Waiting for the Injury excuse

[adam]

I just have a feeling that this is going to be brought up at some point. They will point to the injuries on the O-Line to Slauson, Mills, DLP, and Britton, and on the D to Peanut, Briggs, Houston, Conte, Ratliff, Fuller and say that those were the reason this team struggled all year with consistency.

 

I hope not, but I see it coming.

[madlithuanian]

Don't care.

 

This team has no heart. Team. There are a small handful of guys that do...but as a team, this team has zero heart and soul.

 

Until Cutler and Trestman are replaced with honestly viable alternatives...we are in for tough times.

 

I just have a feeling that this is going to be brought up at some point. They will point to the injuries on the O-Line to Slauson, Mills, DLP, and Britton, and on the D to Peanut, Briggs, Houston, Conte, Ratliff, Fuller and say that those were the reason this team struggled all year with consistency.

 

I hope not, but I see it coming.

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

I just have a feeling that this is going to be brought up at some point. They will point to the injuries on the O-Line to Slauson, Mills, DLP, and Britton, and on the D to Peanut, Briggs, Houston, Conte, Ratliff, Fuller and say that those were the reason this team struggled all year with consistency.

 

I hope not, but I see it coming.

Even TE Zach Miller and Marquess Wilson hurt... Wouldn't it have been nice to stay healthy for once. What could've been? Injuries did hurt, seems like too much. I hope it isnt the excuse given though

[AZ54]

I just have a feeling that this is going to be brought up at some point. They will point to the injuries on the O-Line to Slauson, Mills, DLP, and Britton, and on the D to Peanut, Briggs, Houston, Conte, Ratliff, Fuller and say that those were the reason this team struggled all year with consistency.

 

I hope not, but I see it coming.

 

We can ignore it but it is a factor. This is a young man's game and we've relied on some long in the tooth veterans on defense (Williams, Briggs, Tillman, Ratliff, even Allen). When the next man up is either a rookie or a player in his 2nd year there's a drop off, at least in terms of job knowledge, and it was very visible at times. Despite all that it hasn't been all bad as we are 12th in the league against the run. On the flip side we are 30th against the pass. FWIW the Cardinals are 25th, Panthers 26th, and Ravens 29th against the pass.

 

Fixing the run defense was our number one priority heading into the past off-season and I have to say we made significant improvement. Some of the reason for ranking 12th against the run is due to teams finding it easier to pass but our 2013 defense proved that if it's easy to run teams won't stop doing it so the ranking means something. Sutton, Ferguson, Washington, Fuller, Bostic, Jones, and Vereen will all be better for having this experience. They've all had their rookie moments but off that list Vereen and Washington seem to be the biggest question marks going forward. The rest look like they'll be significant contributors, if not starters, down the road.

 

On offense…Oline for sure injuries impacted things (unless you like Ola at RT) but they never fell apart which is good progress considering where we've been in the past with our Oline. Elsewhere they have no room to hide. Offensive issues typically came down to players not executing and the blame goes around to everyone. Cutler more often than most but everyone had a share in key mistakes throughout the season: Forte fumbled early in year, Marshall key fumble/penalties, Bennett had his two hot-reads that were missed and turned into key INTs.

[adam]

We can ignore it but it is a factor. This is a young man's game and we've relied on some long in the tooth veterans on defense (Williams, Briggs, Tillman, Ratliff, even Allen). When the next man up is either a rookie or a player in his 2nd year there's a drop off, at least in terms of job knowledge, and it was very visible at times. Despite all that it hasn't been all bad as we are 12th in the league against the run. On the flip side we are 30th against the pass. FWIW the Cardinals are 25th, Panthers 26th, and Ravens 29th against the pass.

 

Fixing the run defense was our number one priority heading into the past off-season and I have to say we made significant improvement. Some of the reason for ranking 12th against the run is due to teams finding it easier to pass but our 2013 defense proved that if it's easy to run teams won't stop doing it so the ranking means something. Sutton, Ferguson, Washington, Fuller, Bostic, Jones, and Vereen will all be better for having this experience. They've all had their rookie moments but off that list Vereen and Washington seem to be the biggest question marks going forward. The rest look like they'll be significant contributors, if not starters, down the road.

 

On offense…Oline for sure injuries impacted things (unless you like Ola at RT) but they never fell apart which is good progress considering where we've been in the past with our Oline. Elsewhere they have no room to hide. Offensive issues typically came down to players not executing and the blame goes around to everyone. Cutler more often than most but everyone had a share in key mistakes throughout the season: Forte fumbled early in year, Marshall key fumble/penalties, Bennett had his two hot-reads that were missed and turned into key INTs.

I don't buy it. All teams have injuries, and some even had bigger injuries than ours and still have winning records. Cleveland did not have their top player (Gordon) for 10 games and lost their perennial Pro Bowl Center a month ago and they still win games. I could go on and on. Bostic, Greene, and SMC should not get fooled by Play Action after their 2nd and 3rd years in the league.

 

The stats you listed are deceiving for the Cardinals and Ravens because those teams have good to great defenses and are playing with a lead so teams will inherently pass more and get garbage time yards. Look at a better stat like QB Passer Rating Against. Teams with an opponent QB Rating over 100:

 

1. NYJ 109.4

2. WAS 103.5

3. CHI 101.1

4. OAK 100.0

5. TB 100.0

6. JAX 99.1

 

I just listed JAX to show how bad the teams are in that list. Besides us, those other 5 teams have 9 combined wins.

 

We have allowed a league high (which is bad) 40.8% of 1st Downs when passing. That means teams get a 1st Down 41 out of every 100 pass attempts (not completions). If you count completions, they get a first down 41 out of every 66 completions (62% of the time). That is beyond bad. So teams didn't run because they didn't have to. Once you are over 50% in that second value, you can run once (if you want to), then pass on 2nd and 3rd Down, and you will have a first down almost every time.

