Well, Kolo, it's a a compliment that you went back and read, or maybe remembered my previous comments...and i pretty much remember yours(especially since, as you noted, this argument is a rehash of those had before). As for a 6 man line, no, unless in 3rd and real short, i haven't seen one before(unless on goal line). But i will tell you this: i sure wondered why not when we, time after time, game after game, couldn't get a passrush on the qB. Just out of curiousity, do you recall ANYTIME in recent 7 yrs we have done that and sustained it? I sure don't.
As for run D, as you well know, K, having a good run D and NO pass D(due to total failure to produce passrush in last 7 yrs)...well, it doesn't make for a good overall D, and nobody is disputing that. What good is a pass D when nobody can get a push on the passer? And that has been us, noln, erickson, Yorks, combined 6-7 yrs.
Yes, we probably will play a 3-4(sometime, maybe all the time), and maybe, due to lack of talent, or perhaps lack of coaching , or maybe crappy drafting and FAing, or most likely all 3, we won't be very good at it. When we can't get a push on the QB, maybe we
should be in a 4, or 5 man DL. Who knows, maybe even a 6 man. All i am saying is that a middle of the road run D is fine, but if the other team can literally pass on us at will, and they do, why NOT try a 6 man DL? Sure it sounds weird, but haven't you ever seen us on 3rd and whatever, know a pass is coming, and just as surely, know we won't get passrush on the QB?
And like it or not, the DL HAS to be part of that. For seven yrs it hasn't. So maybe we do need to do something unconventional like play 6 man DL. What could it hurt? What we are doing now doesn't work, and just stopping the run (in the middle of the pack) isn't going to get it in the nfl. Add to that our inferior talent along the DL(or as i said, maybe it is the incredibly poor coaching, or game calling)...and i believe it all contributes to our defensive ineptitude.
Finally, since i have not made an issue out of it in a long time, is the $ issue. Did you, or i, expect our bosses(unless you are self employed), ever expect to get mammoth payraises,
BASED ON POTENTIAL? Certainly not in my case, nor in anyone else's i know. I know, i know, soap looks like one menacing, impressive sonof*gun. FRankly, he
should scare people. But do you really think his tepid play since arrival was worth dropping another $20 or 24mil on the guy? Man, i sure don't . Nor do i think that is sound football practice on ANYBODY, not just soap, yet that's what our mgmt did.
My comment on that move was "harebrained", but deserving... it was not. Soap is paid on-the-come, not on performance, and frankly, that bothers the heck out of me, especially on a team this bad for 7 long, painful yrs. At what point, K, do we say, "Ah jeez, soap was a mistake?" Are you ready for him to
continue to develop, but not be a factor on D? And if so, for how long? That is my issue. We keep waiting, but all i see is the same thing. Surely, somebody upstairs has to be cognizant of that.
Kolo, as i see this team now--- turn back the clock--- and i just see us where we were 7 yrs ago, w/r/to performance...ie, i don't see us much better now than we were then. And for 7 yrs, that is a disgrace---put the blame where you like. Is soap part of that...a poor choice, that we are going to keep riding until he retires? Just out of curiousity, how long do you give a guy like that before saying "Enough"?
If that is ranting and raving, then i confess...GUILTY as charged. But everything written above is just a compilation of game tapes on "how not to do it" . Every time i go thru them i feel worse...like somebody, maybe a lot of somebodies, has let us down. Soap just happens to be one of them.
You've heard this before, but looking at our biggest goof in last 7 yrs came this past yr, and that was not going full out to sign Pioli. We're shy on talent, poor on choosing talent, lousy at coordination with a reachable set of goals in the future, have been creamed by lousy coaching...it is a laundry list of WHY we needed and still need a Pioli, or HOFO in charge. Until we get one i can only see dibs and dabs at improvement, but no real focused plan for improvement. Watch KC...they will turn around in one yr, just like parcells did in miami. Us, heck, we're just screwed to more of the same.
A true fan, or any fan for that matter deserves better. So do the players we sign, and the coaches we get. A HOFO is the guy that puts that all in order, or focuses the team as it were. With a guy like that aboard, i don't believe a soap, or whoever, would last that long...nor should he. There comes a point where you have to produce. And everything i have seen re: soap says that he hasn't. But in all fairness, he has plenty of company, and that is the disgrace holding us back. We need direction and have none. Until that happens, getting a HOFO, there is no reason to expect us to be any different this yr than last 7 yrs, and sadly, that wasn't very interesting... nor was it much fun.
Hey, K, that said, i hope soap
knocks 'em dead this yr, which is the same i hope for every yr. But do i really expect it? No.
[ Edited by pasodoc9er on Mar 12, 2009 at 7:09 AM ]
unless he feels the wrath of singletary. i guess this move means no signing of a NT this year.
never heard of the guy. I'd rather keep Sopoaga.