Remember early Hall? Explosions! Explosions! Explosions!

[TecnoGenius]

What was our biggest problem on D in 2013-2015?  Explosions.  Hall came in and quickly identified he had to stop the explosions.  I remember him harping on it every single presser, and the D players repeated it in theirs.

And guess what, we eventually stopped the explosions.  They stopped letting guys get behind them.  They used the FS more as a pass defender than a free pass.  They were quicker to bite on go routes, rather than cheat up on the short routes.

Yes, our DB talent level has changed a lot, but I wonder how much of this is Younger not understanding that first you have to stop the explosions.  Then you work on stopping the dink & dunk.

There's a reason basically every team is getting a ton of guys behind our coverage.  It's too easy, like it's child play.  They aren't even taking us seriously anymore.  So many deep shots, and if the QB is even reasonably decent and the WR/SB is talented, those 20% shots become 75% shots.

We need to get back to erring on the side of covering the deep routes.  We need to focus on the explosions just like it's the start of 2015 again.  We've lost the plot, and teams will eat us alive.

On the bright side: remember what happened when we focused on the explosion?  We started getting INTs galore.  Think Fogg, Randle, Heath, Leggett.  You put the players in the hip pocket and you reap the rewards.  Let the LBers worry about the flat, and give up those short routes, until we can build up the DL again and stop both.

[BomberFan73]

It sure does seem like the structure of the secondary is lacking.  Ofcourse injuries make it hard, and so does poor pass rush.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I'm not prepared to put this on the system. The players play.

What kind of defense would you call if you can't get pressure with four and you can't cover anything deep when you send pressure?

[Blueforlife]

Have to fix this yes

Is it the system? hard to tell too early imo

A combination of factors have likely lead to this
1. Injuries
2. Loss of talent / new faces
3. Lack of pressure from DL
4. New DC / system
5. Inconsistent offense means D gets tired

[Pigskin]

Yes, before we hit the water. BA37 and AB4 both have lost a step. BA was no match for Hollins. AB4 just doesn't have the speed anymore to run with receivers, or bring pressure on a blitz.

[Waffler]

I feel we have talented db's that have yet to gel. The lack of pressure is what is killing us right now.

[blue_gold_84]

I feel we have talented db's that have yet to gel. The lack of pressure is what is killing us right now.

Agreed. The D-line is struggling.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Agreed. The D-line is struggling.

Yep V.A. had all day to find deep receivers, the key to a tight secondary is having an effective pass rush. I knew the loss of Jeffcoat was going to significantly effect the entire defence, it doesn't help Garbutt and Haba are now out of action.

Question:Did anyone see Schmekle out there?  Why on earth is Jake playing the entire game if Schmeck is available?

[dd]

Yes, before we hit the water. BA37 and AB4 both have lost a step. BA was no match for Hollins. AB4 just doesn't have the speed anymore to run with receivers, or bring pressure on a blitz.

Yes both have noticeably lost a step and we te getting gashed as a result. combine that with zero pass rush, and we've got a defence in serious trouble, serious trouble.

[3rdand1.5]

I feel the defence wasn't that far off. It is clear to anyone and everybody that our d-line is not good enough. Yes injuries are affecting this, yes only rostering 6 last game affected this, yes Thomas's wear and tear affect this, yes inexperience affects this....yes those are all a reality for us.....but that is not an excuse, it can't just be next man up...we are already on the next, next, next man up....We need help.

I will not pretend to have the magic elixir, but we need something to change. Once we get better in the front four we can evaluate further...Biggie has lost a step, but is it looking worse because he is compensating for the D-line, same with BA, our DB's are letting big plays happen, but is it because they are not good enough or because the opposing QB has enough time to "get someone" open due to lack of pressure.

IMO problem one is the D-line....figure it out and I bet the LB's and DB's stat looking better.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm not prepared to put this on the system. The players play.

What kind of defense would you call if you can't get pressure with four and you can't cover anything deep when you send pressure?

The system dictates if Alexander sneaks up to the line for run support, or sits behind everyone roving in pass support (a la Dequoy).  I'm not sure I've seen a play all year where Alexander was the deepest player when the ball is in the air.

If that was just Alexander's fault, the DC(s) would chew him out and he'd be deep next play.  But he's not.  It's the same problem over and over.

And it's not just Alexander: DBs were peeking at the QB way too long over and over and over, letting Rs whizz right past.  If it was just Ford and Holm and the rookies having brain toots, then the DC(s) would rip them a new one on the sidelines.  And then they'd come out next series and play deeper, or follow their R rather than spy the QB.  But they didn't.

Except for one Bridges and one Holm deep hip-pocket knockdown, the DBs were making the same mistakes all night.  Even into the final BC drive.

That is scheme.  They are coached to do this.  BA37 is put in a place on purpose.

Against maybe the league's deepest gunslinger we decided that our DBs would protect the short/mid&run game rather than the deep routes.

When we decide our DBs should stay in deep hip pockets, then we'll have relearned what Hall taught everyone in 2015-2016.  First rule: stop the explosions.

[TecnoGenius]

Yes, before we hit the water. BA37 and AB4 both have lost a step. BA was no match for Hollins. AB4 just doesn't have the speed anymore to run with receivers, or bring pressure on a blitz.

A lot went wrong with the D last night, but the very last thing I'd pin it on is AB4 and Wilson.  Wilson was having quite the night, actually.  Stanback was getting good YPC, but we limited any run explosions.

I didn't see AB4 doing much pass support anyhow, well not anything beyond mid-range anyhow.  I'm not sure we're using him in that way much anymore.  I'd prefer he guard the flat, anyhow, and spy the QBs like VAJ and Cody who like to run for 10 when nothing is open.

I actually think Biggie has had a great season so far.

[blue_or_die]

Plenty of problems with the D (as have already been identified), but the one thing we haven't talked about at all is the loss of Houston. Totally get we would lose talent and blah blah blah - losing a #4 receiver is one thing, but it's another to lose your star shutdown boundary corner.

I feel like if we "found a way" to keep him over others, our secondary would be in a far better situation. It wouldn't solve every D problem, but it would go a long way IMO. One less unknown. One less rookie. One more star on D. No ratio impact.

[J5V]

Before we dump on our D too much let's take a look at the numbers. As of our last game, it looks like after 3 weeks teams are scoring 25.8 points a game on average. The Bombers are giving up 25.3 points a game. We're right there. Considering the new faces and injuries our D is holding their own. The problem is on offence we are only scoring 18.3 points a game. That's the more concerning issue.

[TecnoGenius]

Before we dump on our D too much let's take a look at the numbers. As of our last game, it looks like after 3 weeks teams are scoring 25.8 points a game on average. The Bombers are giving up 25.3 points a game. We're right there. Considering the new faces and injuries our D is holding their own. The problem is on offence we are only scoring 18.3 points a game. That's the more concerning issue.

Yes, we are right there.  The D looks so bad because of all the yards, but they are forcing many 3's.  And we've played probably the 2 top teams in the league out of 3 games.

And we've basically lost every DB and DL except 1 or 2 on each.  Multiple times!

If things had gone to plan we'd be fielding Parker, Nichols, Holm, Ford every week, and that would be a pretty darn good lineup!  We didn't really need to keep Houston, not for huge $$ anyhow.  We always let a top DB go after a GC appearance.