Our defense is a fraud.

This topic has 34 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 3 months ago by zn.

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September 15, 2014 at 3:05 am #7350

rfl
Participant

Sure. A nice win. Davis was a trip.

But. I can’t believe I am seeing posts saying that our defense did well.

It didn’t. We STILL CAN’T STOP THE RUN! We are incapable of it. It should have cost us the game.

And we still have no answer on 3rd down.

Supposedly, we have lots of talent. But these guys are a long, long way away from being a good defense, let alone an elite one.

When we took the lead in the 4th, I knew, just KNEW that that sorry bunch would fail to get a stop. Just knew it. Thank god TB is a mediocre offense so they held it to 3.

Guys, a good defense stops the run and makes it damn hard to move the chains on 3rd down. We do neither. This is what the unit SHOWED US throughout the preseason and damn if it isn’t true in the real going as well.

Any hope I have in the team right now is based on Stacy, Quick, Britt, the return of Stedman, and the promise of OK QBing. Oh, and a damn fine STs unit. They got their work cut out for them trying to balance a defense that couldn’t stop a high school RB with a machine gun.

I am so disgusted by these guys that I can’t see straight.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 7:28 am #7357

Dak
Participant

There is a lot of talent on defense, I agree. And, I also agree that this unit is not playing to its full potential. I think they’ll get better. So far, there have been no successful blitz packages. Williams hasn’t made a big difference. I wonder if that’s because offenses are scheming against the pass rush with quick throws and attacking with the run between the tackles. Until the D can slow down the run, they’re just not going to take advantage of this great pass rush.

September 15, 2014 at 8:54 am #7366

zn
Moderator

Pretty much the same defense started out poorly last year, too. It was the main culprit in the Atlanta, Dallas, and SF losses last year. In the Dallas game, they had allowed 86 yards rushing by the end of the 4th quarter.

Then halfway through the season, they became the best run defense in the league.

So this is nothing new.

September 15, 2014 at 10:11 am #7389

TrenchRam
Participant

So – other than Dunbar’s return – what changed last year when they tightened up? In the pre-season, it looked pretty clear that guys very often just weren’t where they were supposed to be, especially Armstrong. So far in the season, I just can’t tell where it’s breaking down.

The front 7 was supposed to be the core of this team. They’re supposed to elite. Best in the league some said. So far they’re not even average. Quinn is a beast. Donald and Sims both show flashes. I don’t see anyone else making plays.

On the bright side, the secondary is playing better than I expected. McDonald is fantastic. It’s not just the blocked punts. He seems to be the one guy who can shed blocks on screens. He gets to the ball. He makes his tackles. Very impressive.

September 15, 2014 at 10:16 am #7390

rfl
Participant

zn wrote:

So this is nothing new.

Exactly. Which is the problem. Nothing has been fixed.

And it’s damn dangerous to project last year’s improvement to this year. There is no particular reason to assume they’ll turn it around again. And last year’s improvement occurred AFTER the season was lost.

These guys are supposed to make the team better. In time to allow it to contend. I don’t see it. The defense looks about the same as it has for years–no run D, soft coverage, and incapable of getting stops outside the red zone. Hell, we’d have lost yesterday if TB had 1 more time out.

We are a mediocre football team that sometimes shows some grit against teams we can match up against and a roster full of theoretical talent. We’ll win 6, maybe 7 this year and be thinking draft after October confirms us as losers again.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 10:58 am #7394

zn
Moderator

rfl wrote:

zn wrote:
So this is nothing new.

Exactly. Which is the problem. Nothing has been fixed.

Well that’s 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, or glass half full/empty.

It means that we know this D can be re-gathered.

And it might be as simple as knowing the system. They tripped up at first with Walton, they trip up at first with Wms. I know this is always supposed to be “Fisher’s defense” but that’s not really the case. Walton brought things that were new and so did Wms.

