This is why I have never been completely sold on the Zone Defense. I know some teams do an excellent job with it. Many do not.
Just like a lot of teams ran the old Power Sweep but only GB excelled with it.


With that said, AADP is right. There will not be that many times a game when Kampy is dropping back into coverage. 1st, 2nd downs many times are running plays. If a team does pass, they will most likely only have 2 WRs and there is no reason for GB not to have adequate defenders to cover them.
If it is 3rd and long he will more than likely put a hand down on the LOS and rush the QB.

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I'm with AADP and WPR on this...I just feel like this is an easy exploitation for opposing teams. Someone questioned how well he could even cover a scat back, and I agree...they don't need to show 3 wr sets and the pack could still be caught in a vulnearble coverage situation.

I like kampy, appreciate his work ethic, etc....I'm just not sold yet that it was wise to move him off the line.

I disagree. Like I said in my last post, him being able to cover a bit deeper than a shallow zone is great. If he can combine that with a little speed, that's even better.

In the end, though, a 3-4 OLB is more of a glorified DE than anything else. He's not going to be a Brandon Chillar, but really, how many LBs overall can you name me who can run stride for stride with a receiver. Or even a scat back.

He doesn't need to have the athletics and skill sets of a Chillar. The reigning defensive MVP doesn't either. Ware, Suggs, Harrison, Taylor and Porter can defend against a slant and rush the QB, but they aren't asked to go man coverage on anyone or drop into a deep zone. Just look at that SB int. return. Harrison drops back no more than 4 yards and gets into the passing lane of the crossing slants. Great play for a 3-4 OLB.

Apart from that, we should have a player on the other side with a more complete skill set. Not the pure rushing, but a more adapt cover guy. Should see some of that in who ever starts. Matthews or Thompson.

I bet we get our asses smoked in zone coverage.

Hope not, but the bet stands.

Not being negative, either. I have no evidence that our personnel are capable of doing so, and when I start looking for some "hints" from past play...I get more nervous, not less. Not even talking about pass pressure, either. I think we will (finally) have that and still get smoked.

In a seemingly unrelated reflection, the fact that we were penalized more yards than any other team keeps popping into my thoughts on this matter.

No. I am not talking about who specifically got penalized. I'm reflecting on football smarts, or maybe just plain old generic smarts.

...And all those blitzes where we got our asses handed to us. We had to abandon that little plan, as I recall.

As stated, I will be pleased to be wrong about this.

Technically, Kampman was still abiding by zone coverage against Jennings. His assignment was to eliminate the underneath stuff, which he did. The only problem is that Atari Bigby had a blown assignment. Bigby should have been the one running with Greg step-by-step.


I'm not so much worried about Kampman being mismatched against slot WRs. We're all forgetting a reason that MM has cited many times for Kampman's switch to OLB: to make him a better pass-rusher on first and second downs. I fully expect Dom to use a lot of sub packages on 3rd down; we've switched base defences - and while that entails different looks, teams will still have to play nickel and dime packages. Kampman, for all that he is doing now with regards to coverage and dropping back is still the best pass rusher on this team, period.

Don't think that Dom Capers is not well aware of that fact.

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Based on what I'd read on the Blitzburg 3-4 style Defence, the outside corner(s) were in man most of the time. Al quite obviously does not play nickel CB; and if anyone sees tape of the Steelers last year than they will realize that the outside CBs were often matched up man-to-man.

If the above holds true, then we should be fine. I still maintain that asking Al to play too much zone is being ignorant of Al's track record.

Otherwise, I think we should be fine with zone coverage. The biggest key in zone coverage is having athletic DBs - which we have. Williams, Bush, and Blackmon are all very athletic - and I think they can come to learn to play zone much better than years past as a result of better instruction and guidance.


As for the penalties... I'm hearing ya loud and clear df.

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For what I have read in camp and studying Caper D's, most of the time the corner are in man, I agree. The outside corners that is.. but there is one significant difference from the man and man press that we have been playing the last couple of years.

In the press, Al could neutralize some of the initial release and speed of the receiver and "cover up" some of his lost quickness. My biggest fear for Al more so than others on the team is the without the press, receivers will be able to beat Al in the first 10 yards and he will be out of position often this season.. which means one of two things.. he will be toasted often or that a safety will have to commit to helping on that side and creating even more of a center gap in coverage.

Reading some of the camp blogs the offense is finding success with the TE over the mid range middle and attacking the outer edges of the field.. with reports of Bigby being slow in coverage to start camp, there are some concerns to be had.

But those holes in coverage can be quickly remedied by pressure.. which is primarily why we went to the 3-4.. so that pressure better get home or we might see some coverage issues.

Back to topic of sorts, the good news is Kampman is getting his hips around and being able to trail a receiver, is that the match up we want, nope, but a good OC will find ways to isolate Kampman, Thompson and Matthews in coverage.. these types of reports help cool the fears of Kamoman getting beat in the short flare type routes or drags...

The good news in the division, neither the Bears or especially the Vikings are known to have strong OC's... lol.

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It's so nice to have AADP back in the fold, though he still hasn't contributed his member interview.

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Well, I hereby promise to publicly eat crow if I'm proven wrong, but I'm sticking to my gut feeling that Kampy will make the adjustments and excel in his new role - I feel this for no other reason than his work ethic is unimpeachable. However, as AADP points out, I also feel pretty strongly that Capers isn't going to put packages out on the field for which he doesn't think the personnel are sufficient. He's just not. He'll line them up in the best position to succeed - that's his track record.

Put more simply: Neither Kampy or Capers has made a habit out of failure, so I'm not seeing how it'll happen this time. Could it? Sure. But I don't think it will.

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Bigby isn't able to do that. He's nearly a LB playing SS.

Anyway, let's put it like this then. It's nice that he can stretch his zone far enough to keep the underneath stuff away. Even slightly deeper than expected.