What I'm hoping for is that the waiting LBs where part of Sanders' gameplan.
I know it sounds weird, but Sanders was a D-line guy. He expects a high level of production from his big guys up front. If they can stop the run and get to the passer, you can drop the LBs back a bit. They can see the play develop before them and get to the flats or pick up the shallow zone.
Now, what I'm hoping for is that Sanders just didn't adjust again. With our D-line playing on a very low level, we needed the LBs to come up and stop the run and just let our secondary take over a little in pass coverage. They proved that they where able to do that.
That could also explain why Howard looks so amazing everytime he comes into the game. He's the only one attacking the line. Maybe while he wasn't supposed to that often.
I know, it's a long shot, and a big one at that, but it's always fun to theorize a little.