[barrett]

5-3 is pretty good considering we have not had a single game of healthy AJ and Foster at once.

The defense has been great. In today's NFL you are going to give up yards to good teams, but they have allowed us to be in every game we've played.

The DL started fast but has tailed a bit lately. Smith especially was a terror early but has not been as produtive the last 3 games. And he has amped up his offsides penalties as well. But he has still played at a probowl level for a 34 DE. Watt has been very good. I saw a stat that Cody only plays like 34% of the snaps and it makes me less concerned about replacing him. Today's NFL is a passing league and very few teams are built to take advantage of a team that gives up too many 4-6 yard runs. The patience simply isn't there. Especially when the opponent know we are going to score.

Our LBs have been great. Cushing is the MVP of the whole team right now. The guy is almost illegal on like half the plays in every game. A little late here. A little out of bounds here. A little forearm to the helmet there. A little to the sliding QB's ribs here. He just plays mean. And somehow he never gets whistled. In addition to his fantastic play against the run, the pass, and blitzing, he gives us such a physical and intimidating presence. It sets a tone for our whole defense. Mario was great before the injury, as Wade was able to simply point him at the QB and tell him to go, and then scheme the rest of the guys to keep Mario from always being double teamed. Barwin has been solid and seems more natural as a LB than he ever did as a DE. Reed is verry fast. His sack yesterday was the result of that. And you can't coach speed. Demeco has not been very good, but he only plays about a third of the snaps like Cody, so it is not as concerning as it would be. And Sharpton had been good before the injury.

In the secondary, Joseph is far better than I realized or suspected. He has great ball skills. He is big. He hits. He covers. And he is young. Huge free agency score. Our safety play was actually a strength after a decade of futility (Matt Stevens/everyone last year). Quinn is a natural there. And Manning was good. And I like that they are basically interchangeable. It let us do a lot scheme wise. Nolan also looks good. Even Demps had a very nice breakup yesterday. Only Keo has looked bad. Kareem Jackson continues to play poorly, but I guess that is better than the terrible play of last year. Either way I thought good coaching would benefit him, but it looks like he just doesn't have much talent. A total whiff by our scouting department. Jason Allen is playing better and better. And McCain has actually been very good as a slot/nickel CB. I would love to see brandon Harris considering we traded up into the 2nd round to get him, but I would love to see him at the expense of KJ, not at the expense of Allen or McCain. And that is not going to happen unfortunately.