Quote:
Originally Posted by BangCartoon
Yeah, but if youi're damned no matter what, take no prisoners.
I know the old axiom is "live by the blitz, die by the blitz". But if you don't even try to live, you're bound to die anyway.
~Bang
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Good thread.
I think it's a smart move by Grilliams to try to get away from the blitz. It's a useful tool in getting pressure on the QB, but it can not create sustained success for a defense over a long period of time. If you have a crappy DL (like we did), blitzing gives you a chance to get some pressure on the QB. But it doesn't matter how good your cover guys are, eventually they are going to get beat.
Unfortunately for Williams, we got zero pressure on the QB last year. Our D Line was just not very strong across the board. They weren't good vs. the run or the pass.
Next year's line isn't going to be much better. However, our biggest cover issue was the linebackers not getting to the underneath routes, and we did fix that issue by bringing in LF. I believe the safety issue will stabilize itself with the return of Prioleau and a healthy Archuleta. So this leaves two key's for the defense to return to dominance:
1) Carlos Rogers must emerge as a shutdown corner
2) Griffin and Saleve'a must improve their level of play across the board
About the first, I'm not so sure it will ever happen. Carlos is a great tackler and we need him on the field to play the outside run. But he's never going to be a great man to man shutdown corner vs. great receivers.
The second is unlikely to happen also. I think Saleve'a has to get more playing time. He's a better player than Golston or Montgomery right now. But that No. 6 pick is our ace in the hole. If we bring in a guy like Amobi Okoye, he can force the players ahead of him to raise their game. If they can not take there game to the next level, we could very well start Okoye as a rookie.
Because of the massive need for DL improvement, im pessimistic about our defensive chances.
Offensively it all starts with the running game. Right now, we don't have the personel at guard and at TE to improve the running game. If we don't satisfactorily fill these positions, our running game will likely regress.
But the passing game will improve. Campbell will cut down his interception and bad decision rates as the season goes on and Cooley and Moss will make big plays after the catch. We really can't suffer any more from luck on the offensive end either. How many times last year did you see otherwise successful drives fizzle on the edge of our kickers' short FG range, only for us to punt the football. This simply wont happen as often. If our offense didn't improve any, we'd still put up more point. Because of this, I'm quite optimistic.
BTW, loved the latest Bang Cartoon.