Will our defense be subject to the counter?

[PhillyB]

Meeks' new defensive philosophy is run-to-the-ball... swarm to the ball, even; the defensive front four put on the pressure, the LB's drop back and make the plays with the secondary.

The counter is designed to trick over-pursuing defenses; with the speed in our linebacking corps, will Meeks' defense be susceptible? If a team's offense can get our guys moving in the wrong direction at the beginning of the run, pursuing, all swarming to the ball, they could very well bust one in the opposite direction for a big gain.

Issue? non-issue?

(i'm no expert on defensive schemes, or offensive schemes for that matter, but it occurred to me while i was at work)

[rippadonn]

They were doing that to us anyway.

[PhillyB]

They were doing that to us anyway.

well, sure, the counter is a common running play... the question is, more specifically, will the new defense's philosophy leave it more susceptible than it would otherwise be?

[rippadonn]

Will it make a difference? Not much IMO. Football is so much about getting the first step, that leverage. Everybody is strong everybody is super fast. You don't have very long for foolery. If the D is getting to the QB fast there is no time to stretch a play. If the DBs are serviceable you've got a very good chance with a talented D line.

The obvious question is do we have a talented D line? I have yet to be convinced and am optimistically awaiting a yes. We shall see...

[Brandon]

With the speed in our LB corps and secondary, even overpursuing a play may not end all that badly. We will still have guys set up to maintain some sort of containment to keep big plays from happening.

[panthers55]

As long as Kemo is in the middle we should be okay against the run. We could be susceptible to off tackle plays as we crash the ends. That would be my bigger concern.

[Peppers90 NC]

it has a lot to do with the awareness of the individual players, particularly Peppers and whoever is playing opposite end, and their ability to gain on the ball carrier.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Could you make your signature a little bigger. Hurts my eyes to squint like that when it's so small.

[panthers15]

Only time that it might be a noticable problem would be guarding the wild cat againts the Dolphins. Hopefully Meeks will gameplan specifically for that game and have a spy on Brown or something.

[bleys]

Only time that it might be a noticable problem would be guarding the wild cat againts the Dolphins. Hopefully Meeks will gameplan specifically for that game and have a spy on Brown or something.

I doubt the wild cat is going to be as effective this year... Henning and all his praise will be short lived...

[frash.exe]

Could you make your signature a little bigger. Hurts my eyes to squint like that when it's so small.

I know.

I thought I was on falconslife for a second

[SKULL]

If the Lb's over pursue, would you really won't to be the ball carrier being chased down by PEPPERS .

[unicar15]

Our defense will not be anymore susceptible to ANYTHING than it was last year. We will be much improved IMO with this defense setting our guys up to do what they do best...

[magnus]

Could you make your signature a little bigger. Hurts my eyes to squint like that when it's so small.

this place is unbearable without turning signatures off.

at any rate, two things make a counter harder - smart play and good backside ends. Mike Rucker was fantastic at staying at home. He didn't overpursue, he didn't bite on the fake. He was there on reverses, counters, bootlegs.

We have good ends, hopefully they'll improve at discipline. Even Brayton, only an asset against the run compared to the others, struggles at this.

Cutbacks will be a minor concern, but to that end I'm more worried about power running games than anything else. If you can beat us to the LOS, and make a good block, we might not have a lot for you. Same for combo blocks if we can't make a pile.

Truthfully I have no concerns for our passing game issues (and we had a ton last year late). We have more rushers, we have new corners, and a good scheme for what we currently have to face. The c2 should see us bumping receivers more, and against the fairly slow NFCS receivers, I'll take that.

But there are some strong runners on the schedule, we have depth and potentially quality issues at DT, no backup with any run specialty, and an eagerness to get to the ball. It'll be like the 2004 run D problems...LBs losing gap integrity because they're trying to cover where they think the other guy won't be.