A radical idea to correct our pass defense

[bubba9497]

Forget the blitzing.

Through the first seven weeks, we had the #1 pass defense, and in almost all those games we blitzed less, and had 6 sometimes 7 in coverage... basically taking away any chance to find an open receiver

We controlled, Bledsoe, Hasselbeck, Plummer, and Green with that philosophy.

The past 2 weeks we have been blitz happy, and been repeatedly burned, because teams are in max protect, they have the time to find the WR in single coverage.

We don't face any real threat from a running QB, teams are in max protect, and only sending 2 or 3 WR in a pattern... Heck we may get even more sacks.. "coverage sacks"

I know Williams likes to be aggressive, but I think this is also aggressive, but in a different way... frustrating a QB, and causing him to throw it away, or try and force passes into coverage, causing turnovers

Just an idea

[EnFoRcEr_uPu]

I don't know about TOTALLY abandoning the blitz, but stop being so predictable about it. How many times have you seen our guys shift or shuffle on a hard count to give away a blitz? Any decent QB now days can change the play of the offense at the snap of a finger just by seeing an on-coming blitz. I think you're right though. A guy like Marshall could be very helpful in the backfield whenever we need him. Let the line stop the run(they've been fine since LA was put back in).

I think at this point, being 5-5 on the season(legitimate or not), you need to start taking chances. Because the normal stuff isn't working any more. To be honest, it barely got us by in the first place.

[jbooma]

The other issue with those teams Bubba they are not passing teams. We play San Diego, Arizona and St Louis who love to air it out.

The problem is Harris is not a #2 and we can not generate any consistent pass rush. I completely agree with not blitzing, it has been killing us the last couple of games. Why don't we put Clemmons and LA on the ends on 3rd?? They are the only guys on this team that can get to the QB.

[Awesome]

Something's gotta change. This defense is not the same. You could tell Collins just knew he was going to be able to march his team down the field on us with all the underneath stuff, that's what's been killing this defense. the dumps and crossing patterns that are thrown over our blitzing lb's.
Beating our defense has become relatively easy now.

[RedskinzOwnU]

Umm, I dunno what game you were watching yesterday bubba but we hardly blitzed yesterday. the coaches even pointed out that they didn't blitz because it was pointless (as evidenced by last week in TB) so they just dropped more people in coverage. I agree with your premise, and thats what I was thinking last week - unfortunately thats what they did this week and it still didn't work. basically, our D sucks and we need a D-line that can create a pass rush before we improve. GW isn't the problem, he just doesn't have the players he needs to execute, which is sad given how many #1 picks we've used on defense.

[TheLongshot]

unfortunately thats what they did this week and it still didn't work.

Actually, you are wrong. It did work. We held a powerful passing offense to 16 points. It was only one big pass play that they had.

What was killing us more were the screens to the back. That might actually be more important with SD comming in. It looked like Marshall was getting caught up in the wash a lot on those. I also saw Lavar miss one in the backfield when he was going for one of his big hits.

Jason

[bubba9497]

Umm, I dunno what game you were watching yesterday bubba but we hardly blitzed yesterday. the coaches even pointed out that they didn't blitz because it was pointless (as evidenced by last week in TB) so they just dropped more people in coverage. I agree with your premise, and thats what I was thinking last week - unfortunately thats what they did this week and it still didn't work. basically, our D sucks and we need a D-line that can create a pass rush before we improve. GW isn't the problem, he just doesn't have the players he needs to execute, which is sad given how many #1 picks we've used on defense.

I have to disagree, on every big pass play the Raiders connected on happened when the Skins blitzed. Including the TD to Porter.

[feeshta]

The defense needs Cornelius Griffin back in the middle in a big way. He is the anchor for this defense. Without him, the D-line is very poor. Having him in there creates opportunities for others, besides the fact that he is often able to beat the double teams on run plays.

Next year this defense could really use a better DE or two. The guys we have are strictly run stoppers which is fine and all, but we need at least one guy who can get after the QB from that position. I personally like Tomba Hali from Penn State. Put him next to Griffin and you have a pretty formidable combo. Let Griffin eat up blocks and Hali can go wild. Hali has geat speed and strength, but his greatest asset is between his ears. I've never seen a DE who was better at maintaining his responsibilities, or at sniffing out misdirection plays. Even if he misses the tackle, I have seen him blow up more plays by simply reading what he is seeing correctly and being in the right place than any DE I have ever seen. He's also a good run stopper for a DE, being fast enough to come down the line from behind when the play goes away from him. I'm not sure we could get him without a first rounder, but he or Kiwi(who also plays smart)would be my pick at DE.

[bobzmuda]

I have to disagree, on every big pass play the Raiders connected on happened when the Skins blitzed. Including the TD to Porter.

Gregg Williams said they were playing Tampa 2 on that Porter TD.

[zoony]

I would say just the oppositte... blitz more guys.

Seems like when we do blitz, we only send one or two.

I think our corners are good enough to play man for 3 seconds. Send the house. Leave Taylor, Springs and Rogers only in coverage.

[PCRoughrider]

Blitzing isn't the problem. It's blitzing and not getting to the quarterback that's the problem. In the last two weeks, the offenses have been uncanny in their ability to pick up our blitzes.

If we blitz, we have to get to the quarterack.

[SkinsNeverDie]

If we abandoned the blitz recievers are bound to get open with time. They would have at least like 10 seconds to throw the ball and that is WAY too much time for an NFL QB.

[RIDETHEWALRUS]

We blitzed poorly nd infrequently yesterday.

[sonsofwashington]

What about a two man delayed blitz? I am not much of a strategist, but hear me out for a second.

It is really very simple. Send two guys in on the blitz but in different intervals. Have the first blitzer (the stronger LB) rush with the DL. The second blitzing LB holds the middle for 1 second or less as he inches forward while trying to find the hole in the OL to bust through. The delayed blitz forces the OL and company to pick up blocks after they have already commited to an assignment.

Here are the advantages I see (not in any order):

- OL is forced to make reads while in action as opposed to commiting to a block off the line. The assumption is that they OL cannot possibly make the correct read all the time.

- The delayed blitzing LB can find the lane in which to plow through, avoiding momentum stopps by blockers.

- Unexpecting QB's will be hurried, flushed out, etc because the delayed blitz is hard to pick up when looking down field.

Well the idea is kinda like opening a hole for the running back on offense, except we are opening a hole for the blitzing linebacker. Any thoughts?

[CHUBAKAH]

Blitzing isn't the problem. It's blitzing and not getting to the quarterback that's the problem. In the last two weeks, the offenses have been uncanny in their ability to pick up our blitzes.

If we blitz, we have to get to the quarterack.

We have a winner.