Is our pass defense really as bad as people say or...

Is our lackluster numbers a product of our great run defense. When i think about it i see other coaches say forget the run just pass. I believe this accounts for why on paper our pass defense dose not look so good. This season there have been 277 pass attempts against us while only 148 running attempts(espn stats). When the other team only passes of course your passing defensive stats are not going to look has good.

We have only had 10 passing touchdowns against us and have had 9 int. To me if we judge a QB on his td to int ratio it makes sense to judge the defense on the same principle.

I believe our pass defense is a lot better then everyone thinks....

Statistically, the niners are top ten pass defense when it comes to pass yards given up per play. When a team puts up the rock over 40 times a game, then of course the numbers will inflate.

Now that Goldson and Whitner are starting, its better than when Williams was starting for one or the other of those guys. Culliver has also been playing better and better.

It IS the weak link on the defense, though. I do think you are right that it is partially an issue of "volume." Add in the fact that pass defense is incredibly difficult in today's NFL which favors QBs and receivers, and its not hard to see why we give up more yards there.

I dont think we are as bad as what people make us out to be. We have it going finally, Goldson and Whitner at S is working well. Rogers is clearly a #1 CB, while Culliver is much much better than Spencer, Brown and Brock.

Only thing that worries me is injuries. Reggie Smith would/should be our top backup, he is a S and has and can play CB.

We didnt lose anything, and actually gained when Spencer went down. I think Brock is a bit overrated, he shouldnt be in on defense, but Brown is terrible at times.

Ed Donnatell has done wonders in the backfield, he is a heck of a DB coach. It also helps tremendously with our front 7.

Originally posted by HessianDud:
Now that Goldson and Whitner are starting, its better than when Williams was starting for one or the other of those guys. Culliver has also been playing better and better.

It IS the weak link on the defense, though. I do think you are right that it is partially an issue of "volume." Add in the fact that pass defense is incredibly difficult in today's NFL which favors QBs and receivers, and its not hard to see why we give up more yards there.

But those things stay even for all teams

They aren't that bad.

We aren't that many games into the season and the one 400+ yard performance by Vick scews the numbers.

Who is saying our pass D is bad. We had a few rough spots during the start of the year but ever since we have been rock solid.

We struggled some in the early part when Goldson was injured. I think we are playing better now, but I wouldn't mind drafting a safety high in next year's draft. Too bad Taylor Mays didn't pan out, we could have used a talented 2nd year safety.

Originally posted by spraked:

Originally posted by HessianDud:
Now that Goldson and Whitner are starting, its better than when Williams was starting for one or the other of those guys. Culliver has also been playing better and better.

It IS the weak link on the defense, though. I do think you are right that it is partially an issue of "volume." Add in the fact that pass defense is incredibly difficult in today's NFL which favors QBs and receivers, and its not hard to see why we give up more yards there.

But those things stay even for all teams

yup. sorry if i wasn't clear. I think our pass d is the weakest part of the defense, but not as bad as it was early, and now we face more passes and since pass d is harder in todays NFL than any other, the volume of passes we see and the rules that handcuff our pass d exacerbates the weakness of the unit to make it seem weaker than it is. It IS somewhat weak, but not terribly so.

Stats are misleading. For instance, the Browns have a top pass defense, but haven't really played any top passing teams... meanwhile, we've had to deal with Michael Vick, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford, and Josh Freeman... all top-level QBs in the league.

I don't know if people ever said our passing defense was bad... I just think they said it was a question-mark at the beginning of the season, which was TRUE. Over the course of our 6-1 start though, our pass defense has actually been very good IMO. We've had some pretty bad defensive breakdowns at the beginning of the season, but our corners play the opposing wide receivers AGGRESSIVELY, and I like that. None of this Ahmed Plummer-style 10 yard cushion for our cornerbacks.

It's gonna be hard to pass against the Niners as long as the d-line continues to eat QBs like they've been doing.

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
Statistically, the niners are top ten pass defense when it comes to pass yards given up per play. When a team puts up the rock over 40 times a game, then of course the numbers will inflate.

You got it -- that is the key stat for run or pass -- yards per play.

Another measure could be pts per pass attempt.

Oh man, I saw an old NFL highlight the other night for another team and it was Ahmed Plummer giving up a TD pass. That brought back bad memories!! Please don't remind me of those days.

What lackluster numbers? We're top 10 in QB rating against, completion % against, sacks and INT's. Those numbers will only improve on Sunday but we'll definitely get a tough test when we go up against Eli next Sunday.

The only reason our pass defense (yardage) doesnt look as good as our run defense was the 400 yards plus we gave up to philly. Other then that we're probably the most solid defense in the nfl.