Our D: Let's Be Honest

[CanadianCat]

Meeks fears the blitz more than a French general.

Aha ha hahahahahaha!!

that was petty good!

[CRA]

We have a weak front 4...bottom line. Fox relies heavily on the front 4 and so does Meeks. I think the D will be somewhere close to what they were able to do last year. We simply don't have the DL talent right now (unless someone makes a huge step this year and helps Pep). Also, I think people put too much importance on the size of guys we have playing under Meeks......Meeks did have some great talent on the DL in Indy.....talent>size in a Meeks defense.

[Delhommey]

Exactly. It's not like Meeks' scheme is going to make Hayden slice through the line.

I am actually fairly happy with the ends but I'm not at all good with the soft, doughy middle.

No Pro Bowl for Beason this year barring major changes.

[MadHatter]

Ok, so the run D wasn't anything to write home about last year due to sub par DT (esp NT) rotation, so now what?

No Kemo to occupy blockers means no Beason to make plays. Run D suffers greatly. So do we....

1. Go full on Indy and get penetration with the DT's and choke the line with Harris? (and do we have near the offense for this crap shoot?)

2. By miracle find another space eater (or two hahahahaha) and let Beason do his bidding?

What do you see happening?

Completely different defensive scheme from last year. It is too early to tell how this defense will stack up and perform.

I am in a wait and see mode before getting too excited or worried.

[CRA]

Exactly. It's not like Meeks' scheme is going to make Hayden slice through the line.

I am actually fairly happy with the ends but I'm not at all good with the soft, doughy middle.

No Pro Bowl for Beason this year barring major changes.

Sadly, I agree....Beason has gone out of his way to give Kemo tons of credit the past two seasons. Beason is a beast and will this year.....but his numbers will drop most likely w/ Kemo out.

[pstall]

due to kemo going down all the pressure falls on the db's.

We didn't really pressure up the middle, just mild run stuffage.

The OLB's and CB's are gonna have to be on point basically every snap.

My hope is with Kemo out it lures teams to want to run up the gut and that could bog things down for them.

[PhillyB]

this is probably the worst idea i've ever had, but it also has entertainment value so i'm going to post it anyway.

why don't NFL teams sign giants?

like, literally, giants. eight foot tall behemoths. some dude wit a gland problem that just keeps growing... throw him on the defensive line on passing downs and have him lunge over the heads of O-line, or occupy three blockers, or something. can you imagine the psychological impact that would have?

(maybe this is why i'm not a GM)

[raleigh-panther]

Opening with Philly, Atlanta, and Dallas, I suspect we'll know pretty quick about our run defense.

[Jase]

5 man D-line

/thread

[CBDellinger]

5 man D-line

/thread

[Jase]

[koolkatluke]

How about the old Buddy Ryan 4-6 defence?

Realistically I starting too think about this maybe by having a deep rotation at DT we can make up for the loss. Just keep rotating fresh player in and out. Keeping the other teams online having too deal with fresh and different player every 2-3 snaps. That may cause alot of disruption for other teams offences. We might have to have 5-6 Dt on the game day roster though.

[CRA]

How about the old Buddy Ryan 4-6 defence?

Realistically I starting too think about this maybe by having a deep rotation at DT we can make up for the loss. Just keep rotating fresh player in and out. Keeping the other teams online having too deal with fresh and different player every 2-3 snaps. That may cause alot of disruption for other teams offences. We might have to have 5-6 Dt on the game day roster though.

rotating weak DTs in won't be effective. Plus, opponents can counter the rotation of fresh players with there own play calling to some degree.

DT needed to be addressed this offseason and it wasn't....we will probably pay the price for it. Kemo and Lewis struggled in rushing the passer and that took away from how effective the DEs could be also.....basically it just allowed teams to torch our secondary. There is nothing indicating a improved pass rush...coaching alone wont' make up for the lack of talent and depth.

[thefuzz]

If we had corners and safties that we felt comfortable with putting on an island, this would not be such a problem (losing Kemo).

IMO, if we had three corners in, for three wide, and could bring another S up to play the run, or take away the TE, we could have 4 DL's, and 3 LB's playing the run. Instead we are going to be playing much more zone, and need the third CB/2nd S to be in pass coverage.

Marshall is an unknown, and our S's are not great at pass coverage. Hence I think that we will try to limit big plays, and keep the O infront of us. Therefore giving up tons of rushing yardage, but hopefully not tons of points.