It is a pretty simple assignment based defense.. Gap control up front, backers read play and attack or drop.. and man up corner play...
It is a solid defensive strategy if you have three basic things...
1) A line that can win one on one matchups
2) Have solid cover corners.. with assignment sure safeties over the top.
3) Players that stay within their assignments.. especially up front.
This is a defense that is vanilla, but has very few mental breakdowns because the assignments are pretty simple. But it is predictable in nature, and if you are losing one on one match ups.. it is more prone to failure.
We are losing at the LOS, which is going to breakdown almost any coverage scheme.. and to date, Sanders isn't willing to blitz, which is a sign of one of two things..
1) Lack of confidence if the flexibility in assignments in coverage..
2) Of lack of confidence in the ability to get there even with pressure..
Dating back to the Cowboys game last year.. or even further back, it is evident the Sanders lacks confidence in his players, period.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"