you do the play break downs right? is our secondary that bad (when we had healthy starters in the beginning of the year) or is it due to lack of pass rush?
im no football expert (not many are) but i see a huge difference in how Tony gets pressured and who we are playing with.
Obviously its a combo of both, but how much would you say the troubles of our pass defense is a lack of pressure?
I broke down a lot of stuff last year and I thought our pass D had holes but for the most part the coverage was good and the pass rush sucked. Now this year, I had to leave BTB due to work and did not break down much plays, but the stuff I did this is what I saw.
-Good in man to man coverage, had the pass rush been better or somewhat existent, then our man coverage would have been very good. Our corners are more effective in man scheme, press too.
-Zone coverage was a problem, whether it was unfamiliarity with the scheme or just not smart enough football players our zone was very bad. Too many gaps, we did not have a true FS who could play single high safety roam the field and close in on plays. This is one of the reasons I have been pushing for a traditional FS with range and ball skills. IF WE EVER get one, I guarantee turnovers will go up and our pass D will be so much better.
-The pass rush was the reason this defense failed last year and in 2012. It has gone from a decent pass rush to almost non existent. I swear to you for most of this season if Hatcher or Selvie weren't getting push, then you would watch entire games of QBs having all the time in the world to pick us apart. No matter how good your secondary is, they cannot cover over a certain amount of time.
-Our corners and safeties were left out to dry because of that.
-Also our corners and safeties lack ball skills. Mo was a beast at that in college but that was college. Carr has poor ball skills, especially going up and getting the football, he took a step back from last year. Scandrick has the worst ball skills on the team but is a very good cover guy. Church is a SS, almost a hybrid SS/LB and has poor ball skills. You can have one or two guys with bad ball skills and get away with but when your entire secondary is bad at that you will not generate enough turnovers and make plays on the ball in the air and force incompletions. They must get better at that or bring in players who are good at that.
-Turnovers were happening early on but thats because our DL was doing a decent job of disrupting. It's not all about pass rush, you just have to get some push and disrupt things.
In conclusion focus on that DL, if we even get decent DL play next year, this defense will be so much better. And they need to add a FS with ball skills.
But really, those guys stay on the field and play the way they're expected to, the defense will see a massive improvement.
But really, those guys stay on the field and play the way they're expected to, the defense will see a massive improvement.
