Biggest problem on defense is easily....

[Zod]

....starting field position.

Good god I feel sorry for our guys. Defending at mid field constantly. I expect that if our offense does improve just a little and is able to at least punt inside the 30 with consistency, the improvement on the actual defense will be exponentially better.

[Catdaddy]

Very true! Them guys are playing good but the offense is so slack they are not staying on the field and causing our defense to be worn out from being on the field almost all the time. If we had a decent o-line, our offense and defense would look way different!

[Big Ed]

Both are correct

Harder to always defend a short field

Even harder to be on field all the time with little to no rest

[Jrock88]

Field position has definitely been brutal... 2 sacks in 3 games(good for worst in the league) hasn't really helped our cause either though, anyone missing PEP yet?

[Zod]

Field position has definitely been brutal... 2 sacks in 3 games(good for worst in the league) hasn't really helped our cause either though, anyone missing PEP yet?

The two go hand in hand.

Hard to blitz inside your own half of the field and give up a big play touchdown.

As opposed to blitzing on their 20 or 30 when a big play only gets them to mid field.

[Lumps]

its sad when this is how we wish our offensive drives to end.

[Sandy Claws]

....starting field position.

Good god I feel sorry for our guys. Defending at mid field constantly. I expect that if our offense does improve just a little and is able to at least punt inside the 30 with consistency, the improvement on the actual defense will be exponentially better.

So basically, you're saying that our biggest problem on defense is a combination of our offense and specials teams.

[UNCGreatness]

Biggest problem is that my boy Julius Peppers got played

[Achilles]

Field position is a HUGE problem this year. Most of the problem is the offensive line not blocking consistently and our WRs are just AWFUL...the offense goes nowhere and eventually the other team gets good field position.

Ironically...it's not really a special teams problem...unlike in years past...I remember a stat in the last game that the avg starting field position for the Bengals was at their own 38 yard line. Ours was our own 24. That means that on average for every series we were starting 14 yards behind them. Thats a first down less every drive. Look at the stats, they had WAY more first downs, offensive plays, and time of posession. It all started with the field position advantage...

and turnovers (which is a correctable problem).

I hope Clausen doesn't go the way of Joey Harrington and David Carr because our o-line sucks so effing bad...What gives? I guess Gross and Kalil just aren't the same without Otah to balance them out. Too bad its killing the team...

[Davidson Deac II]

I agree, special teams play has mostly been ok this year. In the Giants game, our offense had good starting field position.

I agree that the poor play of the offense has hurt the defense some, but the lack of pressure on the passer is mostly a problem of the defense. We should be able to bring at least some pressure even without a blitz.

[Catdaddy]

Biggest problem is that my boy Julius Peppers got played

Your boy is a jerk. Minter retires during training camp a few years back, and the owner asks Peppers to be the new team defensive captain in front of the team, their family's , select media, and he says no. He is a real leader. They had to beg him to be the captain

[Chaos]

Biggest problem is that my boy Julius Peppers got played

Orly? The guy wanted out of here, it didn't matter how much money he was offered. Do you ever remove your UNC blue-colored glasses to see any facts?

[Hairless Cat]

doesnt help our offense when we start inside or near the 5 yard line either

[Ga Cat Fan]

I noticed in the Bengals game that Lloyd's KOs were short of the goal line most of the time. Not really any better than Carter at this point. That also contributes to the other team getting decent field position starting drives.