thoughts on our secondary and its overall effect on our defense

[rubberpantz]

i was thinking about something the other day. it seems in years past our secondary was more aggressive and played a lot less zone than they do currently. they gave up more big plays but also seemed to have more ints and pick-6's. a high risk, high reward style of play. now, i know we've had plenty of dropped ints but it seems that most were due to tipped balls than to aggressive plays by the DBs.

to my point, by potentially getting the turnover or giving up the big play/score, the defense is off the field, giving way to the offense. (and thus staying somewhat fresh overall). it seems this year, by playing this soft zone/low risk style of play, our defense is out on the field a lot longer being nickel and dimed to death. this is causing late game breakdowns as the defense is gassed and worn out come the 4th quarter.

is this a valid concern or too much weed?

discuss.

[mountainpantherfan]

I think it has more to do with the fact that the d-line can not get a constant push. Most QBs have a lifetime to sit in the pocket. A secondary made up of Pro Bowlers playing smash mouth man on man defense would struggle in those conditions. The soft zone is a result of the lack of pressure to the QB.

[rubberpantz]

so is that admission by our coaching staff that, essentially, our d-line blows (besides pep) and the way to "offset" that is by playing soft zones? i sarcastically say "offset" because it doesn't appear to be a well conceived plan; we're getting murdered by west coast style offensive plays.

[Towelboy]

and don't forget, we never cover the TE. a blind paraplegic TE could gain 40+ yards a game on us.

[mountainpantherfan]

so is that admission by our coaching staff that, essentially, our d-line blows (besides pep) and the way to "offset" that is by playing soft zones? i sarcastically say "offset" because it doesn't appear to be a well conceived plan; we're getting murdered by west coast style offensive plays.

With the way our offense is running the ball, its better to get "murdered" by the west coast style of short passes than it is to get beat down the feild for long TD throws. And yes, it is an admission. But it not that the d-line is that bad. Believe it not Brayton has actually been playing just as good as Pep the past few games. The problem comes from the middle. I think teams have been able to figure out the new 3 gap technique that was masking the lose of Jenkins.

[rubberpantz]

With the way our offense is running the ball, its better to get "murdered" by the west coast style of short passes than it is to get beat down the feild for long TD throws. And yes, it is an admission. But it not that the d-line is that bad. Believe it not Brayton has actually been playing just as good as Pep the past few games. The problem comes from the middle. I think teams have been able to figure out the new 3 gap technique that was masking the lose of Jenkins.

but if we're able to run the ball as well as we've run it and if we're either getting beat deep occasionally or picking balls off more often, wouldn't that lend to our defense being fresher at the end of games and having the opposing teams D being on the field more?

not discounting what you're saying... just trying to figure out how our D being out on the field for so much of the game could be a good thing; especially if we're able to control the clock and score points.

[mountainpantherfan]

but if we're able to run the ball as well as we've run it and if we're either getting beat deep occasionally or picking balls off more often, wouldn't that lend to our defense being fresher at the end of games and having the opposing teams D being on the field more?

not discounting what you're saying... just trying to figure out how our D being out on the field for so much of the game could be a good thing; especially if we're able to control the clock and score points.

Because our offense isn't a control the clock type of offense. When the Panthers score it is usually on quick strikes. Also, take into account that this defense is good at holding teams to FG in the red zone. Much better to give up 3 point on a 12 play drive.

You do have a point.

[rubberpantz]

Because our offense isn't a control the clock type of offense. When the Panthers score it is usually on quick strikes. Also, take into account that this defense is good at holding teams to FG in the red zone. Much better to give up 3 point on a 12 play drive.

You do have a point.

ahh true. i think all the talk about us being a grind-it-out power run team is a bit misconstrued. in fact we're a homerun hitting run team with play action bombs to smitty and moose.

also true that the d has been good all season in the redzone.

so essentially we can't improve on our secondary situation w/o upgrading our Dline...

man that sucks. we have to get kemo and lewis back pronto. our lack of depth there may be our downfall.

[Snake]

I think it has more to do with the fact that the d-line can not get a constant push. Most QBs have a lifetime to sit in the pocket. A secondary made up of Pro Bowlers playing smash mouth man on man defense would struggle in those conditions. The soft zone is a result of the lack of pressure to the QB.

I agree but I also think its alittle of both. Lucas is having an horrible year to say the least. Blame it on Godfrey blame it on the coverage but it has just been horrible.