 

Our Defensive Line is actually pretty good, but our LB Corps and Defensive Backfield has to be the worst in the league. Like I have said in almost every game thread, our defense doesn't actually cover anyone. On every play 2-3 receivers are wide open and we are guarding empty space. Sometimes we even double that open space.

 

 

[Mongo3451]

I don't buy it. All teams have injuries, and some even had bigger injuries than ours and still have winning records. Cleveland did not have their top player (Gordon) for 10 games and lost their perennial Pro Bowl Center a month ago and they still win games. I could go on and on. Bostic, Greene, and SMC should not get fooled by Play Action after their 2nd and 3rd years in the league.

 

The stats you listed are deceiving for the Cardinals and Ravens because those teams have good to great defenses and are playing with a lead so teams will inherently pass more and get garbage time yards. Look at a better stat like QB Passer Rating Against. Teams with an opponent QB Rating over 100:

 

1. NYJ 109.4

2. WAS 103.5

3. CHI 101.1

4. OAK 100.0

5. TB 100.0

6. JAX 99.1

 

I just listed JAX to show how bad the teams are in that list. Besides us, those other 5 teams have 9 combined wins.

 

We have allowed a league high (which is bad) 40.8% of 1st Downs when passing. That means teams get a 1st Down 41 out of every 100 pass attempts (not completions). If you count completions, they get a first down 41 out of every 66 completions (62% of the time). That is beyond bad. So teams didn't run because they didn't have to. Once you are over 50% in that second value, you can run once (if you want to), then pass on 2nd and 3rd Down, and you will have a first down almost every time.

 

Our Defensive Line is actually pretty good, but our LB Corps and Defensive Backfield has to be the worst in the league. Like I have said in almost every game thread, our defense doesn't actually cover anyone. On every play 2-3 receivers are wide open and we are guarding empty space. Sometimes we even double that open space.

I really think it's a combination of everything all have mentioned. Our defense is awful. If you look at age, player turnover, injuries and new coaching staff; no-one has had more adversity than we have the last 2 seasons.

 

The offense doesn't scare anyone with our lack of speed. We need someone to stretch the field. I place that blame on the staff. Defenses simply can play tighter because of the lack of threat. Jump balls only get you so far in the passing game.

 

I'm still on board with the coaching staff for one more season. If we don't fix our talent and develop an identity next year, I'll be done with them.

 

[AZ54]

I don't buy it. All teams have injuries, and some even had bigger injuries than ours and still have winning records. Cleveland did not have their top player (Gordon) for 10 games and lost their perennial Pro Bowl Center a month ago and they still win games. I could go on and on. Bostic, Greene, and SMC should not get fooled by Play Action after their 2nd and 3rd years in the league.

 

The stats you listed are deceiving for the Cardinals and Ravens because those teams have good to great defenses and are playing with a lead so teams will inherently pass more and get garbage time yards. Look at a better stat like QB Passer Rating Against. Teams with an opponent QB Rating over 100:

 

1. NYJ 109.4

2. WAS 103.5

3. CHI 101.1

4. OAK 100.0

5. TB 100.0

6. JAX 99.1

 

I just listed JAX to show how bad the teams are in that list. Besides us, those other 5 teams have 9 combined wins.

 

We have allowed a league high (which is bad) 40.8% of 1st Downs when passing. That means teams get a 1st Down 41 out of every 100 pass attempts (not completions). If you count completions, they get a first down 41 out of every 66 completions (62% of the time). That is beyond bad. So teams didn't run because they didn't have to. Once you are over 50% in that second value, you can run once (if you want to), then pass on 2nd and 3rd Down, and you will have a first down almost every time.

 

Our Defensive Line is actually pretty good, but our LB Corps and Defensive Backfield has to be the worst in the league. Like I have said in almost every game thread, our defense doesn't actually cover anyone. On every play 2-3 receivers are wide open and we are guarding empty space. Sometimes we even double that open space.

 

I know stats in the NFL are deceiving and of course there are dozens of ways to breakdown what is happening. I don't take that much time to dig around and explore it but your data on passing defense validates things. Run defense is there most of the time, pass defense is not. If we can get a solid pass rush we'll survive but beyond 3 seconds no way.

 

Of those teams with injuries how many a playing 10 rookies or 2nd year players on defense? When Briggs reported to camp out of shape his poor play was inevitable. I expected we'd be a competitive team but given how things have gone, including injuries to Briggs (ribs earlier in the year), I don't mind throwing all the young guys out there and advocated for that weeks ago. It's frustrating at times to live with the mistakes but even without the injuries on defense this roster is not going deep into the playoffs. Let's just go into full rebuilding mode and see what we've got with the young guys now so we know what to do in the offseason.

 

I am one of few, maybe very few, but I like our young LBs (SMC, Jones, Bostic) and I think in time they will become a good unit. I see good signs in each game, and more frequently within the games. Jones was completely lost earlier in the year, now he is finding his way to the right spot about half the time. Bostic too has improved in both run support and pass coverage but his pass route recognition is still slow. SMC has improved as well around the LOS. Hopefully we continue to see improvement in LBs coverage over the next four games.

 

My expectations for improvement are lower for the DBs. I'm not sold on Vereen as our future FS, in fact I like Conte much better but he can't stay healthy. We really need a Mike Brown type of a leader at safety on this roster. Brown wasn't the best athlete but his smarts and leadership in getting other players lined up made up for that. Find a leader who is fast and physical in tackling would be even better. Fuller I think will become another Tillman type of player for us. Behind him Al Louis-Jean? Hurst?