Yup, and Williams and Peppers have both been much better than last year. Coaches deserve some credit for that, especially Peppers. He’s all over the field, and rarely left in a bad spot in coverage
That's amazing comparison. A lot will think it's addition of Blake, Bradberry, and Logan, but I will say it just as much Joe and Pat Graham. Take Leonard for example, he's having a career year. Bradberry, and Blake were on teams that thought they were better without them, no one saw them as the players they are this season. Logan is being Logan, but wasn't a full time FS, and Joe and Pat found a role. I can't wait until Gettlemen goes to work on another strong off season.
Never ever had a FS like Ryan or at least not in a long time...
Blake Martinez playing like a prime Antonio Pierce.
That has been the difference.
We been had the big boys up front now we have the chess pieces behind them and a grand master in Patrick Graham to run it. Let's keep our guys and keep adding young talent to this group and it will only get better!
An elite pass rusher added to the mix... and watch out!
The funny thing is that going into this season I think people thought
that our offense would be far ahead of our defense and it's been the opposite. That said even our offense seems to have been on their toes and controlling games.
He was highly regarded and we were so excited by his hiring. In fact it might have been the most heralded hiring of Shurmur's staff and people were more excited for him than Graham.
RE: I'm still confused by why Bettcher was so terrible
He was highly regarded and we were so excited by his hiring. In fact it might have been the most heralded hiring of Shurmur's staff and people were more excited for him than Graham.
I feel like the failure of Bettcher could be summed up in 2 words: DeAndre Baker.
Reason I say that? DG inexplicably traded up 7 spots to get a guy who’s specialty and claim to fame was man coverage (not to mention there were other corners on the board of similar value and who DIDN’T have character concerns so the trade up really made no sense at all, but I digress, that’s all beside the point).
It didn’t make much sense for DG to get a man coverage CB for Bettcher who mostly liked to play zone with his corners, but that doesn’t let Bettcher off the hook in the least bit. He still could have molded his defense to use Baker in more man coverage and play to his strengths.
I feel like this enigma perfectly represented the problem with this team: DG and Shurmur/Bettcher clearly never had a real coherent vision for this team. But that’s made even worse when the coaches won’t adjust their schemes/play-calling to play to their players’ strengths AT ALL. Bettcher was even more guilty of this than Shurmur.
Honestly, DG still may not have a coherent vision for this team and he may not fully know what a winning team needs to look like in today’s NFL, but at least with Judge and Graham you have guys who are willing to adapt and fit their schemes to their players’ strengths. I think Garrett is also better at this than a lot of people have given him credit for. I think that’s why we’re seeing somewhat better results than we had with the previous coaching regime.
One, he didn't adapt well. He was a guy that loved to blitz and took him time to realize he didn't have the horses to do that.
Two, communication. Way too many blown assignments by multiple players and that is on coaching.
Three, talent. He didn't have the types of players to play his scheme and that is cover guys. If you are gonna blitz a ton the corners are more important than pass rushers.
Four, and the most important, there was no accountability. When you keep trotting out guys that are hurting your team and don't hold them accountable then everyone's play suffers. Bethea was brutal and Love wasn't given a shot until late. I know some aren't high on Love but he was much better than Bethea. Then you had Baker who you heard stories of giving a half-assed effort on and off the field. He didn't listen to coaching. He made numerous mental mistakes yet they kept throwing him out there. Absurd.
were killing this D after several games..And pretty much everything else, albeit no preseason (other teams at least had returning staffs in place), no games, entirely new staff..
No matter what happens, we have young talent to build with, a seemingly promising long term HC in charge, a continue build through the draft to look forward to..The playoffs would be the bonus, but building a winner and solid foundation is the main goal..
Good times/seasons ahead imo
Plenty of good signs, especially the coaching and discipline
Much better demonstrated grasp of fundamentals and assignments.
They need more talent to complete the unit. There are needs at ILB, OLB x 2, CB, DB depth, and I expect we'll need to replace Tomlinson and potentially Logan Ryan, if he wants to go back on the open market for bigger dollars.