It’s not dangerous to project. We;re discussing things on a message board. No harm is caused. My line is, if they did it before, they’re capable of it again. That’s not a promise, but it;s also a factor. These things have many sides to them. I am just speaking for one of them. Either way, we don;t know that the issues with the run defense THIS year are different from or the same as the issues LAST year. It’s like teaching beginning writers. Sometimes when you fix one thing, you end up with a different series of problems. So we don;t know. One thing we DO know. It;s not just personnel. The same guys have done better.

Here’s something to watch for. So far the Fisher Rams are always better after a bye. They really do fix stuff.

September 15, 2014 at 11:09 am #7396

Winnbrad
Participant

I still think the run D needs time. Maybe I’m just hoping… I don’t know.

It seems like the Rams either stuff the run play for a loss, or they give up a huge lane even I could run through.

The secondary is playing better though. We’ll see a real test next week when Romo is slinging it to Bryant, and Witten, and Williams, and Murray… oh boy.

Right now, I’m just happy to see far fewer penalties and fewer turnovers.

September 15, 2014 at 11:23 am #7398

rfl
Participant

TrenchRam wrote:

So – other than Dunbar’s return – what changed last year when they tightened up? In the pre-season, it looked pretty clear that guys very often just weren’t where they were supposed to be, especially Armstrong. So far in the season, I just can’t tell where it’s breaking down.

The front 7 was supposed to be the core of this team. They’re supposed to elite. Best in the league some said. So far they’re not even average. Quinn is a beast. Donald and Sims both show flashes. I don’t see anyone else making plays.

On the bright side, the secondary is playing better than I expected. McDonald is fantastic. It’s not just the blocked punts. He seems to be the one guy who can shed blocks on screens. He gets to the ball. He makes his tackles. Very impressive.

Good stuff. Agreed on McDonald. He’s one of the few I really like, along with Quinn and Donald and some promise in Gaines and Joyner.

The front 7 was supposed to be the core of this team. They’re supposed to elite. Best in the league some said. So far they’re not even average.

Absolutely. My point exactly. That’s why I say “fraud.”

It’s hard to say whether it’s personnel or schemes. The talent is THEORETICALLY good. But the problems persist through a series of coaching staffs.

What the hell do I know? I just know this is not the defense everyone projected as being elite. Nowhere near it. And, yes, it is what we SAW in preseason.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 11:34 am #7399

zn
Moderator

TrenchRam wrote:

So – other than Dunbar’s return – what changed last year when they tightened up? In the pre-season, it looked pretty clear that guys very often just weren’t where they were supposed to be, especially Armstrong. So far in the season, I just can’t tell where it’s breaking down.

The front 7 was supposed to be the core of this team. They’re supposed to elite. Best in the league some said. So far they’re not even average. Quinn is a beast. Donald and Sims both show flashes. I don’t see anyone else making plays.

On the bright side, the secondary is playing better than I expected. McDonald is fantastic. It’s not just the blocked punts. He seems to be the one guy who can shed blocks on screens. He gets to the ball. He makes his tackles. Very impressive.

The front 7 has a year of film on it and entire gameplans are being built around limiting it.

Fisher himself last year btw said that the major difference in the run d was not just guys being in the right place, it was how the DTs were playing–they weren’t as disciplined as they should have been. Plus it wasn’t just Dunbar returning, it was Ogletree getting better at what they asked of him last year AND getting rid of Witherspoon who was a pure liability. Same with Finnegan last year.

There are other differences from last year too. Wms asked JL to lose weight and play a completely different way than he was. Ogletree has been shifted to the strongside where he is asked to take on blockers–last year he was on the weakside and set up just to run to the ball.

Hayes never practiced all summer and Long is out. Westbrooks is a rookie.

And so on. Who knows what else,

I bet it will work like this. They sit down at the bye, look things over, fix some things, and the D will look better.

As it stands right now, actually, they are ranked 17th on defense. Last year they finished ranked 15th. So last year they improved to 15th. This year they are starting out NEAR there and have room to improve. Depends on whether you believe in the “they fix things” mantra.

