Pack93z
  • Pack93z
  • Select Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
Feeding off Zombie's Defensive stats.

Defense still sells in the playoffs. As we approach championship weekend in the NFL, I see four defensive units that can win a Super Bowl. We will hear the talk of the QBs (Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Cutler, Sanchez) before Sundays kickoffs, but the reason the Steelers, Bears, Packers and Jets are still playing football in January is all about defense. Four units that ranked in the top-ten this season looking for that ticket to Dallas and Super Bowl XLV.

Lets take a look at each squad and discuss the main reason they are still alive in the playoffs.

Chicago Bears: front seven play


One of the top defensive fronts in the game. Under Lovie Smith the Bears 4-3 look gets penetration up the field, pursues to the football and plays fast. DE Julius Peppers will always be talked about due to his ability to rush the QB, but watching Chicago this season, his play in the run game in crucial. LBs Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs both are playing at a Pro Bowl level and when you can limit the opponents rushing production with a seven-man front you are playing top tier defensive football. No one runs the ball on Chicago right now.

Green Bay Packers: elite secondary


Top to bottom, this is the best secondary in the league from my perspective. We know what you get from Charles Woodson: aggressive, dynamic play from the cornerback position. A player with safety size that can align inside, play man coverage and produce edge pressure. Add in Tramon Williamswho is having a career post-seasonalong with the range of FS Nick Collins and this secondary can win championships. This is the perfect blend of talent and athletic ability for Dom Capers scheme and there is no doubt that this secondary will compete when the ball is in the air. Cant win a title without good secondary play.

Pittsburgh Steelers: playmakers

Last week in the win over Baltimore, it was FS Ryan Clark (INT, forced fumble). An underrated safety that understands route concepts, angles to the ball and is a pro when it comes to studying the game. This Sunday? Take your pick at who is going to make that big play. Polamalu, Harrison, Woodley, Ike Taylor, Hampton, etc. Dick LeBeau can get creative and take risk in his play calling because of the playmakers on his side of the ball. Pittsburgh will use those exotic looks to pressure and put their players in a position to produce. If I could coach one defense in the NFL, this would be it. Loaded with talent.

New York Jets: cornerback play

This was on display in the win over the Patriots in Foxborough. You can play Cover 1, drop a robber into the middle of the field and keep a free safety deep over the top when you have cornerback play like the Jets. A simple scheme. And that doesnt count the amount of pressure that Rex Ryan can bring when he wants to play Cover 0 (no safety help) because of Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. Revis is the top cover corner in the league, and although Cromartie can get sloppy with his technique, his natural ability takes over and allows him to make plays on the ball. Tough matchup from an offensive play calling perspective when you have two corners that can line up in both a press and off-man lookand play with production.


"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
zombieslayer
14 years ago
Hey, good stuff Pack.

Of course, I have to nitpick. ;)

Cant win a title without good secondary play.



The Giants' of '07 won one with a mediocre secondary. Brady was on his ass before he could exploit them though.

As for the Steelers, I'd rather face the Jets. You're right about them alternating who is going to be good that day. They play as a team and when one sucks, the other kicks ass.

As for the Jets, they have the best 1-2 CBs in the NFL but we can beat them with our 3-4 WRs. We're also going to be able to run against them with Starks, someone we didn't have the first time we saw them this season.

As for da Bears, as much as everyone seems to hate Urlacher and say he's overrated, the stats speak for themselves. The guy follows the ball and makes tackles. He also makes big plays. 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 10 passes defensed, one pick. I know Packer fans like to dismiss him as a meathead but he's got football smarts. Briggs and him work very well together and that makes perhaps the scariest LB core in the NFL.
My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
Packers_Finland
14 years ago
Jets have 1-2 best CBs? Cromartie is not nearly as good as he's hyped up to be.

This season I'd say Revis hasn't been any better than Tramon. Tramon has been near perfect this season. Woodson is also better than Crom in coverage, despite the fact that Woodson makes most of his plays rushing the passer of in run defense.
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Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
14 years ago
Now now. You know he meant "best cornerbacks for a team not called the Packers."

:)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
dfosterf
14 years ago
Houston Chronicle- "Yes, that's the same Dom Capers..." 

This is good stuff-

Yes, that's the same Dom Capers who onced coached the sorry, no-account Texans
Dom Capers is one of the NFL's best defensive coordinators. In fact, this weekend is a showcase for superstars defensive coordinators: Rex Ryan (Jets), Dick LeBeau (Steeleers), Rod Marinelli (Bears) and Capers (Packers).

Does defense still win? Three of the five highest-ranked defensesSteelers (second), Jets (third) and Packers (fifth)are still playing. So are the Bears, who were ninth in total defense. Meanwhile, these four teams were ranked 14th, 11th, 9th and 30th in total offense. By comparison, the Texans were 3rd in total offense, 30th in total defense.

You know what else still matters? Takeaways. The Bears (third), Steelers (fourth), Packers (sixth) and Jets (ninth) were all among the NFL regular-season leaders in takeaways. By comparison, the Texans were 30th.

Under Capers, the Packers were second in sacks and interceptions. By comparison, the Texans were 23rd in both.

Capers was one of the first NFL defensive coordinators to become more creative with his blitz packages. He'd blitz quarterbacks from all angles and with players from all positions. LeBeau has taken that philosophy to another entire level, so this weekend should be great fun watching what the four of them come up with.