This unit has gotten better on third downs, but geez sometimes they still cannot get a crucial stop. That TD drive they gave up yesterday was brutal.
how teams are attacking them. And they are playing with enthusiasm as well.
With that said, they now will be facing a few pretty damn good offenses in the next few weeks so expect some areas to be exposed, especially on the edges.
how teams are attacking them. And they are playing with enthusiasm as well.
With that said, they now will be facing a few pretty damn good offenses in the next few weeks so expect some areas to be exposed, especially on the edges.
management threw $75+ million into free agent defensive players. Three of those players are top 5 or 6 highly paid at their positions. There's no mystery here- McAdoo got the welcome gift.
Yup, and Williams and Peppers have both been much better than last year. Coaches deserve some credit for that, especially Peppers. He’s all over the field, and rarely left in a bad spot in coverage
Blake Martinez playing like a prime Antonio Pierce.
That has been the difference.
We been had the big boys up front now we have the chess pieces behind them and a grand master in Patrick Graham to run it. Let's keep our guys and keep adding young talent to this group and it will only get better!
An elite pass rusher added to the mix... and watch out!
I feel like the failure of Bettcher could be summed up in 2 words: DeAndre Baker.
Reason I say that? DG inexplicably traded up 7 spots to get a guy who’s specialty and claim to fame was man coverage (not to mention there were other corners on the board of similar value and who DIDN’T have character concerns so the trade up really made no sense at all, but I digress, that’s all beside the point).
It didn’t make much sense for DG to get a man coverage CB for Bettcher who mostly liked to play zone with his corners, but that doesn’t let Bettcher off the hook in the least bit. He still could have molded his defense to use Baker in more man coverage and play to his strengths.
I feel like this enigma perfectly represented the problem with this team: DG and Shurmur/Bettcher clearly never had a real coherent vision for this team. But that’s made even worse when the coaches won’t adjust their schemes/play-calling to play to their players’ strengths AT ALL. Bettcher was even more guilty of this than Shurmur.
Honestly, DG still may not have a coherent vision for this team and he may not fully know what a winning team needs to look like in today’s NFL, but at least with Judge and Graham you have guys who are willing to adapt and fit their schemes to their players’ strengths. I think Garrett is also better at this than a lot of people have given him credit for. I think that’s why we’re seeing somewhat better results than we had with the previous coaching regime.
Baker was only the beginning of his issues last year.
Can not answer what changed between arizona and ny...but that defense....although under talented.....under performed
Two, communication. Way too many blown assignments by multiple players and that is on coaching.
Three, talent. He didn't have the types of players to play his scheme and that is cover guys. If you are gonna blitz a ton the corners are more important than pass rushers.
Four, and the most important, there was no accountability. When you keep trotting out guys that are hurting your team and don't hold them accountable then everyone's play suffers. Bethea was brutal and Love wasn't given a shot until late. I know some aren't high on Love but he was much better than Bethea. Then you had Baker who you heard stories of giving a half-assed effort on and off the field. He didn't listen to coaching. He made numerous mental mistakes yet they kept throwing him out there. Absurd.
No matter what happens, we have young talent to build with, a seemingly promising long term HC in charge, a continue build through the draft to look forward to..The playoffs would be the bonus, but building a winner and solid foundation is the main goal..
Good times/seasons ahead imo
They need more talent to complete the unit. There are needs at ILB, OLB x 2, CB, DB depth, and I expect we'll need to replace Tomlinson and potentially Logan Ryan, if he wants to go back on the open market for bigger dollars.
This unit has gotten better on third downs, but geez sometimes they still cannot get a crucial stop. That TD drive they gave up yesterday was brutal.
With that said, they now will be facing a few pretty damn good offenses in the next few weeks so expect some areas to be exposed, especially on the edges.
With that said, they now will be facing a few pretty damn good offenses in the next few weeks so expect some areas to be exposed, especially on the edges.
Well said ...