And that’s where we just get into our own personal ways of seeing things. To some, that’s provisional–saying you can fix things is theory. To some, their instincts say they WILL fix things. Who is right? We don;t know yet and there’s nothing we can say now that will skip over the process and settle it. In the end we’re really just comparing different ways of POSTING. Some guys see things one way, some guys see things other ways. The trick is to keep posting and see where the range of opinion goes.

September 15, 2014 at 11:43 am #7400

rfl
Participant

Winnbrad wrote:

I still think the run D needs time.

My good friend, I am always rather amazed at expressions like this.

I mean, why on earth would they “need more time”? Year three. Coaches with big reps for defense. A prior year experience to learn from in which they started out horribly, not ready for the season. Primarily veteran personnel apart from Donald who is one of the few playing well. An entire off- and pre-season. 2 games in.

Why the hell should they need more time? Other defenses don’t need more time to be at least solid against the run. We’ve faced 2 already that were well prepared for our rather decent running game.

You know, fans show patience and impatience in unpredictable ways for different issues. I’m always bemused by that. E.g. why people demanded elite performance from Sam right away and why they accept very slow progress with little payoff from a defense that should be a lot better by now.

For me, the performance of this defense for the last 6 weeks is unacceptable. Of course, I’m just a fan. What I accept means nothing. And I’m not ready to say “Off with their heads … fire them all.”

Maybe I’m as impatient with the consensus viewpoint of fans and pundits as I am with the defense itself. I don’t hear people telling what appears to me to be the truth. I see vague references to the defense–and for that matter the OL–having settled down against TB and played better. I see little challenge to the meme that ours is an emerging elite defense.

Well, it isn’t. Maybe–maybe!–it will grow into one. But this defense has looked awful against a spotty Viking offense and a completely forgettable TB attack. It plays soft and without discipline and it doesn’t know how to get off the field until its back is to the goal line. IF the talent is as good as everyone believes, then the performances are really unacceptable. If not, then there’ve been a lot of wasted draft picks. Either way, this defense is a fraud … so far at least.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 12:20 pm #7403

rfl
Participant

As it stands right now, actually, they are ranked 17th on defense. Last year they finished ranked 15th. So last year they improved to 15th. This year they are starting out NEAR there and have room to improve. Depends on whether you believe in the “they fix things” mantra.

And that’s where we just get into our own personal ways of seeing things. To some, that’s provisional–saying you can fix things is theory. To some, their instincts say they WILL fix things. Who is right? We don;t know yet and there’s nothing we can say now that will skip over the process and settle it.

Obviously, we see this situation differently. Or, at least, we draw different conclusions from different frames of reference.

You are right to emphasize the difference between a future-oriented perspective and one looking at the present. But, you insufficiently recognize the difference between those ways of processing things.

You ask, “who’s right?” in a predictive sense, and say we can’t know yet. Indeed. But, you don’t realize that my view is not looking at the future. I am making no prediction whatsoever. I am trying to accurately perceive what is currently happening. And I am making a judgment on that.

You can assemble all the factors you want to assemble about Williams’ scheme, deployment adjustments, people not playing in PS (generally a coaching decision BTW) and the like. And to me they do not add up to any sort of appropriate excuse for why this bunch can’t start off the year playing sound defense. Maybe not brilliant, push-the-ceiling stuff. But sound defense. Other teams do it. We are responsible to do it as well.

As for stats in a very small sample size, they have to be judged in context as well. TB is a poor offense. They do not threaten the secondary well enough to explain why we allowed a nice but routine RB to go Earl Campbell on us. It just is not acceptable. The fact that we may be ranked #17 after playing 2 of the supposedly weak teams on our schedule means damn little to me. Play the way we are now, and SEA, SF, AZ, DEN, and other opponents will score 40 on us.

Maybe they will turn it around. It’s probably likely, at least at some level. But that does not make this current, 6 week performance acceptable.

And even if they do turn it around, there is a cost in doing so a month or more into the season. This year with our schedule, if we can’t go at least 3-1 up front, then we will be in serious trouble facing teams much better than MN or TB. If our defense doesn’t get it together FAST we’ll be locked into another lost season and late improvement will be garbage time fool’s gold. Remember–last year’s improvement added up to nothing, another failed season with little more than teasing glimpses of what might some day be. Any lousy team can do that.

