He has one career sack. One. He has zero career pass interceptions. His weekly production is actually down: Tackles by week:
Denver 8, New England 2, Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 5.
He's never had a fumble recovery.
He's had three career passes defended. That's in 44 career games played.

He has had penalties for holding, and face mask, and late hits.

How's that for paying attention?
He's an OK player. There's lots of other inside linebackers who are much better.

His job isn't to get sacks or to pick off passes.

His job is to be the bulldog in the running game.

Here's another guy who doesn't get a lot of sacks or interceptions, has only had one 100-tackle season, but is a freaking bulldog.


Belcher is ONLY 24 years old and in his third season. He's progressing just fine.

I'm sure there are better linebackers out there, Mr. gblowfish.

But, Belcher plays an important role in this defense. He does a very good job of clearing out the trash, taking on fullbacks, TEs, etc. at the LOS. And, he's still learning. As a matter of fact, I think if you were to break down some of our better defensive plays against the run, we would find that Belcher's play is allowing DJ to accomplish more in less space.

I've always liked Belcher. He's a thumper and we need a guy like that amongst our linebacker corp. In fact, I really like the overall combination of Hali, Belcher, DJ, and Houston. That's a pretty damn fine group, right there. Especially considering their age and the fact that they still have tons of up-side.

I'd focus more attention on improving the d-line before I'd look to improve on Belcher.

FAX

Throwing out sack numbers for 34 runstuffers...I'm done. This is as pointless as arguing religion.

I'm just saying there's holes in his game. How many fumbles has he forced? He's only had two or three tackles for negative yards this year.

He's OK. Not great, not terrible, he's pretty average. He has not improved as much this year as Johnson or Houston.

Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I wouldn't go out and buy my Belcher All-Pro jersey just yet....

Holy shit. I am so excited for the future of this defense.

I am, too.

I only hope that Berry returns to play at a high level.

Oh ... and that Crennel returns. One bad thing that could happen is that we change defensive schemes on these guys.

FAX

You're not going to have an All-Pro at every position. Belcher is fine against the run, a problem against the pass. I would like to see a run stuffer have more forced fumbles. Its more difficult to pass rush from the middle because it leaves the middle of the field open. That said, I've seen them send DJ after the QB a few times. Belcher is a complementary player. I'd say we have a few other holes to fill before we start blaming Belcher for poor team performances, say Jackson, Gregg or depth at safety.

We've already changed the scheme this year.

Perhaps I should have used the word, "system". Anyway, you know what I mean. A new DC bringing in a new system would do us no favors now that we're seeing some real improvement on defense.

Why is everybody so nit-picky these days, anyhow? It's Christmastime, for crying out loud. A time for peace and joy and brotherhood and togetherness and half-naked girls in lingerie lying about beneath evergreen trees and licking the nog off their fingers.

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DJ beasting. No one can touch him on these plays. The dude is a ****ing ninja.

http://uranus.ckt.net/~gochiefs/dj4chi.gif

http://uranus.ckt.net/~gochiefs/dj3chi.gif

http://uranus.ckt.net/~gochiefs/dj2chi.gif

Nice .gif of the holding in the end zone.

Damn. Everybody was getting held on number three. That appears to be the non-safety?

On number one, Belcher appears to have lost leverage, but in actuality, he's super smart on that play by clearing out a path for DJ. Brilliant play. Did you see that play, Mr. gblowfish?

Number two is a classic DJ move. Go low through the block and penetrate to the runner. I think it's safe to say, he's got that technique down.

FAX

Wheres Belcher rank among inside linebackers?