Kendrick Lewis vs. Lin El - you know.

[mcaj22]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Replace LE with Adam Vinatieri and we win that playoff game, but with that offense, we weren't going to get past Buffalo or the NFC powerhouses.

Replace Kendrick Lewis with Ronnie Lott or an Ed Reed or a Kenny Easly and Sutton's defense is going to hum (when healthy). We probably would not a SB winner, but I think it would put us in the hunt.

The whole defense collapsed when teams realized that we had no ability to double team anyone deep.

Sutton already has 6 (current/ex) pro bowlers and one of the most expensive defenses in the NFL

Sutton could have 10 hall of famers on his defense and still **** it up in my opinion.

You really cant get any better than what we already have. He has more toys than most d-coordinators in the NFL that are doing way more with little.

[007]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Sutton already has 6 (current/ex) pro bowlers and one of the most expensive defenses in the NFL

Sutton could have 10 hall of famers on his defense and still **** it up in my opinion.

You really cant get any better than what we already have. He has more toys than most d-coordinators in the NFL that are doing way more with little.

Minus THAT safety.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Sutton already has 6 (current/ex) pro bowlers and one of the most expensive defenses in the NFL

Sutton could have 10 hall of famers on his defense and still **** it up in my opinion.

You really cant get any better than what we already have. He has more toys than most d-coordinators in the NFL that are doing way more with little.

I hear a lot of Wookie screams about how bad Sutton's scheme is, but I don't know how many people really understand it. I have some level of understanding, but I'll concede there are probably a few people who understand it better.

I'll start with the assumption everyone is healthy. Obviously this is going to vary with down and distance and substitution packages.

I'm going to focus on passing situations, since that is where the breakdown occurs. Typically pass rushers will be Poe+Hali+one more. Houston will join them 3/4 of the time and fall into coverage 1/4 of the time. Berry and Houston will blitz occasionally, and anyone else is rarely in the pass rush scheme. In the secondary we are heavy in man coverage. If everything works right the man coverage cuts off short throws, and the pass rush gets there before the long patterns open up.

In pass schemes, Berry typically locks up with the TE and you have 3 CBs locked up with the 1, 2, and 3 WRs, with DJ picking up any backs that enter the pattern. That leaves one player, Kendrick Lewis, to provide over the top help on all the deep patterns. So he has to 1) read who needs help the most (most often the deepest receiver), and 2) get there in time. Secondarily, he needs to close quickly on any underneath receiver and make a sure tackle. This is a tough assignment and you need a stud to do all of these things well. Kendrick Lewis is not that guy.

Our pass defense fails in one of 4 ways:

1) our corner backs get beat quickly. Pass rush doesn't matter because the QB can get rid of the ball too quickly.
2) our pass rush doesn't get there at all. This happens most often when Poe is tired, Hali is held, and/or Houston is injured.
3) the corner gets beat on a deep move, and Lewis doesn't support the deep throw.
4) We don't tackle well or take the right angle and the receiver gets all kinds of YAC. This wasn't happening early in the season.

Having a good FS tha knows where to run, is fast enough and able to tackle when he gets there addresses 3 and 4 directly, and gives the corners more confidence to play more aggressively on 1.

Sutton's scheme can work with a good FS.