Why the struggle against certain teams?

Not sure if this has been discussed or not, but why do we struggle against smash mouth teams. We play teams like New Orleans, Green Bay and New England and handle them. We play smash mouth teams like Vikings, Seattle, Stl, Giants and Ravens and lose. Are we just not that good against good defenses? Or can we not handle our own medicine. I find this interesting because our front 7 is supposed to be the strength of our team and secondary was supposed to be the weakness. No disrespect to Rogers but if RGIII is healthy i fear i the skins more than the Packers for this reason. Any thoughts in why this occurs?

Originally posted by BigTrez:
Not sure if this has been discussed or not, but why do we struggle against smash mouth teams. We play teams like New Orleans, Green Bay and New England and handle them. We play smash mouth teams like Vikings, Seattle, Stl, Giants and Ravens and lose. Are we just not that good against good defenses? Or can we not handle our own medicine. I find this interesting because our front 7 is supposed to be the strength of our team and secondary was supposed to be the weakness. No disrespect to Rogers but if RGIII is healthy i fear i the skins more than the Packers for this reason. Any thoughts in why this occurs?

How many of those games did we lose with Alex Smith? We have Kap now and despite the losses to SEA and BAL I expect us to do much better this season. We will know that those teams want to establish their force vs ours and we will destroy them this time around

Sometimes, it's just one or two player match-ups that change a game. If there is a nose tackle we can't move off point that makes it hard for Frank to get going. If there is a BD os Safety who hides his assignment well, it slows the passing game. Coaching, game plan and player discipline all factor into it, no matter how good your coach, or how much NFL talent you have, the other guys are pretty damn good too, or else they wouldn't be there.

Originally posted by BigTrez:
Not sure if this has been discussed or not, but why do we struggle against smash mouth teams. We play teams like New Orleans, Green Bay and New England and handle them. We play smash mouth teams like Vikings, Seattle, Stl, Giants and Ravens and lose. Are we just not that good against good defenses? Or can we not handle our own medicine. I find this interesting because our front 7 is supposed to be the strength of our team and secondary was supposed to be the weakness. No disrespect to Rogers but if RGIII is healthy i fear i the skins more than the Packers for this reason. Any thoughts in why this occurs?

Thank you!

I've been noting this one for a while as well. It's the biggest reason why I wanted to keep Lamar Divens. He seemed like the only true 2-gap NT we had and the area we have always struggled with is against power running teams and in short yardage and goal line situations (up the gut and t the left side of the OL). When we do play these bigger OL's and power backs, I'd almost prefer playing a 4-man DL with some serious beef in the middle. Our NT's for years have been 1-gap NT's which is ideal against passing teams but not against power running teams. And it always starts with the NT. Also, I've noticed that both Smith's are great if they are pushing up field and attacking but if you run right at them with bodies, they are way less effective (and teams run to that side far more than on McDonald/Brooks' side). Worse off, if a team can establish the run such as Seattle, now Wilson can play hs game; play-action, scramble ad-lib all day long. Running at us also neutalizes the pass rush which is our strength (against passing teams).

So to me, we need serious beef and push in the middle while going to a 4-man DL. This will free up the LB's to chase down the RB and still allow us to pass rush on the edge.

the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

They beat us with ST play. A proven way to upgrade a losing team quickly is to play great at ST. Watching the Rams in preseason, they impressed me with their ST play--very creative and aggressive. Cause for concern. IMHO.

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:

the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

This.

They were better prepared for us than we were of them, plain and simple.

- 98

Originally posted by oldninerdude:

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

They beat us with ST play. A proven way to upgrade a losing team quickly is to play great at ST. Watching the Rams in preseason, they impressed me with their ST play--very creative and aggressive. Cause for concern. IMHO.

Totally. Also, Fischer moved Amendola (one collar done at that time) all over the field to create non-stop mismatches. I loved how they used him and had always hoped we'd do the same with VD or James, Williams esp. etc.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by oldninerdude:

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

They beat us with ST play. A proven way to upgrade a losing team quickly is to play great at ST. Watching the Rams in preseason, they impressed me with their ST play--very creative and aggressive. Cause for concern. IMHO.

Totally. Also, Fischer moved Amendola (one collar done at that time) all over the field to create non-stop mismatches. I loved how they used him and had always hoped we'd do the same with VD or James, Williams esp. etc.

Their OL is improved this year, and will give Bradford more time to throw. Their D line is outstanding and so is their ST play. I think that they have quietly overtaken Seattle as the second best team in the NFC West.

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

thinking of that goddamn fake punt STILL pisses me off

Originally posted by oldninerdude:
Their OL is improved this year, and will give Bradford more time to throw. Their D line is outstanding and so is their ST play. I think that they have quietly overtaken Seattle as the second best team in the NFC West.

That very well could be and we were outcoached both times IMHO. Granted we had our chances to win but so did they (both times). I don't think anybody is going to be overlooking ANY team from the NFC West this year. It's going to be a dog fight but it's one we're used to and one they are not; tournament ball (like we played at the end last year). We'll see how they respond to everyone gunning for them.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by oldninerdude:
Their OL is improved this year, and will give Bradford more time to throw. Their D line is outstanding and so is their ST play. I think that they have quietly overtaken Seattle as the second best team in the NFC West.

That very well could be and we were outcoached both times IMHO. Granted we had our chances to win but so did they (both times). I don't think anybody is going to be overlooking ANY team from the NFC West this year. It's going to be a dog fight but it's one we're used to and one they are not; tournament ball (like we played at the end last year). We'll see how they respond to everyone gunning for them.

I expect us to beat them twice this year. Payback, and we no longer have the liability at kicker we had last season. If it comes down to a FG this year, I expect us to win.

I expect them to surprise Seattle. They've got some quick WRs who might give those big bodied, big mouthed Seattle CBs some problems, and Bradford should have some time to find them. Should be interesting to watch.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by oldninerdude:

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the only team i see we struggle against is the rams. it seems we have a mental block against them for whatever reason,, of course our num nuts kicker and romans play calling did not help

In my estimation, we simply got out coached by Jeff Fisher.

They beat us with ST play. A proven way to upgrade a losing team quickly is to play great at ST. Watching the Rams in preseason, they impressed me with their ST play--very creative and aggressive. Cause for concern. IMHO.

Totally. Also, Fischer moved Amendola (one collar done at that time) all over the field to create non-stop mismatches. I loved how they used him and had always hoped we'd do the same with VD or James, Williams esp. etc.

all of these things are true, sad to say. not to mention romans lovely fake toss pitch to ginn at our own goal line. good lord

Great subject.

I think opponents will have a more difficult time with our DLine this year in terms of the physical battle. Dorsey and Williams are upgrades over last year on the interior and Dorsey at end at times. Those guys get in the backfield even when double teamed.

Rest of the team are hard hitting.