damione lewis on what is wrong with the D

[rayzor]

pretty good read on the panthers site.

conversation with lewis gave some decent insight on the problems the defense is having.

"After the second or third day of camp, you're beat up. The physical part is the physical part," Lewis said. "But the mental part of the game is the edge. That's where you win games and lose games.

"Talent is so even in this league right now that it's the mental aspect of it, and right now mentally we're not where we're supposed to be on defense with our fits and stuff like that, and that's more mental than physical ... If you're hestitant, it's going to show up on the field."

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"Physically, there isn't a team in the league playing harder than we're playing," Lewis said. "You turn on the tape, we've got 11 guys out there flying around. But we need to get a target for this missile we've got on the field right now.

"We're not on target right now. We're missing. We have a lot of (missed assignments), mental errors on the field. We need to clean that up."

The missed tackles incurred by the defense are missed assignments, Lewis added.

"That's Pop Warner. You've got to be able to wrap up and tackle," he said. "But most of it is that we're not where we're supposed to be. If you're not where you're supposed to be, then you're reaching instead of being there in position to make tackles.

"We're way better. It's unbelievable how much better we are physically than what we're playing. But it's the mental aspect of the game we have to (work on). We have to be where we're supposed to be, and that's the bottom line. There's really nothing else to say about us on defense. We are not where we're supposed to be too many times in the game."

Which is why the bye comes at an ideal juncture, given the defense's issues.

"This couldn't be better. We can take (a step back), look at what's going on and focus on what we're doing individually and figure out what we're doing to help the team perform better on Sundays as a group and as indviduals.

more...

[John Fox]

The physical part is the physical part

i can see that the team has developed foxims

[Kevin Greene]

Physically, there isn't a team in the league playing harder than we're playing," Lewis said. "You turn on the tape, we've got 11 guys out there flying around. But we need to get a target for this missile we've got on the field right now.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

I always value your insight, Rayzor, but how did you take away from that that Lewis is to blame for the defense's poor performance as a whole?

And here I thought most of the defense's woes were summarized in this first paragraph:

At various points since the start of training camp, Carolina's defense has made do without seven first-teamers and another who plays starter's minutes as a pass-rushing defensive end. They've used three defensive tackles who weren't with the team during training camp, one of whom, Louis Leonard, saw his only start end on a cart with a season-ending fractured ankle.

[rayzor]

I always value your insight, Rayzor, but how did you take away from that that Lewis is to blame for the defense's poor performance as a whole?

And here I thought most of the defense's woes were summarized in this first paragraph:

i didn't. i said that lewis was talking about what the problems were.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

i didn't. i said that lewis was talking about what the problems were.

Sorry, I totally misread that as "Damione Lewis is what is wrong with the D."

I think I've read too many threads blaming individual players as of late.

Sorry about that. :cheers2:

[Fireball77]

I like D. Lewis. I wonder why he isn't a captain? This is good stuff.

I agree with him that they are mostly playing hard out there. They just look bewildered at times.

[PhillyB]

when i first read this, i thought the title said Lewis IS the prob with the defense... lol. great article though, rep for posting.

[rayzor]

Sorry, I totally misread that as "Damione Lewis is what is wrong with the D."

I think I've read too many threads blaming individual players as of late.

Sorry about that. :cheers2:

no problem.

I like D. Lewis. I wonder why he isn't a captain? This is good stuff.

I agree with him that they are mostly playing hard out there. They just look bewildered at times.

i like his insights. he's pretty honest about things. probably should have been a captain over peppers but that's for another discussion.

i hadn't thought about it but i'm willing to buy that they are probably working harder than anyone else. they are sure on the field a lot more than other defenses. all the running around they are doing is because they don't know where they are supposed to be or go.

hopefully hollis will make things easier. hopefully harris will be back on the field soon. hopefully they will, as a unit, have their light turned on and figure it out.

i just don't understand why a system that is supposed to be easier and require less thinking than what trgo's did is giving them such fits. i'm thinking that meeks could be on the right track but the players are having trouble thinking for themselves. they are so used to trgo's system doing all the thinking and their role was just to go where trgo told them to go.

moving from life in a box/controlled environment into life outside of that box can be tough to adjust to. you still have responsibilities but you have to learn what those responsibilities are and find out what to do to succeed. i'm thinking that this could be a lot of the problem. that and they are over-thinking things. a lot of what they have to do is just react to what is happening around them. the problem is they have to put themselves in the right position to have the best effect.

when my daughter is just learning how to walk, i have to learn where to be to catch her when she falls. i could have the quickest response time in the world but i'm not going to do her much good if i'm across the room or have my back to her.

[PANTHER PRIDE 52]

is lewis a free agent next year cuz i heared some talk about him not being with us next year...idk y i think he's a good part of our D

[God]

Pretty good read other then there is 10 players flying around, Pep definately does not "fly around".

[Fireball77]

i just don't understand why a system that is supposed to be easier and require less thinking than what trgo's did is giving them such fits. i'm thinking that meeks could be on the right track but the players are having trouble thinking for themselves. they are so used to trgo's system doing all the thinking and their role was just to go where trgo told them to go.

moving from life in a box/controlled environment into life outside of that box can be tough to adjust to. you still have responsibilities but you have to learn what those responsibilities are and find out what to do to succeed. i'm thinking that this could be a lot of the problem. that and they are over-thinking things. a lot of what they have to do is just react to what is happening around them. the problem is they have to put themselves in the right position to have the best effect.

when my daughter is just learning how to walk, i have to learn where to be to catch her when she falls. i could have the quickest response time in the world but i'm not going to do her much good if i'm across the room or have my back to her.

I think that's probably a big deal. Think about trying to learn a new language and how you have to THINK in that language. It's not "natural" and it makes your reaction time slower to come up with the correct phrases, etc. When you go from what sounds like it was more a thinking system to a more reacting system, I would think you have to retrain your mind to an extent.

[rayzor]

is lewis a free agent next year cuz i heared some talk about him not being with us next year...idk y i think he's a good part of our D

he'll be around for a while

2/25/2009: Signed a six-year, $24.275 million contract. The deal included a $2.5 million signing bonus. If Lewis' 2010 option bonus is not exercised, his contract will expire after the 2010 season. 2009: $2 million, 2010: $755,000 (+ $9.3 million option bonus due in March), 2011: $1.485 million, 2012: $2.115 million, 2013: $2.745 million, 2014: $3.375 million, 2015: Free Agent

link

[Guild]

I agree with the article and Rayzor. The players are not executing mentally which leads to bad fundamentals (tackling) as they scramble to make up for being out of position.