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09-24-2018, 02:51 PM | #226 |
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I will reiterate - if we'd have done in the Colts playoff game what we've done in these last few games defensively, we'd have won. The defense doesn't look good, but it's played very well for a quarter or even two at a time before trying to bleed clock.
Say you don't like it, but it's getting wins. And when they can hold the Steelers to 1 true offensive TD in the 2nd half last week (Conley's fumble game them a 2nd) and throttled the 49ers through the first this week, we know there is a gear there. My real question though is talent based - are they faster? And I don't mean play speed - I mean pure athleticism; is this a faster team than last season's squad? You look at the replacements and you have to say yes, right? DJ replaced by Hitchens, Zombo replaced by Ford, Peters replaced by Fuller and Sorenson replaced by Murray. The rest are largely reshuffled deck chairs but the same guys, right? Give back a bit from Houston if you'd like and you'd still have to concede that team speed is better, right? And that was easily our biggest problem to me last season. So if the athleticism is improved, wouldn't it stand to reason that we'd see performance improve with reps? Maybe not with Murray because man, he looks completely unaware out there. But I have to think we have some untapped ceiling here when these guys just get more accustomed to playing together. I refuse to believe this defense is truly this bad. There's talent out there but play after play after play, they have a serious breakdown. That's a familiarity issue.
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09-24-2018, 02:53 PM | #227 |
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09-24-2018, 02:53 PM | #228 | |
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I think Sutton's just coaching scared and has been for 2-3 years. The talent issue last year was so stark that 'bend don't break' was the best he could do. And now they're playing stupid and undisciplined so he's afraid to take the top off and give up 2 minute scoring drives. Sutton didn't suddenly forget how to call the exotic blitzes that were his calling card when he first got here. He knows how to do all that stuff - he just won't. And I think it's because he was scared to death of breakdowns due to talent last year and discipline this year. He doesn't have a group he trusts and it shows, especially when they get a lead.
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09-24-2018, 02:54 PM | #229 | |
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There is no logical reason why you go conservative in the 2nd or 3rd Quarter. The only explanation would be that there is some type of stimulus for close games. The NFL is not making money from blowouts. |
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09-24-2018, 02:55 PM | #230 |
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I could buy that it's an issue with a few players being familiar with the scheme if these were new players having problems that were suddenly appearing at the start of this season, but they aren't. These are players who should know the system inside and out by now, they just aren't good enough. When a guy continually blows his assignments and misses tackles the way Murray does for example it's not a teachable moment. He's just not good enough for the role he's in.
The defense has been declining for a few years now. For the previous two years they got worse and worse in yards allowed, and now the turnovers have dried up so they are completely exposed. The team either hasn't recognized what's going on or they have and have failed to address it. |
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09-24-2018, 02:56 PM | #231 |
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Win by 11 with the ball in your hands at 0:00 after your defense gacks an easy 3rd and 16 due to poor play execution and your #2 TE drops another drive sustaining first down and suddenly you have to answer for not winning by enough.
Reid managed the clock perfectly on Sunday but suddenly we have a group of 'scoreboard truthers' who just hate not winning by 20. That was a stroll home.
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09-24-2018, 02:57 PM | #232 | |
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With a 4 score lead, taking the air out of the football in the 3rd is wholly defensible.
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09-24-2018, 02:58 PM | #233 |
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They have 7 new starters on D this year. I'd say they recognized it and addressed it.
Whether it's worked is obvious |
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09-24-2018, 02:58 PM | #234 | |
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it's the memories of the 2 playoff collapses that is still burnt into fans minds. Because Chiefs.... I don't really think you can blame them for the beaten dog syndrome. |
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09-24-2018, 02:59 PM | #235 | |
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Of course we could be in the 9ers shoes and kick a field goal to cut if from a 2 score game to a 2 score game with 4 minutes left in the game. |
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09-24-2018, 03:02 PM | #236 | |
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We did some serious defensive overhauling and it paid pretty significant dividends pretty quickly. But maybe we just underestimated just how much change was happening to this squad. The 2013 team made some additions but I guess its core group was largely unchanged as they aged into their primes. So what seemed like a true rebuild wasn't quite as drastic as it seemed. And now this one is. Because these guys really don't seem to have any idea how to play with each other. It's like watching a rec team try to play zone defense for flag football. There's just no synergy out there and they're constantly stepping on each other's zones (and leaving their own exposed). Reps have to help....don't they? The personnel has been brought up to average to maybe slightly below. It's better than its performance by a fair amount, IMO. It has to be a rep issue.
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09-24-2018, 03:04 PM | #237 | |
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09-24-2018, 03:11 PM | #238 | |
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{checks lines} Nevermind. I guess it doesn't count if you don't cover by enough.
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09-24-2018, 03:14 PM | #239 |
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09-24-2018, 03:44 PM | #240 | |
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