Seriously, I'm either on to something, or I'm just ON something. I'll let you folks judge.

Given our defensive personnel (minus the line at the moment), am I crazy to think that if we could get a coordinator in here with a Johnson/Spagnola style we could be absolutely crushing people?

Here's the (complete and total) hypothetical: Ted Thompson breaks open the piggy bank and pays real coin to a D coordinator of that mold -- hell, make the guy a co-head coach, if that's what he wants. We then go and draft or otherwise acquire at least some quality depth at DT and behind Jenkins (who, at least, will be back next year). With the talent/depth we've got at LB and a secondary that can lock up in man coverage, could we not be a top-5 defense?

I'm not giving up on this year, not by a long shot. But I have to say, the way this defense is underperforming just bums me right out. I know Jenkins is hurt and that's a big deal, but I can't shake the idea that we're just not using the talent we have to anywhere near its potential.

Okay, thanks for allowing me a little fantasy time. On to the Bears!

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I agree with you. As long as our style of D allowed the corners to man up, we could be MUCH better with a great DC. I wouldn't want to see any switch to zone pass coverage though.
Great thinking. Outside the box. I like it.

Frankly, what bothers me about this defense is that the players and coaches always say they are "close to shutting offenses down", but some gap discipline or something leads to an explosive gain. This seems like an extremely high risk defense for something that is so basic and non-aggressive. What, one small gap misread and our defense is doomed to give up 30+ yard runs? It just seems very poorly designed.

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Absolutely man coverage -- that's key, and we just happen to have corners that can really do it (as opposed to how Champ Bailey's been 'doing it' for the past 2 years in Denver). That frees up everybody else (including Bigby) to go in, stuff the crap out of any run attempt and get to the damn QB.

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Agreed, totally. I see no effort to scheme anything unusual or try to adjust to matchups. They just line up as if they somehow think our front 4 will magically get to the QB, when it's failed to do so all year. And then a couple guys lose their gaps and we're run on like doormats? I admit to not being a defensive guru, but that doesn't seem right to me.

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I said it before that Bob Sanders Defense 101 is pressure with the front four or know pressure at all.

He has know intentions to mix it up like a Jim Johnson or Steve Spagnuolo. The blitz packages the Packers use are awful. It's the same stuff. I'd like to see some delay blitzes and even Bigby brought, but there is just nothing. It's Barnett up the middle and Hawk or Poppinga coming from the same spot. On occasion you see Woodson from the corner blitz, but that's once or twice in a month.

I certainly would like to see a move at defensive coordinator. I'm an advocate for Winston Moss myself.

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It's bad when you hardly blitz but still regularly give up huge gains on the ground. I don't know if this is a personnel problem or a coaching problem, but it's going to be hard winning games in the NFC without a run defense. The entire NFC East, most of the NFC south, and the Bears and Vikings all have very good run offenses, and it's hard to get into the playoffs or go far into the playoffs if we can't at least limit the running backs to 100 yards combined.

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We obviously don't have guys on the D-line that can pass rush, OR stop the run.
Free-Rot had all day in the pocket. Had they had a good QB, they would have buried us.
Our DB's are great, but the D-line puts them out on an island every play.

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Yep, I know we've got personnel problems up there. But Kampy's good, and when we get Jenkins back he's our guy. I honestly think we're a couple good players (not great, mind you, just good) from being in better shape there, and there has to be something scheme-wise that can help. Like Porky said, from my (albeit limited) vantage point, it seems like Sanders just can not or will not adjust.

Hell, the Giants aren't getting things done with their top-line players -- they've had to shuffle and make do, as well. At some point it's got to lead to coaching.

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I agree.
Seems they need to TRY something different at least. And if putting a new D coordinator in there does it, why not at LEAST try?
To me, head coaches seem to shy to make major changes that way. I think it is more their "ego" then anything. If you replace one of your coaches, it means YOU didn't pick the right guy in the first place.
But if they want to win, they better try SOMETHING, because the other teams QB has all DAY to find someone. And if by some luck we make the playoffs, we will be one and done if we have to face a GOOD QB.

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I suppose I can understand the ego thing, but I hope McCarthy either gets over it or is forced to get over it, because I saw the same issues last year as I'm seeing this year, with the only difference being we don't have the depth on D-line this year to make up for what we lost.

Again, to be clear I'm not talking about making changes this year -- we've got our hand and we'll have to play it out. But I firmly believe that even if we make the playoffs and magically run the table to the SB we still need to look hard at the D coordinator position next year. In a division w/ the Bears and the Vikings, we can't afford to have a sub-standard D.

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