Better days ahead. (Off season part 1 thread)

[30gut]

Originally Posted by Bangee7

But, in looking at the top tier NFC team stats, the common theme I see is they all ran the ball well and they all stopped the run well.

OK, I know we need more sacks right? If we had just 0.5 more sacks per game, then we'd be elite!
Car: 44, Sea: 37, Arz: 36
(Note: Was with 38, had more sacks than Sea & Arz).

OK, OK, it's more total take-aways (Int+Fumbl) that we need to be elite. Getting pressure causes more Int's & Fumbles....
Car: 39, Arz: 33, Sea: 22
(note: Was: 26 had more take-aways than the vaunted Seattle Defense)....

Good post, and I agree with most of your points (and have laid out similar stats/observations in another thread).

But I would add that the stats still indicate that getting turnovers is an area we need to improve and a team can never have enough pass rush and that pass rush is more then just sack numbers. I think to get a more accurate look at pass rush you have to look at sacks but also hurries and QB hits.

You are spot on about stopping the run. It's important to stop the run if only to create more all out pass rush opportunities.

The question is how do you think we go about addressing these problems? Which units/personnel do you think are key to solving the problems?

For me I think the quickest way to improve run d is to get better at ILB. And turnovers will improve with better secondary in addition to upgrade at ILB.

I'm not too concerned about the run game though, I think there will always be limits to the quality of the run game in Jays scheme.