I'm kinda 50-50 on this. It does feel like Reid and to some extent Thornhll have improved significantly at the same time, I just can't tell if it's connected. If I'm honest I don't know about sitting Sneed on someone like Chase. In principle I like the idea of bracketing him and leaving a guy on Higgins but I think Sneed's strengths are in his versatility rather than being a true lockdown CB. He can tackle, blitz, has amazing closing speed, reads the game pretty well. He's decent in coverage but I don't know if he's "stay with Chase good" - maybe no-one is. If we tried it and he got torched for a quarter you'd hope there's a Plan B. either way we need something new against the Bengals

It's all connected. All of it.

Spags doesn't really have a 'scheme' in the way a Fangio has a 'scheme'. Other than generally showing one thing pre-snap and doing something else post-snap and creative blitzes. One of the reasons he doesn't just lock a specific corner up on a specific receiver all that much is because that's one easy read for the QB.

I think the idea is that the QB theoretically should have to instantly read the defense post snap as we don't show them any truth beforehand.

We can debate the merits of that, but I find the concept solid.

I think the fact that our safety play has improved is huge. For most of the season our safety unit was horrible. They were on the field, but not making any plays at all. They weren't supporting our LBs on tackles and they sure as hell weren't providing over-the-top support for our corners. I cannot imagine that they suddenly became better football players, so I suspect a scheme change of some sort has yielded tremendous results in their effectiveness. Have any of you noticed a scheme change???

This is just my opinion; but I don't think Sneed is a true lockdown corner. I think he's great, and can do all the things you listed above, but . . . I don't think he's fluid enough. He doesn't flip his hips as quickly/smoothy as Trent does, HB did . . . or as well as say Darrelle Revis did. Now, I don't think it's fair to expect him to, either. He's not that guy. But he's so good everywhere else in the spectrum of things he has to be good at to play DB, he kind of only needs to be good enough, not great/elite in that one area.

But given all the things he does do well, plus his length and willingness to be physical, he can play press man with the opposing team's WR1, and even if he gets beat early, he has the speed and length to get back into the fight.

And really, if I understand Spags philosophy at all, that's all Sneed has to do. Be physical, delay the WR long enough to kill any timing routes, and be sticky enough downfield to make most QBs cancel that route.

For about 4 seconds.

For the top-tier/elite QBs that are going to try and come back to their WR1 down the sideline, Sneed's long speed, physicality, and length forces the QB to make a great-to-elite throw in a tight spot, and if our deep safety is doing their job correctly, they're throwing into a rapidly closing window, and the ball has to be perfectly placed to even have a chance.

I mean, when I think about how Burrow and Chase like to operate, which is a lot of deep sideline back shoulder type plays, what you need is a DB that is very physical, sticky, has great long speed, and has that height/length to fight for those 50/50 balls downfield. A guy like Trent, as good as he is, and that much more fluid, just isn't as hard to throw over as Sneed is.

Plus, Trent's ability to flip his hips and short area acceleration, make him an ideal slot DB. And since most slot receivers aren't much bigger than he is, his lack of size isn't a big deal. And, technically just based on how the slot lines up, he doesn't have to be very physical, though I think McDuffie is a pretty physical DB.

Anyway, my theory is that Sneed doesn't have to be Darrelle Revis the way Spags schemes his defense. he doesn't have to stick to the guy forever on an island. He just has to be able to do it for about 4 seconds, then he's probably either going to get help, or it's a footrace down the sideline, and Sneed can hold his own in that scenario. He's pretty good at using the sideline and his body to slow down receivers. You're going to have to make a very low-percentage/high-level of difficulty throw to beat Sneed 35+ yards down field along the sideline.

Anyway, if all that is working, and Reid is patrolling closer to the LoS, it takes some heat off the LBs in coverage; they just have less area to cover, and one less responsibility. Then we just have to get pressure in less than 4 seconds (probably ideally less than 3) from the down four, force the QB off his spot, which destroys a timing route, and make a scrambling QB have to checkdown, or run, or throw it away. Or put it up for grabs.

Anyway, that's the general idea, from what Spags has said and from what the analysts are breaking down from the tape.

The weak links this season have been the rookie DBs outside of Trent, and the LBs poor coverage. Having Reid in/near the box, and Trent in the slot mitigates some of those short-comings. Or it's supposed to.

Oh, an before someone freaks out, I'm not saying our rooks are bad. I think they're doing a pretty good job. But they aren't Sneed, or Trent. If you're a QB playing our D, you're going to pick on those guys every time instead of throwing at Sneed/Trent, just from the math perspective.

Anyway, at this point I don't know if I even answered the question. But I got to go. If I didn't, I'll try to do better next time.

Lots of great points, great post imo

Yep couldn't agree more it's been noticeable, and imo a bigger factor in an improving D than our DL.