40 am : link
In comment 11921307 arcarsenal said:
Quote:
In comment 11921293 Victor in CT said:


Quote:


more frustrating (before injuries to DBs) watching all that talent they brought in go to waste. YOu cannot play 5 yds off the LOS in the NFL today. You have to jamm at the line. The Giants WRs didn't seem to like it on Sunday, did they.



Dude, you really need to watch more football games. I don't mean this as an insult but you are under this impression that every team but the Giants are jamming on every pass play. It doesn't work that way. And if you paid more attention to other defenses, you'd realize it.


the more successful ones do. granted, not everyone has the talent to do it, but this year going in the Giants did. Obviously that has changed with the recent injuries.
I agree about rushing 4 on every play  
Patrick77 : 10/15/2014 10:42 am : link
and maybe rushing 5 on some by blitzing. But we all know Fewell isn't much of a blitz designer and this team executes blitzes very poorly. Rolle might be the best blitzer on this team, unfortunately he is also the best coverage safety. At linebacker Paysinger, Williams, and Herzlich are not blitzers. Mcclain can but him and Beason are slow in coverage, so disguising it becomes a problem. You can't blitz them every play, they have to play coverage (and get exposed) sometimes.

The defensive line is supposed to be able to apply pressure and stuff the run. Hankins, Patterson, Jenkins, JPP, Moore, Kiwanuka, and Ayers need to step up for the scheme to work.

When it comes down to it the Giants have 2 good cover corners in Prince and DRC, one good safety, no talented blitzers, and a defensive line that is supposedly talented and deep. I think the Giants can be more aggressive when in zone coverage but going man to man or blitzing more puts opposition tight ends and backs in favourable (for them) matchups IMO.

.  
arcarsenal : 10/15/2014 10:48 am : link
I would trust Prince 1-on-1 at the LOS, that's about it. DRC is not nearly physical enough and he's banged up.

Jason Peters completely shut JPP down on Sunday night. Our front 4 were useless on passing downs.

And the idea of blitzing and going man on man all the time sounds wonderful and probably works in Madden but it also creates unfavorable matchups and can get you burned quite easily.
SB46...  
nyblue56 : 10/15/2014 10:58 am : link
Wht cant it be true that guys dont execute? Our D is predicated that our DL is going to beat the OL and get pressure. How many times did you see any of our Dls winning a battle sunday. For all the lack of adjustment accusations, Perry even moved JPP to the left side against the weaker tackle and what effect did it have? there were times where Foles had 10 seconds in the pocket? what schemes cover that long.
3rd down is not  
NYBEN : 10/15/2014 11:08 am : link
the problem... Houston 2-12 on 3rd down, Redskins 1-8,Atlanta 2-13,and the Eagles 4-13.Great job of not letting the facts get in the way of your opinion
The blitzes don't get home  
HomerJones45 : 10/15/2014 11:22 am : link
Because outside of JW, we have a slow group of linebackers. You really want to send herz or beason or McClain looping around to get a lane. They need taxi to get there on time.

I disagree that the front four didn't generate pressure. Foles took some good hits while hanging in and hitting the pass. He got whales in the first TD pass but made a good throw anyway.
.  
arcarsenal : 10/15/2014 11:27 am : link
The Giants are 3rd in the NFL in 3rd down defense. IND and DET are the only two teams have been better.

But let's never let facts get in the way of complaining.
RE: .  
Greg from LI : 10/15/2014 11:32 am : link
In comment 11921361 arcarsenal said:
Quote:

And the idea of blitzing and going man on man all the time sounds wonderful and probably works in Madden but it also creates unfavorable matchups and can get you burned quite easily.


Except against the Giants, apparently. Still in shock that the offense was so thoroughly dominated by such a crappy defense.
.  
arcarsenal : 10/15/2014 11:39 am : link
Yeah, it was nauseating. Eli never even had a chance to expose their shitty secondary because he was running for his life the second the ball got into his hands on about 90% of our pass plays.
We are  
bignygfan : 10/15/2014 11:40 am : link
one of the best 3rd down Ds in the league.
D_Giants  
FJ : 10/15/2014 11:54 am : link
The Giants this year are currently the 3rd best defense in the entire NFL on 3rd downs. Only the Lions and Colts are better (barely). But don't let facts get in the way of your biased rant against Fewell.
what's more infuriating  
Simms11 : 10/15/2014 12:16 pm : link
is the fact that we've seen far too many receivers running wide open and also a lack of TE and RB coverage. This is mostly on the safeties and LBs. Perhaps Kennard and Behre could provide some speed and physicality to the defense. I'D also like to see Bromley get activated and used, at least on passing downs.
RE: .  
Greg from LI : 10/15/2014 12:18 pm : link
In comment 11921477 arcarsenal said:
Quote:
Yeah, it was nauseating. Eli never even had a chance to expose their shitty secondary because he was running for his life the second the ball got into his hands on about 90% of our pass plays.


Yep. 2013 Carolina redux, with Justin Pugh filling Will Beatty's role as the worst performance I've ever seen by a Giants' OT. I never thought I'd see that again, and it only took one calender year.
RE: D_Giants  
Ten Ton Hammer : 10/15/2014 12:37 pm : link
In comment 11921499 FJ said:
Quote:
The Giants this year are currently the 3rd best defense in the entire NFL on 3rd downs. Only the Lions and Colts are better (barely). But don't let facts get in the way of your biased rant against Fewell.
What  
jtfuoco : 10/15/2014 12:40 pm : link
I dont understand is why dont more teams just hand the ball off to the RB on a draw or sweep like we do on third and long it sure seems like the best way to keep the defense honest
RE: LOL  
whobetta : 10/15/2014 1:19 pm : link
In comment 11921280 mattlawson said:
Quote:
GREAT thread title man



Works every time!!!!!


(exactly what i was thinking, just late to the party)
Try as I may,  
Doomster : 10/15/2014 2:28 pm : link
could never get the hang of the bend and snap.....
after Detroit and Arizona  
SHO'NUFF : 10/15/2014 6:01 pm : link
we clamped down on 3rd down...I still don't like Fewell, but he can't force our front 4 to win their one-on-one matchups.
Back to the Corner