I'm not sure that Mosely has the fluid hips that Van Noy possesses.

This is why I think Telvin Smith should be an option in the third.

Put 10-12 pounds on him, he should be able to retain the quickness, fluidity, and athleticism he posseses.

I see him as a Donnie Edwards type, but a better, more aggressive tackler.

I am not an alabama fan or hater but it really looks like system gets the job done. They get some of the best talent year in and out yet they just don't look the same once they get to the nfl. Barron in tampa being a rare exception.

Bob Sutton
 

1. Make sure Dunta Robinson never saw the field. I'll never understand why Ron Parker didn't see more coverage snaps in the playoff game.

2. Replace Kendrick Lewis with Abdullah or Berry. It's my opinion that Berry should have been our starting FS and Abdullah our starting SS with Demps as the first S coming off the bench.

3. Rotate more often, specifically on the defensive line. Poe was our only hope for a pass rush from a down lineman and we ran him into the ground all season long. Reduce his snaps by about 25% next season.

4. Make better adjustments. There were times when he made great adjustments (benching Robinson after he got torched by Victor Cruz and blitzing more against Houston in the second half) but there were many more when he didn't, specifically against Denver and San Diego (he never came up with an answer to stop those crossing routes) and worst of all the Colts. I may not get paid for this but I have common sense and it tells me when you're hemorrhaging yards and TDs doing one thing, you switch the shit up to counter it.

5. Practice/run more zone coverage. I hate to be the copy cat but Seattle runs a shit ton of zone and it's what makes their D so ferocious, among many other things. The thing specifically about the zone is that it keeps all eyes in front of you. That means there are often more chances to break up passes, tip balls for INTs, lay big hits (especially on crossing routes), and gang tackle. I'm aware that we probably just don't have the personnel to effectively run a disciplined zone defense but we need to try. Run that shit in practice and bring in some guys that can do both man and zone and do them well.

Going back to the playoff loss to Indy ,all Sutton had to do was get Hilton covered . Double team his ass. That's all he had to do. giving up a 28 point lead is bullshit.

Robinson and Lewis are now gone so coaches knew our weaknesses and hopefully we can upgrade in this draft. Hopefully commings will be a stud. don't know.

We saw Parker make plays as a blitzer, but we have no idea how he works in coverage.
I agree, though, that is one thing that Sutton could have tried, but at the same time, he also has the benefit of actually seeing Parker in practice.

I am not convinced that Abdullah has the tools to play the single high safety position, and he lacks the versatility to be moved around in the defense that Berry brings to the field.

But, again, it might have been worth a look.

Agree with this.

The best way to stop those crossing routes, and really, any other short passes is sound fundamental tackling.
Those passes are going to be completed a majority of the time, so you have to minimize the gains, which forces the offense to start looking for bigger chunks in the passing game, allowing the pass rushers to get more pressure.

Cooper might/probaly would have benefitted from more practice in zone, but, at the same time, you might not want to overload him too early in his progression as a corner.
We know, however, that Sean Smith has historically sucked in zone.

Not sure this works at all.

But this is one of only two responses to the question that I have posed that really legitimately address the question.

Good post.

Hilton was doubled teamed.

They are all in on that. I am no where near as sure as they seem to be.

This> They are hoping to upgrade this shit defense in the draft with 6 picks-yep will probably work. :rolleyes:

To the OP I think it is easier for an average fan to identify a good play call and player fail on offense. A wide open pass dropped.
On defense it takes more of an understanding of players roles in a defense to know the difference between bad play calling and execution.

The problem with that is the underneath stuff didn't need loosening. Houston ran pretty much their entire offense from the shotgun with a lot of 2 second passes. Clearly trying to negate the pass rush. They only threw deep twice in the first half. Well, technically three times, but one was a hail mary at the end of the half that wouldn't count towards Sutton adjusting to anything.

I don't think one deep pass attempt per quarter is going to cause any great adjustments to a defense. And in the meantime they gave up over 120 yards on short passes in that first half. They looked totally unprepared for a team to counter the pass rush with a short, quick passing attack. Which is troubling because that seems to be a fairly obvious strategy against a great pass rush.

I just don't see a cause and effect where they were being taken advantage of deep and then started getting burned by short passes because they had to back off. I think getting beat short came first. I saw it as teams trying to negate the pass rush by getting the ball out quick and the defense rarely having an answer. With the cherry on top that when they did go deep, it would work too because Lewis was garbage.

Our defensive backfield just isn't very good.

Yup. Could you imagine what it would have looked like without Cooper last year?

That's funny shit right there! Add that to the lexicon along w/ another suggestion, KLewlis

I'm strongly in the camp our FS weakness and injuries to our pass rushers killed the defense. I'm on board with Abdullah, think he's a fine player, very upgradeable, but a fine player, and should have been starting all year. So I'm not terribly worried about our safety play this year, should be much improved, but an upgrade prospect should definitely be selected at some point, I'm not counting on Commings long term until he shows he can stay on the field.

By the invisibles ?????

I may be confused about which teams, but there were a couple of games mid season that teams really exploited Lewis, which forced Sutton to back off the corners.