My point is locked into the present. I am trying to accurately perceive a lousy start to the season against bad teams by the unit that is supposed to be our ticket to success. I think that matters. I think lousy starts to the season have an enormous competitive cost. I think coaches are responsible to prepare their teams for the season, and when they fail repeatedly despite apparently good talent, they need to be called out. I think that even if they turn it around, they will still be responsible for not preparing their team for the start of the season. I think that disastrous 1st home game sorely battered an already fragile fan base in a context of the team threatening to head west. How many StL fans will actually use their tickets this year to support the team at home? With their PSLs about to become valueless, how many will recoup their losses by selling to opposition fans? There is a great deal wrong with THE PRESENT, whether or not the future improves a bit.

And I am sickened by watching a defense that, year after year, can’t figure out how to stop the freaking running game. It’s disgusting. When it changes, I’ll be happy. I make no prediction about when that may be. I just know where we are now.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 12:27 pm #7404
PA Ram
Participant
I don’t know what all of the problems are but a few jump out at me.

The first thing, and zn touched on this–is that offenses are game planning around the strength of this defense. The fact that the offense can barely score doesn’t help. Despite some stats on having some of the leading tacklers I don’t think the linebackers are playing particularly well–especially Ogeltree. I kept watching him whiff on tackles yesterday that would have made a world of difference–and that was when he was able to get off the block–something he struggles with.

Also–and again, I agree with zn about this point–the blitzing isn’t particularly helping. They seem to overdue it rather than trusting the front four to get it done. I think it leaves them exposed more to the short stuff with wide open real estate. Some of it may be gap stuff too.

I believe there is a lot of talent on this defense now but Williams has to be smart about what the offense is doing and plan against that–don’t be stubborn. He wants to blow plays up. Great. But it’s not working. Just let Aaron Donald take care of that. He’s pretty good at it.

And for whatever reason–the league has decided to allow holding on Quinn because he’s THAT good. He’d be on the QB almost every play and they don’t want that.

They’d better fix the run issues this week or we know what it’ll look like–we’ve seen it before.
- This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by PA Ram.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
September 15, 2014 at 12:57 pm #7407
wv
Participant
Well, I’ve only watched one half of Rams football so far.
I’ll watch the tampa game tonight or 2morrow. So,
I dont have much to go on, yet. In the one half
i watched, I thought the D looked fine.

I will say this though — Seattle gave up
over 30 to the Chargers and lost.
It could be that the new rule-enforcement about prohibiting
DBs from touching WR’s is going to change the notion
of what “good defense” looks like. I dunno.
Would that affect run defense too? Maybe.

Dallas will be a great test of the new “Third-year-Defense.”
I am really looking forward to seeing how they play.
Last year’s Dallas game was an unmitigated disaster for Jake Long
and the Oline and the Defense.

I’m just gonna be quiet until i see game three,
for Fisher’s year-three-team, using its
third-string-QB.

Btw, didnt Laurinaitis have a TD
called back in the Tampa game?
Did i read that somewhere?
Cuz that kinda play is a game-changer
on D.
w
v
- This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by wv.
September 15, 2014 at 1:15 pm #7412

rfl
Participant

The first thing, and zn touched on this–is that offenses are game planning around the strength of this defense.

Which is why it comes back to coaching.

Now, what would “the strength” of our defense be? Our DL, right? Let’s look at that.

How do you neutralize a great pass rush? You release the ball quickly, generally to the perimeter–slants, etc. So how does a defense counter that strategy? Not by blitzing. But by pressuring the quick release passes to give the DL a chance to get to the QB.

OK, Williams. Over to you.

But now let’s consider the other side of the matter. If our DL is our strength, it is also our weakness. Everybody who looks at film knows that it’s fairly easy to rush the football against us. And they do that. They attack our weakness. And it’s pretty easy to do.

Is that because of personnel? Or scheme? Hard for me to say. But I do know that, right now, offenses see our front 7 as a soft underbelly against which they can run nearly at will.

