What to do about the defense

I predict a Collin implosion in 5...4...3...2


EDIT: Should have read the thread completely.

 

DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT DT

 

Improve the DTs, as was said, and NEW DC. The D scheme the entire st half was dumb, dumb, dumb. That's OK. Sometimes things don't work out as planned. But waiting until halftime to make adjustments is horrible.

Yes, Jake lost the game, but if the D had not let the Cards repeatedly march the field and score, perhaps we could have got Jake settled down.

People have been calling for a new DC for years, but not me. So this is not just repeating. Now I definitely think we're poorly coached on D. Perhaps its not even Trgo. Perhaps its Fox himself. Whatever, the coaching must improve.

Obviously, we were out QB'd. Warner is back playing like he did in his glory days. Our goal has never been to have a QB who could play that well.

However, we were also obviously out coached. I grew up watching Tom Landry coach, and I cannot stand to be repeatedly out coached. Something needs to change.

 

You're usually a thoughtful poster, so I'm going to give you a mulligan, but I'm still going to explain why you're clearly wrong. First, it was not an issue of settling Jake down. He did not play badly because of pressure, he played badly because he is prone to these types of games. He did it against Oakland, and he did it in the NFCCG against Seattle.

And as for the defense, the percentage for scoring points following a turnover are much, much higher than other changes of possession. Not only do you deal with a short field, but the sudden change creates problems as well. I'm not going to pretend that the defense played well, but they only had a couple of true screwups. I agree with you that Trgo should have come in with a better gameplan, and barring that, should have adjusted more quickly. Arizona deftly exploited our Cover 3 tendencies and we couldn't get pressure with the front four. But still, the Cardinals only had one drive in the game longer than 49 yards. The problem was that Arizona had so many possessions, and so many on a short field.

 

Collin,

Correct about the short field. The time that specifically sticks in my mind was when Jake threw an INT in the EZ, after the interference on Smitty. Cards drove 80 yards on that one, I think. We also didnt turn over every series. We had some punts. One was bad, but not all of them. The Cards moved at will.

It may well not have mattered. Turnovers or not, you cannot win when you cannot stop the other team, long field or short field.

I read elsewhere from someone sitting behind the bench that the D part of the bench was in disarray during the 2nd Q. Coaches didnt seem to know what to do. My reaction is:

1. At least they werent sitting there smug, assuming that the poor plan would eventually work. I hate smugness, which this coaching staff seems prone to when they have success. So that encourages me a little. It says alot that disarray could actually cheer me up.

2. They don't seem to know how to come up with Plan B if Plan A doesnt work. They need to give the players a coherent Plan B, calmly and decisively. Maybe Plan B doesnt work either. But being in disarray almost certainly won't work.

 

Yep. You can't leave a weapon like Fitzgerald any leeway, but he was able to get open much more effectively than Smith. I'm not sure if that is a function of better play calling by their defense or weaker protection by our offensive line, thus giving Jake and Smitty less time.

 

No, they didn't. They drove 49 yards and 15 of that came on Richard Marshall's idiotic penalty, but the defense did eventually stop them and force a 49 yard field goal attempt, which Rackers made.

No, they didn't. Again, Arizona only had one drive of more than 49 yards.

 

Replacing Jake with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady would be great but it would not make our defense any better. It got face raped by:

Warner and Fitzgerald
Brees
Derrick Ward
Garcia and Bryant
Turner
even Culpepper looked decent against it.

 

How many years did he have Jake Delhomme as his QB to screw it up when they stopped the run on a series or two? You always have to have an effective plan B, especially on offense. And with Delhomme, that's seriously impossible.

 

The reduction in turnovers, and theoretically longer/more productive drives, would help field position, which helps defense.