No, we can’t blame the secondary for the pass rush, which had an anemic time to pressure. But is it the players, or a read-and-react scheme that delays the rush? I think it’s a bit of both.
Likewise, I dont think we can immediately blame the DL for the rotten run defense in the back half of the season. For that, I think much of the blame falls on Shep, as his initial scheme relied on the secondary for run support, and it took too long to realize that the backups weren’t up to the responsibility.
I can blame injuries on a slight drop in that specific area. Ie DBs hurt = more broken pass plays on the back end.
But i HOPE for his sake, Shep learned his lesson. A few players event stated (like McNeil) said he didnt understand why Shep put a leash on him. Told him to stay back and focus on the run, thats not his job. Thats the NT and LBs job to stop runs up the middle. Macs job is to get into the backfield.
Yea, I think you discount how the Lions use their safeties which then leads to issues with your conclusions in this instance. Then add in Arnold’s loss as well to those two.
It never matters how a team wins a Superbowl, but one thing you can count on every time, is what ever team wins you will have a ton of posters say that’s the way you win. That’s how you build your team.
Good point. And not just fans, teams do it too. Like how Bill Belichick had about 15 assistant coaches become head coaches. Most of them failed miserably. But the teams wanted to copy cat the Patriot way without Bill or Brady coming over.
Yeah we were 15-2 had a lot of changes in the offseason that set us back a bit. Our bread and butter is the offense and that’s fine, the defense will be better if we can stay somewhat healthy and add a few more pieces. Wanting to change courses now would be a knee jerk reaction. We just need to be better at what we do and the rest will take care of it self.