In the end, the notion that teams “scheme against” our strength is a cop out. Since when have teams been able to consistently and effectively scheme against elite defenses? If you have a strength that easy to beat by schemes then it ain’t much of a strength.

It makes no sense to me to think of the problem in terms of what other teams are doing. No great competitive team ever worried about other teams’ schemes. If you can’t beat other teams’ schemes, you lose. And if it takes weeks and weeks to figure them out, you’re getting whipped strategically.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 1:20 pm #7415

rfl
Participant

It could be that the new rule-enforcement about prohibiting
DBs from touching WR’s is going to change the notion
of what “good defense” looks like. I dunno.
Would that affect run defense too? Maybe.

Well, WV, I can’t see how rules about DBs and WRs would explain our situation. Our DBs have actually played OK. It’s the run D that has been lousy.

Given a tougher challenge for DBs, it’s more crucial than ever to be sound against the run on early downs. That’s basic football. There’s nothing going on in the running game that hasn’t been done for a century. You stop it by being sound up front. And we are not that.

By virtue of the absurd ...

September 15, 2014 at 1:49 pm #7419

zn
Moderator

It makes no sense to me to think of the problem in terms of what other teams are doing. No great competitive team ever worried about other teams’ schemes

No one said the coaches are doing that. We said that that’s the reality from an outsider’s analytic point of view. The league has countered the Rams DL, and the Rams have to counter back. I mean it’s no accident that Quinn set the record against Tampa just a few games ago, and they fought back a few games later. Who knows what the Rams coaches are thinking or trying and when it will work etc.

For example, last week, they were crazy with penalties. This week it was 5. You know, no matter how long we discussed it, or how much we knew, I seriously doubt anyone could say what the problem was with penalties and how they fixed it. Similarly, if–as I expect–the run D improves this year, in the end, I am only going to be glad it improved, and I may like some theories as to why more than others, but, at the end of the day, no one outside of the meetings and practices and film rooms will really be able to say exactly why.

September 15, 2014 at 2:14 pm #7421

Maddy
Participant

I do wonder why we got so good against the run in the second half of last year, and then we begin the year getting raped by the run. I do not have the football acumen to recognize those causes. I mentioned my frustration once before being caused by my expectation that the defense would pick up where it left off last season. Expectations are the building blocks of disappointment I guess.

One thought that crossed my mind was that Fisher has to pick his poison, in a way. He can go straight to the whip from training camp through preseason, work these guys into midseason shape for the opener, full contact all the way, and then nobody could say they weren’t prepared. I know he tries instead to keep guys fresh, which might mean not exhausting every ounce of energy in camp and preseason. The benefit would be that you have gas in the tank at the end of the year. That is a management strategy, and I have no idea if there’s anything relevant about it for Fisher or these Rams, it’s just a thought that occurred to me. I won’t defend it with any conviction or anything.

If you want to finish the season playing your best ball and keeping guys fresh, rather than committing to busting out of the gate already worked into peak form, because you’ve been around and seen how difficult and unlikely it is to maintain that intensity, excellence, and some fresh legs for the whole season, you might regulate a little early on.

Not that the early games don’t count as much as the later games; they obviously do. But what’s the use of starting 4-0, then limping into a wildcard spot with a team that blew its wad getting ready for week one.

Also, I don’t mean that in this poorly thought-out that Fisher would just be blowing off the early games. I just mean that he would have them ready and prepared for the whole season, without treating week one like it was the super bowl.

I mention it because of the way they improved last season, and seem like they need to do it again this year. maybe its a stupid idea, but that’s one of my strong suits.

September 15, 2014 at 2:27 pm #7425

Maddy
Participant

Although I would be delighted to limp into a wildcard spot.

September 15, 2014 at 2:45 pm #7430

zn
Moderator

Maddy wrote:

I do wonder why we got so good against the run in the second half of last year, and then we begin the year getting raped by the run. I do not have the football acumen to recognize those causes. I mentioned my frustration once before being caused by my expectation that the defense would pick up where it left off last season. Expectations are the building blocks of disappointment I guess.

