Why the Pass D bends that way?

Although our D looks dominating most of the time, we're giving so many air yards that are killing us

Early in the season there was an obvious lack of pressure (still is sadly at least is improving) but I dont get why our CBs give that cushion and midfield behind the Lbackers is always open unless our safeties are the ones to blame for

I like M Lewis is a hard hitter SS but his coverages skills are so so at best and Goldson even being so a promise of a playmaker at FS looks two steps behind the play almost always (He's great at run support and a sure improve over Roman)

Both of them aren't safety locks for our team but the saddest part is that Roman is still in the field in every pass D formation and as usual lettin' the WR make the play (Minn and yesterday games are examples)

We have great LBs, good Dline, reliable Cbs but for long time ago struggling at safety and one passrusher away from being a hardcore D

IMO we should Goldson play SS get a good FS (Clements if possible or a FA or Draft) and really think wich scheme works better for us 3-4 or 4-3 we're a rusher away of any of them and get him (via draft should be great)

I'd say that playing 10 yards off the receivers might be a problem.

Get physical you pussies!

Originally posted by YourHuckleberry:
I'd say that playing 10 yards off the receivers might be a problem.

Get physical you pussies!

That's been a problem ever since Nolan became the coach. It seems like none of our guys can play bump and run coverage. I remember that's supposedly what Clements specialty was in Buffalo, being a real physical corner, and he comes here and it's a 10 yard cushion every player.

Originally posted by YourHuckleberry:
I'd say that playing 10 yards off the receivers might be a problem.

Get physical you pussies!

Yep that's awful 2 see

Since we won't be able to get Berry, draft a corner ad move Clements to FS, have a 3 way battle for the SS position between Goldson, Lewis and Smith or trade Lewis and make it between Reggie Smith and Goldson and draft an elite corner in next years draft. Then draft Brandon Graham and bam that's a good looking defense.

I would also like answers for this. Drives me crazy, and I have griped about it for years now. Giving such cushions makes it easy for a QB to hit his first read quickly... so it screws over our pass rush, and leaves opponents with terrific 3rd down conversions. I was hoping that since our offense has now shown the ability to move the ball, our DC would show some guts and trust in the D. Guess not... so I would love to wave to Manusky at this point. Dude doesn't seem to learn.

Originally posted by AllTimeGreat:
Since we won't be able to get Berry, draft a corner ad move Clements to FS, have a 3 way battle for the SS position between Goldson, Lewis and Smith or trade Lewis and make it between Reggie Smith and Goldson and draft an elite corner in next years draft. Then draft Brandon Graham and bam that's a good looking defense.

That's look like an overhaulin of the D.
IMO with better safeties our CBs could play closer to the line

We definetly need to fix the pass defense! I hate the big cushion on 1st down or 3rd n short.

How to fix Pass Defense:

1-Pick up FA/Draft Pass rush (i.e. Peppers, Hughes, Norwood, Graham)

2- Draft lock-down corner (i.e. Haden, Arenas)

3- Fix OL so defense not so tired (i.e. Mankins, Neal, Williams, Iupati, Johnson)

Not a possibility but would be nice: Pick up Seymour (Guy still plays hard and with him, franlin, and smith, makes our OLBs better)

Originally posted by queretano:
Although our D looks dominating most of the time, we're giving so many air yards that are killing us

Early in the season there was an obvious lack of pressure (still is sadly at least is improving) but I dont get why our CBs give that cushion and midfield behind the Lbackers is always open unless our safeties are the ones to blame for

I like M Lewis is a hard hitter SS but his coverages skills are so so at best and Goldson even being so a promise of a playmaker at FS looks two steps behind the play almost always (He's great at run support and a sure improve over Roman)

Both of them aren't safety locks for our team but the saddest part is that Roman is still in the field in every pass D formation and as usual lettin' the WR make the play (Minn and yesterday games are examples)

We have great LBs, good Dline, reliable Cbs but for long time ago struggling at safety and one passrusher away from being a hardcore D

IMO we should Goldson play SS get a good FS (Clements if possible or a FA or Draft) and really think wich scheme works better for us 3-4 or 4-3 we're a rusher away of any of them and get him (via draft should be great)

We have to understand..Roman has made several bad plays over the years! But this year he has made several plays for us, lets not bash him on his past guys! He is doing well this year. Made a nice tackle for loss yesterday.

Originally posted by DaFaro49ers:

Originally posted by queretano:
Although our D looks dominating most of the time, we're giving so many air yards that are killing us

Early in the season there was an obvious lack of pressure (still is sadly at least is improving) but I dont get why our CBs give that cushion and midfield behind the Lbackers is always open unless our safeties are the ones to blame for

I like M Lewis is a hard hitter SS but his coverages skills are so so at best and Goldson even being so a promise of a playmaker at FS looks two steps behind the play almost always (He's great at run support and a sure improve over Roman)

Both of them aren't safety locks for our team but the saddest part is that Roman is still in the field in every pass D formation and as usual lettin' the WR make the play (Minn and yesterday games are examples)

We have great LBs, good Dline, reliable Cbs but for long time ago struggling at safety and one passrusher away from being a hardcore D

IMO we should Goldson play SS get a good FS (Clements if possible or a FA or Draft) and really think wich scheme works better for us 3-4 or 4-3 we're a rusher away of any of them and get him (via draft should be great)

We have to understand..Roman has made several bad plays over the years! But this year he has made several plays for us, lets not bash him on his past guys! He is doing well this year. Made a nice tackle for loss yesterday.

