We have seen how our team is giving up tons of yards on defense, blowing up in coverage, and failing to make stops on huge plays consistently. We were 'ground & pound' on offense, but I understand that our O-Line is weaker on the right side and Schotty is a piss-poor coach. But has the Rex Ryan usual smash mouth personality worn off on the players? This is for the most part the same group of players that were here when Rex joined. Even if they have aged or lost a step, I'd imagine a defensive specialist like Rex would have found a way to maintain the same sort of defensive focus. Our safeties were not this bad 2 years ago, we rarely allowed runningbacks to run over 100 yards. (Do not mention Kris Jenkins - He was out more then half the time), our special teams were never going backwards and fumbling on key plays. I think December will be a key month for this defense. I'd like to see if this team will continue to respond the same way it has in the past 2 seasons in the latter portion of the schedule. However, right now as a fan it is almost difficult to trust this team to make the big stop against the playoff bound teams. Are any of you concerned with the lack of energy with this team on defense and how players are responding on the field?
We wanted to be a great team based on a great d and a great run game until we got the Commissioners memo enforcing league wide parody.
Yes, very. Like you mentioned many key parts from the 2009 defense is older and more worn down. Combine that with all the time they spend on the field in the 1st half of games due to continuous 3 n outs = hmy:
No doubt have we lost our "bad guy" mentality. You can just sense it from the whole team. You can just sense this in the way we've played football this whole year- lack of ability to stop the run and the inability to run the ball ourselves (or stick with it) Rex has said that we need to get back to ground and pound, but I havent seen one true ground and pound game this year.
We had a better over all secondary in 09. People hated Rhodes for his over all wussyness but he had much more range in coverage than Smith. Fanecca was on the down side but he could still pull and block in the running game back in 09. We also got a lot of production out of Brad Smith in both the run game and on specials.
I don't think it's a question of personality, it's a question of ability. The "D" is a year older, it lost two veteran starters, and features a starting safety who is woefully inadequate in pass coverage. Add to that the fact that we STILL don't have a good, base pass rush and ya get the sort of problems we've seen on the field this year. All the "personality" in the world isn't going to cover those deficiencies, especially when an ineffective offense is keeping the defense on the field a lot. I think it's a credit to Rex that the defense hasn't taken a bigger step back, actually.
Defensive focus is great, but it can't make up for a lack of talent. The league has 2+ years of film on Rex's blitzes, and Maybin is the only guy who has shown any pass rushing ability. The linebackers are slow, so losing a step or two actually makes a big difference. In 2009 they were 1st in defensive yards and 1st in defensive points. In 2010 they were 3rd in defensive yards and 6th in defensive points. Now they're 8th in defensive yards and 17th in defensive points. There's a pretty clear trend there.
I think there are 3 reasons for the defense's deterioration 1. Player turnover- Coleman,lowery, Ellis,Pryce, & Bt(due to injury) were replaced by younger talent. Although many of the replacements including Wilkerson,K. Ellis, Wilson,& Westermann have displayed promise and talent...they are still young players lacking experience and still developing consistency. 2. Combination of Key players hitting downside of career and lack of speed athleticism in back 7- Namely Scott, Leonhard & Smith aren't the players they were a year ago. Scott looks old, slow and timid, while Leonhard isn't getting around the ball as he was prior to this season. Those are 2 key veterans who made alot of big plays for this D before this season. now due to injury/lack of speed they have become glaring liabilities as full time players. 3. moving away from the ground & Pound offensively- let's face it..all 3 phases of this team seem to play better when the offense runs the football. It sets a tone of the physical mentality Rex wants, wears down the opposition's will and most importantly gives the defense time to rest & for the defensive staff to make in game adjustments needed to keep the defense unpredictable. Problem is, whether it's Rex,schottenheimer, or whoever else making the call...there is still an insistence to try and heave the ball up 40 times a game w/ a QB who is still learning. This results in no energy/momentum and a defense that begins to wear down from lack of rest. I think the future is bright if a few adjustments are made and I spoke to such in a different thread. More speed/playmaking ability is needed at both Scott & leonhard's spot. Both are deserving of role's on this team...but certainly no longer as starters. The young players will get better and more consistent w/ time, & most importantly an emphasis back to ground & pound will serve the whole team well.
Loss of some key players/not enough from existing/new players. Opponents have more film. Opponents are attacking our weakest points: safeties with TEs slow LBs with outside runs
When Rex came here he was doing things no one expected. All the film helped people figure out his blitzes. Bart Scott has also lost a step and the BT injury hurts.
I just see a lack of intensity from Rex. You are not hearing the bravado that we were hearing in year 1 and 2 and I think that is why you are not seeing it the defense. I am not sure why this is, maybe an order from woody or tanny to tone it down or maybe he just decided on his own. The speed of the leader is the pace of the pack and Rex has definitely toned it down some. I also think that Rex is constantly throwing out bouquets to his team and his players, even when they suck. We all know they sucked in a lot of phases this week. Revis had a bad game for his standards. I don't think that Rex sugar coating it the press does anyone any favors. Just say he had a bad game and we are going to work on it...or whatever. Unless he handles it differently behind closed doors I think this is a recipe for content mediocrity.
Cro is a pussy. If he didnt have the mindset of such a bitch, he could be a probowl corner. 3rd down vs the Bills on their late drive in the 4th quarter, Cro threw his arm a david nelson instead of his body. He let him get the first and our defense couldnt get off the field. Yes this is one player, but I just dont sense the same mentality and domination... and yeah a lot of it is due to age and injuries, but the overall toughness is just not it used to be
This. The first couple years Rex was here, he surprised everyone with his elaborate blitz schemes. As time has passed, opponents have figured these out (notice how few all out blitzes we currently have). So with that in mind, the team needs to rely on defensive talent more. Looking at our starting 11, who would you guys consider to be a better than average player? IMO, Revis is elite, Harris and Cromartie are both above average at their positions. Possibly Pouha as well. Other than that I see everyone has an average player/product of Rex's system. I'm actually not that surprised our D isn't in the top 5, much to the chagrin of Rex.
Just to be clear, we ARE talking about the team 8th in yards against, 17th in points against (Which is biased since how many pick sixes or fumble recoveries for TDs has our offense given up?), 4th in 3rd down stoppage, 1st in 4th down stoppage, and 7th in yards against per play? Oh, btw, if you subtract all those pick sixes and fumbles that were recovered for TDs, we'd only be averaging 18.1 points given up per game, which would put us much higher (Say around 4th-5th). The Jets problem is their terrible offense. 24th in yards per game, 15th in points per game, 16th on 3rd down percentage, 26th on 4th down percentage, 25th in yards per play, tied for second in most fumbles, tied for 13th in picks thrown, and tied for 14th in sacks given up. The stats speak for themselves. Our defense is still one of the best in the league. But no matter how well the defense plays, we aren't going to win anything with an offense so bad.
Cro is a notoriously soft "cover" corner. I don't think the fact that Rex hasn't been able to turn him into Ronnie Lott says anything about our overall defensive toughness. Again, with some veteran players gone, age catching up to certain guys, and a safety with cement in his cleats, it's not hard to understand why the "mentality of domination" isn't there all the time. I realize this past off-season was anything but routine, and Tanny's hands were, to a certain extent, tied...but he did little more than tweak the roster during that time. Clearly, he needs a more aggressive game plan going into this off-season, or the cracks in our armor are going to become gaping holes (Huh huh - "gaping holes").
