All this talk about clements/samuel and spending half our dough on a CB is not necessary. Our D-backs were the least of our worries on the D this year. How many times did you see good coverage for a while only to have an opposing WR break free because the QB had way too much time to get him the ball. Once we get a real NT, D-Rob will be able to terrorize from the end spot and vilma will be freed up to make some moves. Our new D starts up front in the middle. Don't worry about the backs...that's MagicManGenie's specialty...he turned a WR into a DB in one summer for cryin' out loud.
I agree that we shouldn't sign a CB to a big deal, but I disagree that we don't need another CB. Maybe in the later rounds through the draft, but i'm not too confident going into next year with just Dyson has our only true cover corner. Poteat, Miller and Barrett are definitely needed for depth, but one more wouldn't hurt. Getting a NT would help a lot, as well as another linebacker. I rather spend money on Lance Briggs.
A good secondary will tie up the opponents receivers, which gives our pass rushers time to rush the QB.
Brady had all day on Sunday. I don't really blame the CBs. Other than the times when they were playing like 10 yards off the recievers, but that's also because we don't have the pass rushers that allow us to play up close.
listen people..the only reason an all out blitz works is if the receivers are covered. So every time we tried it vs the pats, our CBs were getting burned so our pass rush never had tiem to get there. I agree that if we had a solid corner on the other side of Dyson that we coudl completely take a teams passing game out.
rofl, no hes right. there was a complete lack of pressure. kimo van oelhoffen was nothing but a speed bump as far as the LG and LT were concerned. we need more penetration, ellis did pretty good but nothing commendable aside from the NE win or loss to INDY. you cant ask db's to cover perfect for 4 to 5 seconds on every play. thats ludicrous unless you have champ bailey and bizzaro bailey at both corners.
The blitz shouldn't need 5+ seconds to get any pressure whatsoever on Brady, which is what they were taking on Sunday. Recievers are going to get open on even the best corners if you give them that much time. We absolutely need a fat ass NT and a speed rushing OLB to play opposite of Thomas to get some pressure. Robertson can't occupy enough blockers to let Vilma and Barton (and possibly Hobson next year) rush the passer and Kimo couldn't occupy a damn traffic cone playing LG/LT. A top flight CB would help, no doubt, but they could help any team. Our secondary is not a true weakness, nor is it a true strength. If we get good 3-4 pass rushing personel, our DBs are more than adequate as-is. EDIT: Coach K beat me to it
Ah DEs & NTs that can rush the passer. Much easier said then done see Mario Williams. While I do not disagree with your thoughts I just think the task is going to much, much harder to find what we are looking for since these type players just do not drop from the sky into our lap. All those who are thinking we can patch up these holes with the draft should see how many dominant DEs & NTs there maybe out that that other teams will not snatch up before we even have a shot at getting them
how many of you watched the game, on those 2 and 3 step drops leave most D-ends helpless, those plays are up to CBs to play up on...they werent, we got shredded all day, we need a CB
Dyson didnt even play in the game besides the first series where he wasnt able to get back to the reciver quick enough to make the tackle, which was obviously due to his knee injury he got. So you have to to keep that in mind when your talkin about our corners against the patriots. But we do need another CB although Hank Poteat did a pretty decent job, needs to be upgraded. I dont know if he has got it in him to mature over the offseason but Miller's time is now to step up and take over the CB job opposite of Dyson.
I don't mind picking up a later round CB for depth, I just don't think we need to waste our resources signing an expensive free agent or drafting one early as DL is much more of a glaring weakness both in the pass rush and Run D. btw...100 cotch, nice avatar...is there a clerks babies show out that I don't know about...that would be awesome, although the last cartoon series was lacking a little bit.
