Quote:
Originally Posted by barrett
I don't think we are really disagreeing all that much. I don't think the DL played a great game, I just think they did a large part of what they were asked. I think they were in the backfield often.
As for diagnosing when a play is a run or a pass, this is the strength of a read and react DL scheme. If you are firing off you are not doing much diagnosing. So we had gaps and lanes. And we have no LBs or Safetys whose strength is filling a whole. This makes the DL look very bad. As for other teams doing it, the only team I know of who plays with 2 DTs penetrating is the colts. And they get gouged by the run, but they play with the lead most of the time so it is not a big deal. And of course they have Bob Sanders in the box and they lose when they don't.
Most teams have at least one DT anchoring and eating blockers. We don't have that guy. Travis Johnson is far and away our best at it, and he is average (and missing). Okam, for all his size, is better at penetrating than at holding ground. deljuan shoots gaps. okoye shoots gaps. Cody shoots gaps.
We don't have a DT that plays the run. So I am not going to blame DL play but rather Bush or Rick Smith. More aggressive is not always better. I said this over and over last year when people wanted aggressive. You have to have the players for aggressive. Otherwise every D-coordinator in the NFL would be bringing pressure on every play. We don't have the players for it. Our LBs are too small to play unprotected. Demeco is great when protected by the DT and awful when the OL gets to him. Diles is small at SLB. And our Safeties are no force in the run game. And we did nothing at DT or at Safety this offseason.
We need to hope TJ and Cushing make a big impact, or we may be even worse on D than last year.
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Good points all.
I seem to recall hearing one of the coaches commenting one time that they didn't want the big, gap plugging DT, but wanted guys who could play sideline to sideline. Now, maybe this comment was just meant to inspire confidence in the guys we have but it always bugged me. For the life of me, I don't know why having a DT who can cover huge swaths of the field is a prerequisite. While I understand wanting athleticism, good teams have to stop the run and it almost always starts with a monster inside.
You're right about Demeco, or almost any other middle linebacker as well. Ray Lewis came way back to earth after the Ravens lost Siragusa and some of their other big guys up front. Then they drafted Ngata, and whaddayaknow, Ray Ray is all over the field again.