Defensive scheme change

[CanadianCat]

I liked the idea of changing to a 3-4 and in theory based on the players we drafted and picked up it looked like it should work. But based on what is happening we need a NT badly. 

[Mr. Scot]

Being a true nose tackle was what everybody said Dontari Poe was best at.

[CanadianCat]

Lets all remember when the Huddle was comparing the front 7 on paper to the best the team has ever put together... 

 

Things on paper doesn't always translate. 

[Mr. Scot]

I always try not to get too hyped up in the offseason.

Twenty-five years as a Panther fan teaches you not to do that.

[BrianS]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Being a true nose tackle was what everybody said Dontari Poe was best at.

And this more than anything is what baffles me about us not sitting down in a 3-4 more often.  Earlier when we were running some honest 3-4 looks, Poe looked like he might be good.  Even Vernon freaking Butler was starting to look serviceable.  VERNON BUTLER!

When we were running 3-4 looks, Christian Miller and Marquis Haynes looked like NFL players.  Ok, admittedly, KK didn't look great.  But straight up, KK hasn't looked great in years.

This whole thing is a mess, and as much as I try to support out head coach, it's really all falling on him.  Our talent level is not being reflected in our results, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  I can understand having offensive struggles with a rookie backup QB under center, but our only defensive rookie with meaningful snaps this year was honestly in the running for DROY before his injury.  Our defense is 100% on Riverboat.  If this is what we get, we need something else.

[raz]

so we'll just need to spend more high draft capital on d.     yay.   forget protecting the qb.   just throwing it out that it wouldn't be that bad if we could protect our own qb.  we'd be putting up points that would kind of shut their run game down.

[Mr. Scot]

23 minutes ago, BrianS said:

And this more than anything is what baffles me about us not sitting down in a 3-4 more often.  Earlier when we were running some honest 3-4 looks, Poe looked like he might be good.  Even Vernon freaking Butler was starting to look serviceable.  VERNON BUTLER!

When we were running 3-4 looks, Christian Miller and Marquis Haynes looked like NFL players.  Ok, admittedly, KK didn't look great.  But straight up, KK hasn't looked great in years.

This whole thing is a mess, and as much as I try to support out head coach, it's really all falling on him.  Our talent level is not being reflected in our results, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  I can understand having offensive struggles with a rookie backup QB under center, but our only defensive rookie with meaningful snaps this year was honestly in the running for DROY before his injury.  Our defense is 100% on Riverboat.  If this is what we get, we need something else.

Haynes is another one who seems to have sort of disappeared after showing some early promise.

[Mr. Scot]

21 minutes ago, raz said:

so we'll just need to spend more high draft capital on d.     yay.   forget protecting the qb.   just throwing it out that it wouldn't be that bad if we could protect our own qb.  we'd be putting up points that would kind of shut their run game down.

It's pretty typical of defensive coaches.

That said, for having a defensive coach, we have a pretty sh-tty defense.

[Mr. Scot]

I'll tell you what I think it ultimately comes down to...

We've used the Checkers vs. Chess analogy with Rivera a lot, but I'm gonna go in a different direction.

I'm gonna stick with chess only, but set the scene of a high school kid who's actually half-decent at chess going up against an acknowledged grandmaster.

The kids starts off with a basic strategy, maybe makes a good move or two and sits back and thinks "wow I've got him". Meanwhile, the master just sits back waiting to spring the trap which ultimately puts the kid in zugzwang without him even understanding how he got there.

Checkmate.

Stepping out of the metaphor, the basic truth is that our current braintrust just isn't smart enough to compete with the true chessmasters of the NFL.

Rivera makes a move of switching a defensive scheme thinking he's going to catch the rest of the league by surprise and overwhelm them. He does indeed manage to beat a couple of teams, but it doesn't take long for the rest to figure him out and adjust accordingly.

Marty? Even in his good years, he's still only thinking a year at a time. Other teams plan for for 3, 4, 5 or more years down the road while we adjust on the fly and then wonder why we're behind.

People have defended Rivera and Hurney many times by saying they know way more about football than us. That's true. Unfortunately, I just don't see them being smart enough to compete at the same level as other teams that know what they're doing.

Maybe we can be better than the bottom feeders and even have a successful season or two, but not with any consistency. And I guess if you're okay with just beating bad teams and being half-decent, then it's okay to stick with what we've got.

I'm not.

It's time to move on, time to stop thinking about just being happy to be in the race but actually doing absolutely everything we can to win it.

Really hope Tepper sees that.

I'm not 100% confident he will.

[TheSpecialJuan]

1 hour ago, DeAngelo Beason said:

Hate to throw blame on Luke, but I think he's taking a lot of time to adjust to this new scheme, and he's not able to get the guys lined up the way he used to... yet.

 

The 3-4 base defense takes away what Luke does best which is diagnose, run and chase. Now he has to take on FB's and pulling guards too often and is getting blocked out of the run play. He no longer has Star and Short to plug the run holes up the middle. 

Rivera solved our pass rush issue but it has come at the expense of our run defense. 

[BigSyke]

Luke hasn't really been the same since the concussion.

 

I wanna say maybe 2016 Davis was outplaying or playing just as good as him.

[CanadianCat]

38 minutes ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

Rivera solved our pass rush issue but it has come at the expense of our run defense. 

This 100%

[raz]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

It's pretty typical of defensive coaches.

That said, for having a defensive coach, we have a pretty sh-tty defense.

i hope he's gone and someone who really values o-line play comes in.  

[Moo Daeng]

2 hours ago, Forty-Eight said:

It’s not Luke. It’s the damn fat expensive DLs that we are paying them to hold their grounds and free Luke to roam around the middle making tackles that cannot do that. Quit pointing the fingers at Luke. 

You clearly arent watching the same games we are.