Sunday's game the one guy they did pick on was Poteat. They were throwing Poteats way the whole game. They were chewing him up. The two guys that did well .........err excuse me ............... that did better........... were Barrett and Miller. They had some 3 pass defenses between them and together had as many tackles as Poteat with no PD's. Which shows who they picked on the most using the premise he made the tackles because they were throwing his way. One thing about Miller is he can make the big hit almost like a safety. Hopefully during a full off season under Mangini's tutelage he will get better. Remeber I think this year would be his real draft year. So he already has 2 years under his belt. So he is young, has the kamikaze spirit. If he settles down out there he can be great. The one thing that remains to be seen, is he a smart enough player to improve. Personally, I do not think Barrett will be back. I also agree that another solid CB needs to be brought in. If it will ruin the salary structure on the team to bring in Samuel or Clemons than forget it. I say sign our young players first. Spending like drunk sailers in free agency is a sure sign of mediocrity. The list of teams is countless and not just in football. It is more important to spend smart than to just spend. Anyway, I think a good pass rush trumps a good secondary. ALthough it is quite possible to have both, a good pass rush is more apt to hide a secondary's shortcomings where the reverse is not necassarily true.
And a good line who gets penetration can allow for a defense who doesn't have to blitz 85% of the time to get pressure!! Watching that NE game sums up the importance of a pass rush. We blitzed every down against NE and sacked Brady once! Thats how NE won the SB against Carolina with a secondary FAR worse than ours-- they had an amazing line, and could get pressure without selling out, and blitzing every play.
NJJets: It's actually from the episode where Jay sued Dante and Randall because he slipped. That was the ending of the episode where they didn't have the ending and the rest of the show was done by Japanese Anime people. That's clerks in anime. Also, there were way too many times where Brady had all day to throw. If that doesn't mean we don't need a pass rusher, I don't know what does. CBs shouldn't be chasing recievers for more than a few seconds.
The 3-4 defense will almost always send a player after the QB, it's designed that way. The Jets had 35 sacks this year. They need to get that number up to about 44 or so. In the 3-4 defense, it's rare for any player to get double digit sacks. It's the team total that matters. The DE spot across from Ellis had a putrid total of one sack, and Kimo and Hamilton were far too unproductive in tackle numbers as well. Ellis needs to get him number up from 5, closer to ten or so. Even 8 would be fine. Then, we need another DE who can get 6 or 7. That would get us up to around 44, which would have been good for ties at 5th in the NFL this year with the Pats. Even in a 3-4 D, it's reasonable to expect about 15 sacks between the two DE's. Sure, a dangerous edge rusher from the OLB spot Hobson plays would be nice, but not necessary. Lets not forget one of the biggest weaknesses on defense is also against the run. A big run stopping DE that can generate some pressure on the QB would improve both the pass rush and the run D. I have my eye on Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska. Huge kid, and very fast for his size. He has already crept up to the #25 ranking in Mel Kyper's draft. (Not that i particularly like Kyper) Having said that, I still think we need a CB, and pretty badly. Fill those two spots, and I like how the defense shapes up for next year. Miller may or may not ever get smart enough to play in Mangini's schemes. Poteat and Barrett are average at best. I'll be disappointed if we don't sign either clements or Samuel in FA. That is the only FA signing I really want to see happen. We can get another RB and some O line help in the draft.
I think you have it backwards, you want a strong pass rush so your DB's don't have to cover all day. As plays go on, DB's lose WR's, you see it all the time. Secondary Schemes break down as the play of prolonged due to a weak pass rush. A 3-4 is capable of bringing pressure from many different places, BUT you need the players to make it work. Kimo is useless, Ellis sucks now that Abe is gone, and our LB's except Vilma & Thomas are slow. All adds up to a weak/slow pass rush and a bad defense.
They might just give Miller a chance to develop into a starter next season. Pass rush needs to be improved, no doubt. I don't think there is anyone on the roster that is gonna do it.
That's not true. If you watch the game, most of the times Brady checked off at the line to a quick three step drop pass. Even guys running free couldn't hit him at the end of his drop. We need better pass rushers. The only reason we have to blitz so much is because we don't have gifted pass rushers, who can get to the quarterback with only four guys rushing.
