Aaron It Out wrote:rilamann wrote:Ayt wrote:We've blitzed like crazy lately, rilaman.
You can blitz and still be vanilla and you can still blitz without intensity.
Why go all out and risk guys getting tired (by seasons end) and possibly getting injured when you don't need to.
And why use your best plays and schemes when you don't need to.
This team is 10-0 and has pretty much been in complete control of every game they have played.
And the few times when they have needed a big stop to win a game this season (Saints,Chargers) the defense has come up with the stop every time.
I think this defense has been coasting for the most part,unless guys like Woodson and Matthews forgot how to play football and Capers forgot how to put together solid schemes.
I think we will see a different defense Thursday in Detroit,I think this is the week Capers starts to ''dial it up'' and the player's intensity goes up a few notches
I agree completely. I have to believe that any game where we see Matthews attacking from the same position all game, Capers is being vanilla. We saw in the Minnesota game that DC still knows how to put pressure on a QB.
I have a feeling that we are going to start seeing MUCH better performances from our D as the regular season comes to an end. IIRC, last year our defense was a big complaint during the first half of the season, but then ended up becoming one of the best in the league by the end.
So while I haven't been exactly enthused by our defense's performance thus far, I'm still on wait and see mode.
I think you two are thinking with your hearts and hoping for it being a scheme thing, not your eyes.
Capers is running the exact same blitzes he was running last year, they simply aren't getting to the QB at near the same rates. In fact, he's blitzing more this year.
McGinn talks about it all the time in his columns about why the defense is struggling so much more this year and it has nothing to do with Capers and scheme.
Raji isn't winning any pass rush battles like he did last year, even when he's single blocked. Jenkins was second on the team in sacks and pressures last year, but he's not here anymore. These two factors have combined to create a massive void in interior pressure which wreaks havoc on any QB. Our DL as a group has been absolutely atrocious in beating lineman to create pressures or at least collapse the pocket. Walden rarely ever can beat a tackle for pressure. Clay has been better than his sack numbers, but i do wonder if he's nursing and injury because last year when he got single blocked, he generally was a terror. This year, not as much. Then again, offenses don't have to really fear a single other pass rusher among our DL and LB this year. Teams have adjusted to the Woodson blitz in most cases. This is all a huge problem and really handcuffing Capers.
In the secondary, for whatever reason, both Tramon and Shields are just getting beat more often than last year and often for big gains. We see it happen all the time. Part of it though i'm sure is that Capers has to blitz so much this year to create any pressure because of the lack of skilled pass rushers renders rushing just four to generally be futile. Sending 5-6 guys leaves corners exposed more. Can leave linebackers and safeties one on one with skilled tight ends. With Collins out and Peprah/Hawk/Bishop all being poor in coverage, that creates big problems if the blitz doesn't get home quickly.