One thought that crossed my mind was that Fisher has to pick his poison, in a way. He can go straight to the whip from training camp through preseason, work these guys into midseason shape for the opener, full contact all the way, and then nobody could say they weren’t prepared. I know he tries instead to keep guys fresh, which might mean not exhausting every ounce of energy in camp and preseason. The benefit would be that you have gas in the tank at the end of the year. That is a management strategy, and I have no idea if there’s anything relevant about it for Fisher or these Rams, it’s just a thought that occurred to me. I won’t defend it with any conviction or anything.

If you want to finish the season playing your best ball and keeping guys fresh, rather than committing to busting out of the gate already worked into peak form, because you’ve been around and seen how difficult and unlikely it is to maintain that intensity, excellence, and some fresh legs for the whole season, you might regulate a little early on.

Not that the early games don’t count as much as the later games; they obviously do. But what’s the use of starting 4-0, then limping into a wildcard spot with a team that blew its wad getting ready for week one.

Also, I don’t mean that in this poorly thought-out that Fisher would just be blowing off the early games. I just mean that he would have them ready and prepared for the whole season, without treating week one like it was the super bowl.

I mention it because of the way they improved last season, and seem like they need to do it again this year. maybe its a stupid idea, but that’s one of my strong suits.

Granted we aren’t all-seeing, but I do think there’s something to that view–Fisher prefers to let vets prepare themselves and does not push them, since he prefers preparing for the marathon and not the sprint.

Can that backfire in the early games? Yes and in fact I think in fact it HAS. But so can the opposite way of doing things. I really do think it’s a matter of choosing your poison.

The opposite approach is Seattle’s. They act like every game is a playoff and got ready accordingly. The league even called them on it.

And, right now, both Seattle and the Rams are 1-1. Their defense was ranked #1 last year and is now ranked 12th. Rams defense was was ranked 15th last year and is now ranked 17th.

September 15, 2014 at 3:27 pm #7435

Maddy
Participant

I figure I’m not pointing out anything that’s not obvious if I suggest that the term “defending super bowl champs” sort of bolsters Seattles’ position.

September 15, 2014 at 5:02 pm #7446

zn
Moderator

Maddy wrote:

I figure I’m not pointing out anything that’s not obvious if I suggest that the term “defending super bowl champs” sort of bolsters Seattles’ position.

Well, maybe it doesn’t work year in and year out.

What if for example at the end of the year, Seattle is worn out and beat up, and the Rams are just peaking.

Anyway I don;t think Fisher deliberately goes soft on teams. He just rests the injured. One result of that is that the OL virtually did not play together in the off-season and training camp. If it wasn’t one guy down it was another.

September 15, 2014 at 5:34 pm #7456

Maddy
Participant

I know what you mean. I was being contrary for fun.

Another thing is that you could burn yourself out for week one and still lose, and still find out that there are things to fix because you don’t learn all those things in half-ass preseason games.

I’m not sure what is sacrificed by not beating a team into shape with full contact, no limit preseason preparation, but sharpness of focus, which leads to rusty tackling and sloppy mistakes makes some sense. I hope the improvement curve is much shorter this time.

September 15, 2014 at 6:29 pm #7470

Herzog
Participant

I hate that even though we have the same basic defense, it’s seems to get overhauled every year. There’s no reason why this team should be bad against the run NO REASON

September 15, 2014 at 7:45 pm #7491

InvaderRam
Moderator

i agree, herzog.

that’s really my only big beef with this defense. the run defense. correct that and this defense could take off.

i wonder are they still using the wide 9?

but yeah. correct the run defense. and teams will be forced into more passing situations. and then the pressures and sacks and turnovers go up.

September 15, 2014 at 8:10 pm #7494

zn
Moderator

Maddy wrote:

I know what you mean. I was being contrary for fun.

Another thing is that you could burn yourself out for week one and still lose, and still find out that there are things to fix because you don’t learn all those things in half-ass preseason games.

