Defense is two starters away from being very good.

[ImaginaryKev]

Good thing this is a strong draft for both of these positions and you can find talent for IOL outside of the first round. We're set up nicely going forward. 

 

[ImaginaryKev]

Jevon Holland, Oregon S, solid prospect for a cover 3

Nick Bolton, Mizzou LB, great in run stops and good in coverage too

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, CRA said:

So we shouldn't criticize a defense for not making more plays against a horrible one dimensional pass offense......we should criticize an offense for not making more plays against a top tier defense? 

 

The defense held the Bears below their average yardage and only two points above their average points scored despite our three turnovers. The offense failed to gain the average yardage the Bears allow while also coming up three points short of the average points they allow while also turning the ball over three times. 

It's baffling to me how anyone could look at these things and still somehow blame it on the defense when everyone came into the season expecting our offense to have to carry our D. The opposite is happening. Our D is being forced to try to carry our more talented offense. Good luck to any D trying to overcome three turnovers by the offense. There's a reason why teams that turn the ball over three times in the NFL lose over 80% of the time.

 

[pantherj]

An excellent defense plays a tight flawless zone, limits the run to very short gains, and rushes the passer well enough to greatly limit deep passes. In addition, the defenders should have a knack for stripping the ball, and tackling well enough to limit yac. We don't have an excellent defense. We play pass defense as loose as a wizards sleeve, and our pass rush is inconsistent, and so is our tackling. Brown has improved our run defense, but more is needed.

If we're ok with wizard sleeve pass defense, then we can turn our attention to pass rush on the d-line. The top priority would be to add a DT who is gifted at rushing the passer. A player like Warren Sapp, Fletcher Cox, Gerald McCoy (in his prime not now), Kris Jenkins, paired with Brown will cause an interior pass rush that forces the QB off his spot, and exposes him to Burns coming around the edge.

I always look to build up the pass rush before tightening the pass defense. Loose pass defense is fine if murderous monsters are closing in on the QB. The QB will start throwing poop into the air like chickenshit Teddy. Good. Upgrade the pass rush.

[ImaginaryKev]

We've already spent draft picks on Burns, Brown, Miller, Gross Matos...what more do yall need besides patience? Maybe it's a good idea to let our young pass rushers mature and get healthy while channeling some of the same draft resources we put into the front four into the back seven

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, pantherj said:

An excellent defense plays a tight flawless zone, limits the run to very short gains, and rushes the passer well enough to greatly limit deep passes. In addition, the defenders should have a knack for stripping the ball, and tackling well enough to limit yac. We don't have an excellent defense. We play pass defense as loose as a wizards sleeve, and our pass rush is inconsistent, and so is our tackling. Brown has improved our run defense, but more is needed.

If we're ok with wizard sleeve pass defense, then we can turn our attention to pass rush on the d-line. The top priority would be to add a DT who is gifted at rushing the passer. A player like Warren Sapp, Fletcher Cox, Gerald McCoy (in his prime not now), Kris Jenkins, paired with Brown will cause an interior pass rush that forces the QB off his spot, and exposes him to Burns coming around the edge.

I always look to build up the pass rush before tightening the pass defense. Loose pass defense is fine if murderous monsters are closing in on the QB. The QB will start throwing poop into the air like chickenshit Teddy. Good. Upgrade the pass rush.

That "wizard sleeve" D is 11th in the NFL in yardage allowed and 13th in points allowed. I'm not trying to argue that we have a great D. We don't. But they're greatly outperforming expectations. Virtually everyone thought they we going to be a bottom 5 NFL defense this year. They've been above average so far. That's miles better than anyone expected 

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, ImaginaryKev said:

We've already spent draft picks on Burns, Brown, Miller, Gross Matos...what more do yall need besides patience? Maybe it's a good idea to let our young pass rushers mature and get healthy while channeling some of the same draft resources we put into the front four into the back seven

This. We spent and entire draft class on D. We expected to be terrible this year but have the prices to build for the future. Turns out we're pretty decent this year and might actually have the building blocks to be great in the future.

[ImaginaryKev]

Also, we can acknowledge the roster holes we absolutely have in the back seven while commending them for still doing a good job so far this year. Douglas has been like the most best case scenario we could have possibly predicted for both he and Eli Apple (big corner who can hold up on the outside) and I'm encou by that. Chinn is a keeper, the d line has a ton of young talent that needs time. We absolutely could use a replacement for 52, Burris and Boston too bc those guys are just role players and aren't even locked up long term. 

[CRA]

3 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

The defense held the Bears below their average yardage and only two points above their average points scored despite our three turnovers. The offense failed to gain the average yardage the Bears allow while also coming up three points short of the average points they allow while also turning the ball over three times. 

It's baffling to me how anyone could look at these things and still somehow blame it on the defense when everyone came into the season expecting our offense to have to carry our D. The opposite is happening. Our D is being forced to try to carry our more talented offense. Good luck to any D trying to overcome three turnovers by the offense. There's a reason why teams that turn the ball over three times in the NFL lose over 80% of the time.

 

well, I don't think I am actually being that critical of our defense in reality.  Haven't criticized them at all this season. 

My position is that to realistically win the Bears game....we needed more from our D and ST than we got.  Because our O was going to rightfully struggle vs that D and did.  

 

 

[ImaginaryKev]

1 minute ago, LinvilleGorge said:

This. We spent and entire draft class on D. We expected to be terrible this year but have the prices to build for the future. Turns out we're pretty decent this year and might actually have the building blocks to be great in the future.

We have premier talent on our d Line, fans are just impatient at this point. 

If we balance those resources out to supplement the back seven the defense will be even better (and considering we are gonna play 3 safeties a lot in this scheme it makes sense to scout college DBs for fun) we got potential. 52 sticks out like a sore thumb every Sunday with his bad play but I'm not even mad about it bc we knew he was a stopgap to begin with and other guys mask his bad play a good amount of the time. 

[amcoolio]

Linebacker is first priority, we are still getting gashed by the run

Then DT, Need another strong player next to Brown

Then Safety (both)

[LinvilleGorge]

5 minutes ago, CRA said:

well, I don't think I am actually being that critical of our defense in reality.  Haven't criticized them at all this season. 

My position is that to realistically win the Bears game....we needed more from our D and ST than we got.  Because our O was going to rightfully struggle vs that D and did.  

 

 

Struggle on terms of putting up points, sure. Struggle in terms of committing three turnovers? Nah, that's a death knell. Nearly half of the Bears' 8 turnovers on the season came by way of the Panthers. The D did a tremendous job simply to have us in the game and then got multiple stops late to give our offense opportunities and we failed to convert a pass to a wide open receivers for a walk in TD and then threw a perfect pass to a Bears' defender.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Sorry but..add OLB to the upgrade. Is Shaq really a difference maker? Am I offbase as I see him get beat in cvg often and is an average tackler.  Been spoiled to expect Thomas Davis 2.0 from Shaq...  IMO, T.D. may be harder to duplicate than Luukke! 

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, TANTRIC-NINJA said:

Sorry but..add OLB to the upgrade. Is Shaq really a difference maker? Am I offbase as I see him get beat in cvg often and is an average tackler.  Been spoiled to expect Thomas Davis 2.0 from Shaq...  IMO, T.D. may be harder to duplicate than Luukke! 

I honestly think that huge deal Shaq signed very well may turn out to only be a two year deal. That five year $54M contract can very easily become a two year $27.3M contract.