I have been saying this for weeks. You have one possession and you are down by two or three TDs very little offense can actually do.
The defense is a travesty right now. It’s a safe bet that they’ll get smoked by any experienced, league average QB. More concerning in my opinion, 2 journeymen have come off the bench and put better games together than Wilson has all season. It certainly gives the impression that the system is not the issue.
If Mac Jones and Carson Wentz can hit 50 or nearly 50 on this D I’m truly terrified to see what Allen can hit.
Just a reminder that our head coach, who was a defensive coordinator in his former job has seen his defense give up 133 points and over 1,400 yards in their last three games. Carry on.
It is a bit concerning..... also a chicken/egg scenario. Maybe he needs to take a more active roll, but either way it'll be hard to tell as this team still lacks in the talent department
These defensive "performances" are entirely on the coaching. This unit wasn't nearly this bad early in the season. It's only been since the Atlanta game that they've been this inept. They changed something, it didn't work, but for some reason, they seem to want to stay the course. The question, of course, is this because of Ulbrich or Saleh? Either way it's on Saleh, but some potential reasons are more concerning than others. If this defense is his baby, he's clearly not a great coach: Either his success in SF was nothing more than the immense talent the Niners had on their defensive unit, or if he does coach well with the right guys, he does not know how to make adjustments to his schemes to best fit the personnel he has available. If the issue is on Ulbrich, than the problem Saleh has is leadership and delegation; he's a new head coach, so he can learn that. He needs to tell Ulbrich to get his shit together or be relieved of playcalling duties. So, if it's the latter, I have hope. If it's the former, we're just seeing what we saw in Gase, Bowles, and Mangini: A guy who owed his success entirely to everybody but himself.
Some guys are good coordinators but poor head coaches.... its proven time and time again. Hopefully this isnt just another chapter in that story
On the plus side at least it will get easier. They only have Allen and the Bills up next. What could possibly go wrong.
Whenever they interviewed one of our D-line guys during TC, they all GUSHED about how great Saleh's system is....All Gas, No Break.....100% get up field, fly upfield off the ball....get the QB on the ground. Our Dlinemen were licking their chops. But then I thought "What about screens? And other short running plays? Who's gonna stop all THAT stuff if all 4 Dlineman are 'getting after it'? It worried me a bit then, it worries me A LOT now.
and That certainly seems to be the case, but I'm not extending LaFleur yet. I want to see what happens when Zach starts again, and if this can continue. It could be a simple case of defenses haven't caught up with LaFleur's wrinkles, and after a few more games, they will. Hopefully, you're both right. I would love nothing more. I always thought that LaFleur had the "genes" and background to become an excellent OC, since his brother was such a great OC and is not a great HC, and he coached under Shanahan, who is no slouch. I rushed to being ready to fire him, so am not going to rush to proclaiming him a genius. I want to see continued consistency for the rest of the season from him and the offense pretty much regardless of whom the QB is. The D game plan definitely sucked, but also remember that both C. Lawson and Huff were out. Zuniga was seeing minutes and perhaps other backups were seeing more minutes than usual and that can cause problems. I'm not saying that improvement isn't needed, and perhaps even some changes in the CS. The former is definitely needed, and perhaps the latter as well. Even Saleh may need to go, but I'm giving them until the end of the season to figure this shit out.
As always, love your wit/sense of humor, but we have better DL talent this year than last, and we were very good at stopping the run last year, so I don't think the problem is so much with "holes" on the roster or lack of talent. IMO it's the scheme and coaching. I love attacking Ds, but evidently this is either flawed, is being played/coached incorrectly, or it's too aggressive. The players may not be playing with discipline and are freelancing rather than staying in their lanes or they're just getting outmuscled or outwilled at the point of attack. Whatever the cause, it needs to get fixed yesterday.
He seems better-suited to play in the box. He did pretty well there last year. He struggles when he gets in space, but Saleh and Ulbrich seem determined to turn him into a FS/deep S, probably because of his speed and athleticism and he does have some ball hawk characteristics, or at least did in college.
The passing on early downs is what is giving the offense success! There has not been too much. I think a big part of the reason Zach was struggling was that we were running too much on early downs leaving Zach with 3rd and long passing attempts and we saw few screen attempts from LaFleur while Zach was playing and no trick plays. Zach was decisive early, then his WRs started dropping passes in bunches and his OL was a sieve, and he reverted to the hero ball that he played at BYU. Zach needs to learn to take what the D is giving him and I know he will, and he is better than White and Johnson combined. They have experience over him, but the only way Zach gets experience is to play. He is the chief hope for the future of this team.
No LBs? Seriously? Mosely had a bad game last night, but he has played at a very high level this season. Quincy Williams was a great add. He has made a lot of big plays. The rookies weren't very good, nor the backups, but Mosely and Williams are good. It remains to be seen about Davis, but it's starting to appear that you may be right about him.
Man this brings back bad memories. Blew my right achilles playing ball about 15 years ago. Took a step and went down. Told my friend if he saw who landed on the back of my leg. He said "nobody was near you." I swore I got kicked or stepped on. Maye was a solid Jet. Wonder if he's someone who doesn't get signed in FA and takes a 1 year minimum deal mid season next year to get back