I’m not sure what is sacrificed by not beating a team into shape with full contact, no limit preseason preparation, but sharpness of focus, which leads to rusty tackling and sloppy mistakes makes some sense. I hope the improvement curve is much shorter this time.

Well I think they go and do as much hard contact as they can under the rules.

The issue IMO with the “lax Fisher” thing is injured guys sitting out for precautionary extra healing up time.

But then that has more to do with the OL, I think, than the defense.

Except Laurinaitis…who actually appears to be just fine.

So it’s confusin.

The one thing that’s different this year, other than Wms just changing the system, is that the LBs seem to be asked to take on the blockers more…and are struggling with that, particularly AO.

.

September 15, 2014 at 8:32 pm #7497

Mackeyser
Moderator

Okay… Lemme get into this a little bit.

As others have noticed, teams are game planning around our DL. What we need to do is counter their counter… (insert My Cousin Vinny reference here…hahaha)

GW’s defenses are meant to get pressure and take chances. Unfortunately, teams are trying to beat us with a very vanilla game plan. The first game was a bit of an anomaly, but both games showed us a lot of the same in that respect.

However, our DL is getting closer. Also, what you are missing is that we are getting more TFLs on running plays each week. Each week, we’re improving on shutting down those gaps and ATTACKING the run.

REMEMBER, any new system takes TIME to implement. GWs defense IS new to this defense and they are doing a pretty good job of getting into it.

The Cowboys will be a big test as DeMarco Murray leads the league thus far in rushing. Now, the Rams stuffed Peterson for only 85 yards and the Cowboys don’t have anything like Patterson. So, we’ll see…

Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

September 15, 2014 at 8:51 pm #7509

wv
Participant

Mackeyser wrote:

Okay… Lemme get into this a little bit.

As others have noticed, teams are game planning around our DL. What we need to do is counter their counter… (insert My Cousin Vinny reference here…hahaha)

GW’s defenses are meant to get pressure and take chances. Unfortunately, teams are trying to beat us with a very vanilla game plan. The first game was a bit of an anomaly, but both games showed us a lot of the same in that respect.

However, our DL is getting closer. Also, what you are missing is that we are getting more TFLs on running plays each week. Each week, we’re improving on shutting down those gaps and ATTACKING the run.

REMEMBER, any new system takes TIME to implement. GWs defense IS new to this defense and they are doing a pretty good job of getting into it.

The Cowboys will be a big test as DeMarco Murray leads the league thus far in rushing. Now, the Rams stuffed Peterson for only 85 yards and the Cowboys don’t have anything like Patterson. So, we’ll see…

I know nothing about X’s and O’s but, I’ve bin-a-watchin
the bucs game on rewind, and sometimes, i get the impression
that the Rams D is ‘slashing upfield’ a bit more than last year.
They are just rocketing upfield and it can lead to TFL’s and big plays,
but it can also lead to big gaps and big plays for the opposing team.
I dunno. Maybe I’m just hallucinating cause of the fried pickles
and fried oreos I’m eating from ‘Munchies,’
the new stoner cafe down the street.

w
v

September 15, 2014 at 9:48 pm #7520

zn
Moderator

Relevant remark by Fisher:
.

We’re not where we need to be in run defense. We’re going to really be tested this week. We have to get better there. We missed too many tackles. We had some run misfits. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week because it seems like yesterday that mess happened in Dallas last year. We have to get significantly better.

September 15, 2014 at 9:53 pm #7521

wv
Participant

zn wrote:

Relevant remark by Fisher:
.

We’re not where we need to be in run defense. We’re going to really be tested this week. We have to get better there. We missed too many tackles. We had some run misfits. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week because it seems like yesterday that mess happened in Dallas last year. We have to get significantly better.

Damn run-misfits.

w
v

September 15, 2014 at 9:58 pm #7524

zn
Moderator

wv wrote:

zn wrote:
Relevant remark by Fisher:
.

We’re not where we need to be in run defense. We’re going to really be tested this week. We have to get better there. We missed too many tackles. We had some run misfits. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week because it seems like yesterday that mess happened in Dallas last year. We have to get significantly better.

Damn run-misfits.

w
v
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