Yesterday he was responsible for 1 TD, also he always let the receiver catch the ball, He'd be a great person but he's not better than average

Clearly our Front Defensive line has held up consistently. Our LBs are doing better at run containment and improving recently on pass rushs. With Clements out our DB tackling has been poorer. So we need another CB, need to have improved safety play, and need better backups. 11 sacks in the last two games is better. So we are improving but clearly not there yet.

I love this post. I yell and scream at the TV every single game we play and I HATE our pass defense. Our team is really coming along nicely, I love our current offense. (wish Alex would sometimes throw the ball a bit lower, and for Gods sake, toss it to Gore more often!) I love that we tossed a bomb a couple weeks ago on 4th & short instead of giving it to Norris or Gore. I love going for it this week on 4th downs, I haven't seen this offense in a long time...but this pass D is whats killing us. I don't know why teams don't come out and throw the long ball all day against us. I hate the 10-yard cushions. I hate seeing their WRs wide open all the frickin time. Bend but dont break...screw that.

Originally posted by queretano:
Although our D looks dominating most of the time, we're giving so many air yards that are killing us

Early in the season there was an obvious lack of pressure (still is sadly at least is improving) but I dont get why our CBs give that cushion and midfield behind the Lbackers is always open unless our safeties are the ones to blame for

I like M Lewis is a hard hitter SS but his coverages skills are so so at best and Goldson even being so a promise of a playmaker at FS looks two steps behind the play almost always (He's great at run support and a sure improve over Roman)

Both of them aren't safety locks for our team but the saddest part is that Roman is still in the field in every pass D formation and as usual lettin' the WR make the play (Minn and yesterday games are examples)

We have great LBs, good Dline, reliable Cbs but for long time ago struggling at safety and one passrusher away from being a hardcore D

IMO we should Goldson play SS get a good FS (Clements if possible or a FA or Draft) and really think wich scheme works better for us 3-4 or 4-3 we're a rusher away of any of them and get him (via draft should be great)

Our defense has looked dominant? LOL. Kidding.

For the ENTIRE year, the defense has been given a pass b/c of the offense with various ignorant statements such as, "Well, if the offense was better, the defense wouldn't have to be on the field so long!" Of course these same educated fans fail to focus on the games where the defense was blown out in the first halves of games or click their mouse and note that our defense is in the middle off the pack of time on the field (31:05).

I noted that we continue to try to implement players that don't fit (square peg-round holes) and that scheme is a major issue as well poor drafting and FA off-season targets.

SQ-RH - Lawson, Spikes, both safeties, some CB's, Franklin until this year, etc. In a 3-4, all 4 of your LB's need to be able to rush the QB, drop back into coverage and disguise blitzes. CB's need to be tough and physical and play at the LOS. Your NT IS the 3-4 and needs to not only occupy two men but collapse the pocket and your safeties are supposed to be interchangeable and be able to cover, blitz, play at the LOS or off, lock up TE's and obviously, your OLB's NEED to be able to win 1-on-1 battles and produce sacks. Period. Most of these players are one-dimensional (Lawson, Spikes, Lewis, Franklin, etc.).

Drafting & FA's. Some solid picks in Franklin (finally), moving Sopoaga to DE and Smith. Lewis was sold, Bly & Harris were good, Spencer, etc. High draft picks in Lawson & Willis, etc. In short we spend a gazillion dollars in FA and in top paid draftees yet, we still have the EXACT same problems we did 7 years ago. Thsi leads me to...

Scheme: Perfect example...Tully Banta-Cain. Plays very well for the Pats, comes here, sucks ass (like Peterson did here), goes back to the Pats and lights it up again. You don't think that's scheme? And the Pats don't have half the players they used too. Our scheme sucks from it's absolute predictability, to the CB's playing 40 yards off the WR's to only ONE consistent pass rusher (Willis) out of the LB group (and who's rarely used) to TE's and below-average WR's owning us in the unbelievably soft middle we have.

At the end of the day, I do believe we are better then this but had predicted a 20's defense while others were saying top 5. I predicted this b/c the players didn't fit the defense, most of the players who were acquired were one-dimensional and the scheme did not take advantage of their strengths despite the gazillion of dollars we've spent on the defense (and attention to it).

The saddest part is that the defense has relatively been the same personnel and played under the same scheme for three years now and has NOT gotten any better. So stop with the complaining about the offense - the defense IS what it is and right now, that's a 20's ranked defense!

here's an illustration of our D getting ready to bend.