Alright. How in the fug Do We Fix this Horrible Run Defense?

[LinvilleGorge]

It's not surprising we struggle vs. the run. We only have two edge players on the roster over 260 pounds and they were both UDFAs (Cox and Obada). 

 

[TN05]

16 hours ago, Green_Tea said:

I don't know what happened to the run defense. That's usually one of the Panthers strong points. They have good linebackers and a good D-line 

We switched to a 3-4 and lost our all-pro end (Short). 3-4 is inherently worse against the run.

[Wolfpack352]

Not sure about fixing, but maybe they are praying for them to do the same stupid BS like us...Run, Run, Pass.....and when they run, run right smack into the middle of our line....that way we can stack the box first two downs.

[Moo Daeng]

I dont think its related to weight of the edge rushers. There are plenty of good run defenses playing 3-4 with the same size edge guys. It's more about gap control execution IMO. You'd think with a guy like Luke back there they could sort this out.

If anything the size on the line has increased. There are 3 interior guys plus a guy like Mario who was already on the outside.  

This is about execution and ultimately about coaching to get them disciplined.

[Snake]

Run D is about playing your gaps. If SF wasn't a roadmap to why we don't do that nothing is. All they did was spread us out and attack those lanes. 

[My Goodness My Guinness]

As many people have made the point, when you transition to a hybrid 3-4 with a bunch of tweener players you are gonna be suspect against the run. The run game goes with the O-Line push and when the D-Line has 1 less big DT then you have less power against the O-Line. Hence why the 49ers were getting highway-sized running lanes.

We could have switched to play more 4-3 but then we are switching 1 weakness (not enough big boys) for another weakness (a below average 4-3 OLB). 

[ellis]

Step one is to never play Kyle Shanahan again. (Joke.) 

I’ll have some more details to provide later, but here’s a good example. Elite design and coaching. 

It’s not that complicated. It’s gap integrity and reading keys. They were some issues with effort down the stretch that game, too. 

 

[BigSyke]

From a few highlights I reviewed,  the Dt would get froze by a misdirection, luke would get blocked by a linemen and tre boston would take a bad angle. Boom touchdown.

I saw it earlier in the 1st bucs game. This run D has been borderline terrible.

And of course cb/or safeties are always avg to trash under Rivera.

If the DLINE and the linebackers have a bad day or get out schemed its a wrap for Panthers. And any competent playoff head coach knows that.

Offense all you will have to do is blitz Cam/Kyle and limit Mccaffrey from scoring. The oline sucks...especially for pass blocking. 

[LinvilleGorge]

3 hours ago, Moo Daeng said:

I dont think its related to weight of the edge rushers. There are plenty of good run defenses playing 3-4 with the same size edge guys. It's more about gap control execution IMO. You'd think with a guy like Luke back there they could sort this out.

If anything the size on the line has increased. There are 3 interior guys plus a guy like Mario who was already on the outside.  

This is about execution and ultimately about coaching to get them disciplined.

Most 3-4 teams have 280+ pound DEs. We don't have any of those guys. We have a bunch of 3-4 OLB types and a couple of 4-3 DE types. It was one of my big concerns this off-season. Where are the 3-4 DE types? We don't have any.

[Mr. Scot]

The word on how to beat a Ron Rivera defense hasn't really changed since he was running the Bears D back in the mid 2000s.

That word is "take advantage of their aggressiveness and do things that lead to them overpursuing".

Kyle Shanahan probably does that as well or better than anybody. Go back and watch the tape from this past Sunday and you'll see loads of that.

That aggressiveness is one of the things that always made his defenses great, but it's exploitable and I don't know if Rivera has ever found a way to counter when a team knows how.

[ncstatekwi]

18 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

 

Yeah, ultimately I think it's a little of both losing Star and Washington taking over.  And sadly, I don't think it's getting fixed anytime soon.

Not until the end of the season...

[Mr. Scot]

18 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

Yeah, ultimately I think it's a little of both losing Star and Washington taking over.  And sadly, I don't think it's getting fixed anytime soon.

The story on Washington's demotion officially had him returning to his specialty, i.e. coaching the defensive line, along with other gameplan related duties even though his title (and presumably his paycheck) didn't change and Sam Mills III retained the title of defensive line coach.

So that would lead to a natural question of "How does the defensive line look right now?"

[hepcat]

Run defense took a huge step back losing Lotulelei

[Raskle]

We need a live roo - is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to take the curse off the D-Line...