It's easy to overlook the amount of injuries at key positions in our D, and that we literally are starting a second string D. Some positions are even down to 3rd options. I've seen Frey out there. Liked him in preseason but right now it's such a mess it's hard to even evaluate or tell what the plan is. The Austin end around for their first TD, I saw Shea run himself out of the play. on the replay they focused on the block on Conte, but what made that play happen was Shea instead of staying home and playing contain heads for the QB only to have Austin sprint past him with the ball. Shea stays home and keeps contain he has a chance to make that tackle for a minimal gain. There are so many little things that are killing us on D. Lack of contain, poor angles, poor gap integrity, players playing themselves out of position, poor tackling, etc. It's maddening to watch especially when you contrast it with what we are used to seeing out of our D.
I think the key injuries are the ones in the middle having our D-Line so gutted by injury that the lack of skill and experience with the backups now playing, has made us a sieve against the run, and little or no pressure on the QB, just exasperates and exposes all the other weaknesses. If your D Line can stop the run and get regular pressure on the QB, it makes the rest of the D's job that much easier. Just like offense it all starts up front.