You don't sell something just to buy it back later at a higher price.

Jenkins would be more than worth ~$5 million for a couple seasons, and an option to cut him in the third with no worries. Imagine if we had him back and get another beast pass rusher in the draft and perhaps more improvement from Neal. Our entire defense is instantly way better for a few million. Of course it's all relative. I don't see it happening, but for a team that has a championship window open, it's something that needs to be strongly considered.

So Neal didn't work out just because he has been in the NFL for 2 seasons and has battled through injuries...and he hasn't had much OTA or training camp work either.

Makes no sense.

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I wish I did. I bought gold at $400 and sold it at $450 thinking I made money. Would have been nice if I bought it back at $500.

What's the difference between our #2 D of 2010 and the #19 D of 2011? Collins' injury + Jenkins' departure mainly.

He got 5.5 sacks from right up the middle this year and played 16 games. Pretty freaking good. He'd be #2 on our team in sacks this year.

I was bummed when we lost him. I heard lots of folks trying to rationalize why. Heck, I wanted to believe them.

Hindsight is 20/20, but this was clearly a mistake.

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How about giving opposing offensive coordinators some credit for adjusting to our schemes? How many times did Woodson's blitzes get home this year? They sure worked like gangbusters last year though when the scheme was fresh didn't they? Jesus Christ - this fucking game evolves all the time and some of you armchair GM's think you can spend a little cash and fix things. You don't waste money on free agents over the age of 30. You spend money on guys in their prime, who's teams somehow were dumb enough to let them get away, but preferrably your own free agents.

And I'm not just riding my buddy Nostraslayer's ass here either. Every year we fall short it's the same boneheaded mentality. Our defense went to shit when Collins was carted off the field. Peprah worked out last year because it was Burnett he replaced. I'm just bummed we're never going to get to see what that safety tandem could have accomplished together. Fuck Cullen Jenkins, he spent enough time in our hot tub, and it will be getting worse for him as time goes on.

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Ya Im not a defensive corordinator (obviously) - but to me it looks like our pass rush got soft also because capers didnt push it. Its said that if you rush too many that you risk the 20+ yard reception but if I remember right teams killed us with 20+ yard plays this year.

And I know when I saw those 3 man rushes do nothing it was quite pathetic. I liked when we did different packages like the psycho one or different things likes that; I dont think I notced it as much this season.

who knows perhaps other teams are just getting better at knowing what is coming ... but then again I have to ask; why dick labeau (spelling) is still running a top d all these years.

Is Pittsburgh's defense really that good. Seems to me anytime they play a loaded offense, they struggle. You can load up your defensive stats pretty well when you get to play Cleveland, Cinicinatti, and Baltimore twice a year each.

Uncle Ted needs to spend our top picks on the defensive side of the ball this year, and somehow parlaying Matt Flynn into a top 40 pick would really help.

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Obviously it wouldn't be wise to sign Jenkins or anyone like him over our core players we wanna keep. However, if we did have the cap space after taking care of those in which were deemed necessary it has to be strongly considered. This offense was absolutely capable of winning the Super Bowl this year, unfortunately the defense wasn't. The offense had it's second off day of the year and the D can do nothing to help them. Is there really many people here who wouldn't have wanted to keep Jenkins this season for the price the Eagles paid? I know we've been over this many times and that he likely took less money etc., but hypothetically speaking, if there was someone like him available for a similar one year price (or even two) the Eagles paid, it could be beneficial for us. Plenty of defensive linemen play well in their 30's: Seymour, Wilfork, Hampton, Keisel, Aaron Smith, just to name a few. I know I left out many.

Thompson has pulled off some amazing things before, so perhaps he can do it again. But asking rookies to solve our pass rush next season is a very tall order. I think it would at least take them a season or two to really make an impact, and that's if no picks like Harrell or Neal are made. I think the main reason a bunch of crazy packages like the "psycho" and such weren't seen as much because 1.) offensive coordinators figured out the scheme a lot, and 2.) we didn't have the talent or communication to make them work effectively. Scheming can only achieve too much. At some point, it comes down to talent and one player beating another. We had some under performers sure, but mostly a lack of talent in the pass rushing department.

It will be interesting to see what happens moving forward.

Yes Pittsburghs D IS that good. Lets not forget they were pretty stingy against the Pats this year and they have thrived for over a decade with very few bumps on the way, but they do DOMINATE lesser offenses. Much like we did last year? wasn't that nice?

Also against the better offenses they may give up some points but who doesn't? They still make plays and contest everything. You have to be at the top of your game to beat the steelers defense. Just like ours last year. Capers is coaching a PRESSURE based defense. Sure both defenses will throw up the odd 3 man rush but this type of D needs to create pressure..And from all areas. You need to essentially have 2 very good pass rushing OLB's in this D to really get where you are going but also you need inside LB's that can blitz and kill run plays as well. Zone Blitzes are big in this defense, but in doing so can be a weakness if you can't get pressure (which was the case for the packers this year).

The Steelers made an adjustment by bringing small amounts of pressure and playing hard press man to man vs the Patriots this year and beat them. Last year we played some zone, but a lot of man to man as well. So if you have the personnel you can really generate an unpredictable defense to face.

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The Steeler Defense reminds me much of our own defense of this season.. limited range at safety, limited ability to rush the passer with 4 men committed.

In this new era of pass happy football.. you either pressure the QB or you languish on the field of battle.

The defensive backs and linebackers are so limited in what they can do prior and after the catch to the opposing players that it has truly opened the field completely up to the offense. Receivers are being protected more and more than offenses don't have to fear the middle of the field as much due to the big hits. The neutering of the defenses ability to hit the offensive players is truly carrying over into this wide open passing attacks.. one in which the Packers have directly benefited on offense. Defense now have to place more emphasis in coverage to the middle of the field.. the 15 to 20 yard range, that it has freed up the edges of the field.

Hell even dominate corners of past struggled in coverage this season.. there were no "shutdown" corners this season.. there were teams that could effectively apply pressure and those that couldn't.

And it shows weekly.

The only way you stop a passing offense today is to apply quick pressure and get your damn hands up in pass rush. You change the passing lanes at the point of attack.. it is your only real consistent effective method of slowing them down.

They have diminished the jamb at the line of scrimmage, they have very tight rules in the amount of contact a defender can have in coverage and they have taken away the fear by changing the "Hit" zone of the defenders. Basically you have a bunch of guys that have to gamble in free space in man or you play a very disciplined zone with an effective pass rush to support it. Otherwise you are toast on defense.

Again.. I hate this version of the game.. unbalanced and offensively biased.

So on defense.. we need to change our MO.. we need guys that can play both man and zone effectively in the backend.. and we need an infusion of speed and length on the defensive line.. and we need a bookend from the other side to complement Clay.

Clifton and his 7 million dollars come off the books.. find a guy that can step in on the defensive line to take some heat of Raji from the inside and draft a couple OLBers that can get after it.

Otherwise it is going to be up to our offense to carry the show weekly.. they are not allowed a bad day otherwise no matter how explosive we can be.. we can be beaten.

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