Why didn't it work for Capers in Houston? Strangely, defense was one of the team's weaknesses when he was here. In four years, they were 16th, 31st, 23rd and 31st. That's an average finish of 25th. Under the current regime, the Texans have had an average defensive ranking of 23rd, so who says they're not getting better?

In the end, Capers got fired for not running his own defense. Or that's the way it appeared. He trusted his defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, who didn't do a good job.

Dom was an interesting guy. He was about the most honest, most decent person you'll ever meet. He had incredible discipline in his personal life. He hit the weight room harder than any of his players, worked out at least once everyday, kept a detailed personal diary of his daily life. If you cared to know, Dom could tell you what his resting pulse rate was on the morning (or afternoon) of July 3, 2004.

In March, he'd give the entire organization a large binder detailing how the football team would spend every minute of the next nine months. If you were going to need Dom on Oct. 9, he could tell you when he'd be free. If you're thinking he sounds like an interesting man, he is.

He was tough but fair with the players. He had a much better understanding of the importance of strength training in the NFL than Gary and Rick. He was sometimes too rigid in his practice schedules. There were times when the players were tired, but Dom wouldn't back off.

But for some reason, he seemed less tough with his own coaches, the men who eventually got him fired. Players complained that Vic made things too complicated. His Stanford players apparently were able to comprehend his game plans, but that's another story. Now he's back in the NFL working for Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers.

At times, GM Charley Casserly pleaded/urged/suggested that Capers take control of his own defense. Capers may have taken more control, but Fangio always appeared to be the man in charge, and they went down together when Bob McNair fired all of 'em after the 2-14 2005 season.

If he'd known then what he knows now...

He went from two NFL veterans in Casserly and Capers to two raw rookies in Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak. They've neither drafted nor coached well. My personal opinion is that if he'd left Casserly in charge the football team would have gotten straigthened out.

However, there were very, very, very legitimate reasons for firing Charley that had nothing to do with going 2-14.

Personnel was the other big issue. Casserly admittedly didn't know how to evaluate 3-4 talent. That outside linebacker position is a combination of linebacker, defensive end and safety. In other words, the good ones are supermen. At the time, few college teams ran the 3-4 so they were projecting players into it. Charley trusted the coaches, and the coaches did a poor job.

Anywho, we are where we are. Bob McNair brought in Mr. Fix-it to run the defense after Frank Bush become the designed scapegoat by fans and the media.

I'm still not sure why fans turned on him so quickly, especially because the Texans played very good defense the last three months of the 2009 season. But he became the man, and McNair, either unable or unwilling to see the organization's larger problems with personnel and lack of edge on game day, went along.

It doesn't even seem like a big deal anymore. NFL games are so appealing and covered so well that we've all got rooting interests this week, and it doesn't really matter that it's not the local team. How about we were our Battle Red gear and pretend?

Packers_Finland
14 years ago

Now now. You know he meant "best cornerbacks for a team not called the Packers."

:)

"Wade" wrote:



Even then I'd put the Bears, Saints and Chiefs ahead of them in terms of starting cornerbacks.
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zombieslayer
14 years ago

Now now. You know he meant "best cornerbacks for a team not called the Packers."

:)

"Wade" wrote:



Heh. I wasn't including us but I should have been more clear. OK, besides us, the Jets have the best 1-2 CBs in the NFL. Better? ;)

Let's look at 3 very important games.

Best QB in the NFL only threw for 170 yards on only 15 completions and was kept out of the end zone on Halloween.

Game 2 - Playoff game 1 for the Jets, besides the 57 yard TD pass, P Manning was completely ineffective against the Jets' top 2 QBs.

Game 3 - Playoff game 2 for the Jets, Tom Brady (who I argue is the best player of the 2000s, hands down) was limited to short completions the whole game except he did get a 37 yard one to the TE which if I remember correctly was covered by a LB. That's because the Jets' 1-2 CBs pretty much owned Branch and Welker.

I'm calling it as I see it. In tough games, they perform.
My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
Greg C.
14 years ago

As for da Bears, as much as everyone seems to hate Urlacher and say he's overrated, the stats speak for themselves. The guy follows the ball and makes tackles. He also makes big plays. 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 10 passes defensed, one pick. I know Packer fans like to dismiss him as a meathead but he's got football smarts. Briggs and him work very well together and that makes perhaps the scariest LB core in the NFL.

"zombieslayer" wrote:



Good point. I've been hearing "Urlacher is overrated" for years, but the guy has done nothing but make big plays year after year, especially against the Packers. I think this year more people are appreciating him, though, because it was obvious how much he was missed last year when he got hurt.
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Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
14 years ago
i was one of those "urlacher is overrated" critics. But he's elevated his game his last couple years. He's finally playing as good as everyone said he was.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
Pack93z
  • Pack93z
  • Select Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
I will stick with my estimation that Urlacher is overrated verses the hype he gets.. you can run directly at him and have success, he is not a ultra effective stick his nose in and stuff a play type.

When Harris and the others in the middle don't effectively absorb blocks well. he can be exposed.

Great overall player.. moves laterally well and does have a nose for the ball, can cover and has enough speed to attack plays from angles..

But is not an all time great that some make him out to be.. IMO.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
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