As much as I agree with all the Schotty-bashing, let us not forget that if our Defense stops Big Ben on that last 3rd down, Sanchez gets the ball back with almost 2 minutes left on the clock. It's crazy how confident I feel that if given the chance, Sanchez would have won us the game last night. Just shows you how good he is becoming. But of course, we will never know...because our legendary defense failed yet again. How many crucial 3rd down conversions did this defense give up this season? Revis finally has a chance to make a big play and he chokes. How does the defense not have a better game plan to account for Big Ben's scrambling? He was running at will on us. Mendenhall looked like Jim Brown out there. What does this defense need to be better next season? Signing Asomugha? Drafting a pass-rusher? Who doesn't come back next season...Cromartie? Jenkins? Ellis?
You don't feel the Defense is worth discussing? There is not a single thread on the first page about them..and they cost us the game!
The biggest need on this team is at OLB. We don't have a dominant playmaker in the entire front 7. Look at the two teams in the Super Bowl. Clay Mathews, Harrison and throw in Woodley too. BJ Raji is also a playmaker for GB. Our front 7 is weak.
I was disappointed with tackling by the whole front seven, although it looked like Ellis was frequently being double teamed. But if one wants to single out anybody, I don't think any OLB made a good play all game. Maybe I just can't remember one. Pace, Thomas, Taylor all did pretty much nothing.
We forgot how to tackle yesterday, that's for certain. As far as the D not being who I thought it was, you're wrong.
Defense was flat, but we shut them out in the 2nd half. Yeah we gave up a 3rd and 6. Fuck, no defense is perfect. Picked off Ben twice, had his worst QB rating of the year by far. Came down to our run defense, and them eating up clock in the first half with it. TOP killed us, we could not stop the run yesterday. Winning 3 playoff games on the road against Peyton, Tom, and Ben is no easy task. We came out in the 2nd half allowed 0 points and 75 yards. Even a great effort like that was ruined by poor clock management and stupid calls on offense. IMO
Did you see the Patriots game? The D can be great when they want to be, but they really shit the bed yesterday. I mean really shit the bed. Really, really shit the bed. The bed was shitty, and had shit all over it. It was a mess. Disgusting. Faggots.
The problem is that the defense IS who we thought they were. This unit was nowhere near last season's level of dominance, although sometimes we just assumed it was as good merely by association. We lost because we couldn't stop the run in the first half. End of story.
Yeah because the D didn't shut down Peyton Manning and Tom Brady the previous two weeks. Only the two greatest QB's since Elway and Montana. The D didn't make tackles, they dropped interceptions, they committed stupid penalties but let's not ignore the fact that our offense was disgusting in that 1st half.
Meh.... I see though out the Net in Sanchez threads how football fans don't want to give Sanchez too much credit because "He plays with a dominant Defense".... Really? This defense was smoke and mirrors all year - Jenkins could have been the key IMO, for this D to reach it's full potential. But, it never did. It was never dominant... I think Rx is just scratching the surface though... Revis is here, now get a pass rusher and fortify the S position.......
No pass rushers will do that to you. Put an elite pass rusher on this defense and the Jets would have demolished every team this year.
Are you kidding me with this shit? You honestly think the defense didn't shit the bed in the biggest game of the year? I love all this "we held them in the second half" crap. Mendenhall owned them.
Sanchez is a pimp. Big Ben is an example IMO of a QB that succeeds due to a top defense, not Mark. Not dominant yes, but as per the OP's point, did you think it was?? I didn't think it was dominant and I sure wish it was but it hasn't been all season so why think it would be last night? We screwed up LAST NIGHT; we didn't make tackles, Schotty called some really schitty plays, and we just plain screwed the pooch in the first half. To say the D isn't what I thought it was is BS.
I think the real difference was in the coaching. Ryan finally made the adjustments against NE and Indy, and it worked. When running the base 3-4, this team lacks an OLB that can cover, outside contain and disrupt. The problem with the offense was the game plan (if there was one) and the play calling. Ryan is stuck on this ground and pound shit, and the weakness in the PIT defense is the CB's. He learned to adjust on defense, but not on offense. Against good teams, playoff teams, you just can't impose your will on them. You have to attack their weakenesses.
