Agreed. Vilma stepped it up some yesterday- one of the few guys on D who showed some improvement. barrett actually played better than he has, too.
Giving up over 5 yards per carry to Brown & you say JV is improving. For sure you were watching a different game that the rest of us
Vilma is going to be fine, before we ship him out of town, there are a few things to try first, like getting a real DL and if that doesnt work out, move him to OLB. then if somehow, he still doesn't work out then i will be okay with the FO moving him. And somehow people have stated how even though Vilma hasnt been flashy, he has been one of top tackling MLB's in the league.
he's a good player but i think he would be more valuable to us as trade material- we could send'm to a team that he's better suited too (outside our division of course) - and get a high draft pick in order to pick up someone better suited to our scheme-
Yeah, he's the only one on the D responsible for tackling. Sheesh, some of you guys just dont get it, do you.
'04 to '07 Bruschi: 7 sacks Vilma: 2.5 sacks ...and two of those came in the 4-3, which leaves vilma with .5 sacks total in the 3-4. I agree that Vilma is not the most pressing problem, but his talents are definitely being wasted by a combination of the wrong system and an average at best front 3.
Yup top 5 in the entire league since 2005. But people don't like facts to get in the way of their arguments around here.
The issue with Vilma in the 3-4 is that he's just not suited to it. A 3-4 ILB must bring impact to the position. He must hit hard and force turnovers. He must be able to deal with a 300 lb guard without getting taken completely out of the play. He also has to be able to drop back in coverage but that's the role he has to be able to play after he's got all the stuff above down. When you give up a 295 to 325 lb defensive tackle in order to put two more flexible linebackers in play behind the remaining tackle you've given up a lot of impact at the point of attack. The two linebackers in the middle need to both add some impact back into the mix for the defense to work. There's a reason that the best ILB's in a 3-4 are known as "fiery" and "hard-hitting" and "sudden", that's what the position requires. Cool, methodical tackling machines backstop 4-3's not 3-4's.
A difference of 4.5 sacks over 3 years isn't saying much, why don't we start complaining about the real problems with this defense like losing in the war of the trenches on a weekly basis
Agreed. If they got a first day draft pick for him, I'd be happy. Mangini is married to the 3-4 and they have no NT (nor did they have one last year), so look for nobodies like Ronnie Brown to run over them all year.
LOL, I saw that too. I don't know what is expected of Vilma. Maybe people want to see more turnovers and sacks from him.
When your front 3 never get past the opposing OLine, and let every RB get a 4 yard head start, what exactly do you expect from the LBs? Replace Bruschi with Vilma up north, and I guarantee you, he's better at the position than the man he replaces. I find it hard to understand how a guy can be 44th in the entire league this year, and 5th in the entire league over the past 2 years in total tackles, when he's "getting taken completely out of the play". But again, I hate to muddle arguments with facts like statistics. They obviously don't do justice to the argument and should be completely discounted.
He should also be able to throw the occasional 40 yard TD strike when filling in for Chad, as well as return kick offs for TDs. I mean, for a player of his supposed talent, this shouldn't really be an issue.
I was watching Vilma alot yesterday and he was around the ball pretty much every play.He is far from the biggest issue we have on D just as Chad is far from the biggest issue we have overall.
It's pretty simple to me, if the DLine doesn't let OLinemen get to the second level, JV is making tackles for 1-2 yard gains. If they get to the second level, it's 5-6 yard gains. Either way, JV is getting the tackles, so he isn't the variable that needs to be changed.
I guess when things aren't going exactly right people will just bash the most recognizable names just because they are the most recognizable names.
He played ok yesterday. He was mostly responsible for Ellis' sack, he and Rhodes came in on a nice blitz that flushed Green out of the pocket and had him running for his life. And he seemed to be around the ball a lot in the running game. And while I don't think anyone would argue against the idea that he's better suited for the 4-3, I also don't think he's so bad in the 3-4 that we have to get rid of him and find a replacement.
That's because the opposing offenses are running the ball at him and Hobson and away from Barton and Thomas. A cornerback with a lot of tackles, like David Barrett, is probably getting run at and thrown at a lot. That's where the numbers come from.
I really don't have the time to get into an argument or debate right now, but are you suggesting that being 44th in tackles is something to be happy about? God I hope your not...
