Meeks key to next season success?

He was the only significant addition to the team. We basically have the same team back that went 12-4. We lost a little depth but if our draft picks contribute anything we should be just as good or better than last year.

The offense was humming most of last season, especially the second half of the season. As long as the run game is strong and Jake does not have to do too much the offense will be stout.

The defense is what failed last year. Will Meeks be able to turn it around with out getting a talent infusion? The Giants destroyed our rush defense and the Saints and Cards killed our pass defense so there is no where to go but up.

 

fixed.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we spend our first two draft picks on defensive players, is that not an infusion?

 

It seems as though Meeks has more control over things than I figured Fox would allow. I think that's a positive. I still expect to see a lot of the cover 3 principle, but in terms of the defensive line, we needed a shift both techincally and philosphically. With Meeks and Barker, we have that now. It will depend on how well we draft/sign players moving forward. I don't think it's difficult to find a guy like Robert Mathis and mold him into a situational rusher.

 

I guess I should have said without a "significant talent infusion". We added a couple of rookies but we cut a starting corner and some DT depth. We had no significant free agents and no one we drafted is likely to start this year.

 

If the defense failed us and has no where to go but up wouldn't removing/replacing some players be one of the best ways to do that (along with changing coaches)?
Lucas is somewhat of a loss but I'm not sure he had much more left and his cap figure was likely to far excede his play, it's not like the DT depth was exactly stellar, either.

He won't start but something tells me Brown will get an appreciable amount of snaps. We changed out coaches and gave them new people in the secondary and DL, they don't necessarily have to be significant they just have to be better than the guys they replace.

EDIT: A quick aside on how 'significant moves' are overrated, remember a couple of years ago how we waited on safety hoping to get by while people like michael lewis got 30 millionb dollar contracts before finally trading a 5th round pick for some guy the Bears deemed an expendable backup?

 

I think I am being misunderstood. I am not down on the team for not chasing free agents. A mid level DT for depth would have been nice but I am fine with what they have done. My point is that Meeks is the only significant change so if the defense improves it is likely because of his efforts. Lets all hope he can get it done.

 

There have been plenty of ideals of teams much worse than ours getting a big shot in the arm from new coaching, not even necessarily better coaching. Sometimes the other approach can be a benefit. Sometimes being in search of new players for that approach works to refocus, in the same way that new coaching and new techniques can refocus.

It can also be completely irrelevant. It's certainly not a rule. I can think Trgovac was a solid but burnt out coach and feel like Meeks will deliver similar statistics to what he had in IND for 2009 - high turnovers, high rush, good third down (and poor rush).

I also think it's safe to say his style and our talent suggest we won't stop the run that well. That


But, more rush, swap in coaching, and younger corners are what we're deciding to improve on 18th best (which of course was much worse than 18th over the course of the season - I still stand behind the idea that 18th with or without Peppers is able to be eclipsed by all means, but I also never thought that we'd regret letting Peppers walk when JR died and Mark Richardson hired a 3-4 coach and/or Bill Cowher).

 

I never realized I was that important, but I'll do the best I can.

 

'Technically' refers to how the players will be coached on their technique. For instance, I suspect that there will be more emphasis on guys using their hands. By 'Philosophically', I meant the general identity of the defense.

Stands to reason that the Brayton/Brown combo will be used the same way the Raheem Brock/Robert Mathis combo is used in Indy. Brayton will slide inside on passing downs while Brown plays LE in those situations. That's essentially the same way we used Brayton/Johnson last year, but Brown gives us a more explosive dynamic off that edge.