Defensive game plan raises so many questions

And with the secondary so banged up, might as use it against Dallas.

After Washington and Minnesota both moved the ball pretty well on our defense, Bowen and Daboll wanted to become a little less predictable with the scheme. I think all good coordinators do this. If you watched the Michigan game this Saturday, you even saw Wink calling zone defenses in the red zone against USC. You have to adapt to your opponent and the game situation.

Because it worked and the Brows didn't adjust.

Do you think that if the Browns would have started max protecting and picking on Banks with Cooper after quarter one instead of only in quarter 4 the Giants would still have ended up with a 57% blitz rate? I doubt it.

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Put a square peg in a round hole. Use your players talents not design your defense to just what you want.Play to their strengths. It was obvious the defense was having fun with it.

told him they need to get more pressure on the QB. It was a favorable matchup to blitz with the poor Browns OL and QB. Giants were good against the run which helped set up getting after the QB.

In comment 16620776 JonC said:

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I hope Bowen has done this and realized he needs to adjust his scheme moving forward but that's a real question because if he does, you're talking about a sea change from his defensive philosophy that he's adhered to essentially his whole career

against the Commanders yesterday they realized they had a beat up Oline and a QB who is terrible against pressure

1 - we just had a bad plan for Washington. We could not roll out the same game plan after it was exposed.

2 - Our big players played big. Dexy took control early and Burns had a big impact. the blitzing helped but Dex got 2 on his own and gift wrapped one for chatman when the Guard got caught following Dex. And if Burns didn't get the strip sack we don't get the 3rd TD before halftime.

Are two people who had a lot of influence on Bowen and both are on Cleveland’s staff. He knew he had to throw something they were not expecting.

his plan to the players he has and not the players to the system.

I think this relentless attack will work against Dallas. Just have to have a spy on Dak.

but Daboll wants pressure from different angles. That's why he went for Wink originally.

Finding the balance and mixing it up would be huge. Dallas will be a big test because they absolutely shredded Winks defense but the Packers match up zone stifled them in the playoffs last year.

but I agree that when we pressed we had more success. As far as the Washington game goes, I think that is simple. What is Daniels' strength? It is running. If you play man, he can destroy you on the ground. I don't think that was really the issue. It was his personnel choices were the problem.

Jason Pinnock on pace for 17 sacks

problems with their o-line and Bowen was taking advantage of that.

In comment 16620798 Ira said:

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problems with their o-line and Bowen was taking advantage of that.

I'm not sure how much that played into it as opposed to Watson not being mobile. If the OL sucks, then you shouldn't have to bring extra guys. Our guys should win that battle. With that said, it is a combination.

Can deal with the blitz.

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I know Dallas hasn't looked great these past two weeks, but they have enough weapons in the passing game and a much better OL than our last two opponents.

Lamb is great. Turpin is sneaky good and TE Ferguson is very good.

It was much better yesterday. The pass rush benefited from that.

This is only their third game in the scheme. They are still finding out what works and what doesnt. Who is comfortable with what..

Bowen defenses didnt BLITZ a lot but they did create good pressure with their front four by using various stunts and twists.. However if you read between the lines of Bowens press conference essentially what he was saying was..


" We need the GAP INTERGRITY first " This game the gap integrity was much better.. which opened the door to do more because people maintained their responsibility better.

I saw players setting the edge better.. holding their lanes better, letting the other guy make the play if need be, rather than trying to be the playmaker..

The big test will be Thursday.. Short week, better OL, better QB, better weapons on offense..

in how we defended the pass...

Last week, we were really concerned about the QBs ability to kill us with his legs. As a result, you do not want to play man coverage because the defenders will have their backs to the QB. The guy would kill us all day with his legs.

I know we were not as concerned with Watson running which is why you saw a different scheme.

You adjust your gameplan based on the opponent. Only the truly elite defenses can be opponent agnostic.

to generate sufficient pressure with 4 that they planned to do that and keep extra in for coverage. Sound theory. After two weeks we really didn't generate enough pressure so they adjusted.

Just a theory. I know Bowen had a reputation for not blitzing much in the past.

There it was, a lot of blitzing and man to man coverage. It will be interesting to see if they stay with this style or revert back to "bend don't break".

The defensive coach that just sits there and expects to win not reacting to the game doesnt exist. Even the chiefs make in game adjustments.

If so, credit to the coaching staff.
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In comment 16620884 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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The defensive coach that just sits there and expects to win not reacting to the game doesnt exist. Even the chiefs make in game adjustments.

I would suggest going back and re-watching the Commanders game because despite the fact that it was painfully evident that the Commanders were going with a strictly horizontal offense, we still played off coverage practically the entire game.

In comment 16620788 Mike in NY said:

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Are two people who had a lot of influence on Bowen and both are on Cleveland’s staff. He knew he had to throw something they were not expecting.

really good point re: Vrabel.

hopefully Bowen takes a similar tack the rest of the season (adjust away from what your opposition is expecting). even the announcers were surprised how much we blitzed.

In comment 16620981 The Jake said:

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In comment 16620788 Mike in NY said: Quote: Are two people who had a lot of influence on Bowen and both are on Cleveland’s staff. He knew he had to throw something they were not expecting. really good point re: Vrabel. hopefully Bowen takes a similar tack the rest of the season (adjust away from what your opposition is expecting). even the announcers were surprised how much we blitzed.

It is risky because you can outsmart yourself trying to make a counter to their expected counter when they don't respond in the way that you planned. Don't forget how bad Spags looked in the first two games of his initial tenure here. Hopefully as Bowen sees what works he will continue doing that.

to let the QB sit in the pocket with all the time in the world against a weak secondary!

In a positive way (for now anyway).

Last season's defense sucked outside of forcing turnovers, and it took a month of keystone kops back 7 play to get the first one. You expect growing pains with new key players, and especially in a new system. It was horrifying watching the passive defense get carved up for 2 weeks. Yesterday Bowen showed he's willing to adapt, in a big way. That bodes well.

Even the second half yesterday was a positive -- they allowed a single TD even though injuries forced a brand new practice squad STs guy into duty at CB. The 1st half forumula was too risky an option with a decent lead.

wins. Pretty pleased to see what our DC did yesterday. That tape is going to make NYG harder to play against.

In comment 16620975 Now Mike in MD said:

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In comment 16620884 Ten Ton Hammer said: Quote: The defensive coach that just sits there and expects to win not reacting to the game doesnt exist. Even the chiefs make in game adjustments. I would suggest going back and re-watching the Commanders game because despite the fact that it was painfully evident that the Commanders were going with a strictly horizontal offense, we still played off coverage practically the entire game.

I cant speak definiteively to that so I wont touch it. I have no inside look at what adjustments may or may not have been made during the game, suffice to say that just watching on tv doesnt tell the story.

In comment 16620778 Lines of Scrimmage said:

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told him they need to get more pressure on the QB. It was a favorable matchup to blitz with the poor Browns OL and QB. Giants were good against the run which helped set up getting after the QB.

LOL, maybe he just knew with being "told."

..and Daniels, recall that Joe Barry took a playoff defense and ran up a white flag before the opening kickoff against Tommy Devito and a historically poor OL. Developing a feel for what the coordinators choose to do from week to week has become somewhat frustrating.