Originally posted by redrathman:
The onus to execute is largely on positional coaches and players. Reading a screen is based on the front seven and how quickly they can read the play as it develops. As the defense is rather aggressive (and not vanilla as you point out), players will tend to bite on such plays. Manusky can't shout at a defensive end to extend his pursuit during the middle of a play.
I agree with this but to ignore the fact that this was a MAJOR issue last year would be ignorant. Pre-season last year, Manusky made it a focus on creating turnovers and that focus translated well last year with the additions of Brooks, Goldson, etc. My point is, THIS needs to be another focus for 2010 this off-season.
And by "vanilla" I'm talking about formations of the SAM and WILL positions where, although they are supposed to be "mirror positions" Manny primarily lines up at the same SAM and often times from the same pseudo LDE spot...Haralson? Same RDE spot from the WILL whereas more advanced coordinators move these guys back and forth attacking weaknesses, sometimes have them walking back and forth behind the LOS pre-snap looking to shoot gaps (e.g. they are FREE ala Willis), etc.
This is an area Manusky is either hand-cuffed b/c of the OLB's he has and their skill sets or he needs to gain additional skills (sort of like Raye learning the spread from Johnson).
Originally posted by redrathman:
I'd like to think that ranking third in the league in sacks would have appeased fans clamoring for more of a pass rush, but I was mistaken. Every down outside linebackers are a rare commodity in the NFL. Players like Elvis Dumervil and DeMarcus Ware might pile up sacks, but they're also marginal in pass coverage and run support.
Again, there is already a LONG discussion on this but your OLB's need to account for over 50% of the total team sacks. Our TOTAL team sacks were great. The Jets were team that had poor production at these two spots and eventually got exposed in the playoffs.
And seriously? Marginal pass coverage? When was the last time you saw ANY OLB on our team defend a pass, make an INT, knock down a pass, etc. At best, OLB's in the 3-4 drop back in a zone area for a split second to clog up a passing lane while heat is brought from the other side; coverage is a moot point across the league and VERY over-rated on this board (primarily b/c of Manny's one good game against Gonzalez).
And run support? There are many OLB's that are good against run support...they are, after all, linebackers. It's the pass rush that separates them from the pack and is what every 3-4 defense searches for. When had, they don't need to focus on scheme as much.
I'm not so sure every-down OLB's in the 3-4 are hard to find...in fact, most across the league rarely do come out of the game. Haralson doesn't come out. Only Manny does...for a pass rush! I agree that it's hard to find an every-down OLB (let alone two like Pittsburgh has) that has the skill set to stay in every down...but have you gotten the impression we've tried hard in THE key position in a 3-4 defense to address this?
Originally posted by redrathman:
Manusky has made it a point to emphasize unpredictable formations in his defense. To an end, the 49ers had six players with 4+ sacks last season. Citing the Jets in your own post, New York posted just three players with 4+ sacks, finishing 18th in the league in that category. The Jets succeeded last season largely by the use of a one sided zone coverage scheme. This was accomplished by the presence of Darrelle Revis.
Again, scheme is the reason TBC was great in NE, comes here and sucks and goes back to NE and plays great again. All I'm saying is that Manusky can get very vanilla for a 3-4 coach and where he lines up his OLB's esp. as pseudo DE's - it telegraphs what we are doing and makes it easy for offenses to effectively block them out.
The Jets were a team I highlighted b/c they have a #1 ranked defense with one awesome corner...the rest is all scheme. They, along with Pittsburgh, are regarded as having the best blitz schemes in the game...Pitt just has way better talent (in 2009).
Originally posted by redrathman:
Get some turnovers? How about 33, which was good for sixth in the NFL. I know your answer to everything is just run more blitzes, but blitzing also comes with a price.
I totally agree here 100%. As a coordinator, you need to know when and how to blitz. Each year, Manusky has grown. But to be a top 5 or even 10 defense, this is the area I feel he needs to progress in...blitz scheme and an emphasis on the OLB positions and covering screens while maintaining high total sacks and turnovers AND getting off the field on third downs no matter what the offense does.
Originally posted by redrathman:
You've just repeated everything you said previously, so I will too: 7th in YPP, 6th in First Downs, 6th in Rushing Yards, 6th in TO and 3rd in Sacks. Manusky took a defense that was ranked among the worst in the league in 2006 and has since turned it into a top ten ranked unit.
15th overall in defense and an inability to get off the field on 3rd downs. I'm still applauding his efforts. Like I mentioned again, I've been a fan of his in SD before he came here. But I also knew he needed to learn and grow like Singletary and now, he needs to continue to grow even more if we are ever to be a top 5 or 10 defense. And the aforementioned areas are where I feel he can still grow. Perhaps, when we gets a Mays and Navarro in, we'll have much more speed and athleticism and maybe if Brook grows into an every-down OLB and excels at pass rushing, we'll see marked improvement across the board. But for what Manusky has control of, he's getting there..but he's not there yet.
Originally posted by redrathman:
Part of running a defense is knowing when to be aggressive. Simply blitzing all day won't solve some of the issues (many of them fabricated) you've brought up. Also, the 49ers ranked 17th in the NFL in DTOP. This was largely based on the ineffectiveness of the offense, which punted a league high 99 times.
As a reminder, the Jets went into the playoffs blitzing all day and gave up 362 yards a game.
Nobody is discrediting the fact that the offense had an affect on the defense. But then again, the defense has an affect on the offense. If the defense can't get off the field on 3rd downs, we end up as a 15th ranked defense and don't give the ball back to the offense so that they have more opportunities to gel and maintain some consistency and flow...it works both ways. But of the two, the defense was more affected by the offense last year...let's just not forget about the defenses affects as well on the offense.
The Jets? Yeah and GB, who was ranked the #2 defense gave up 531 yards in the playoffs. Defensive weakness WILL get exposed in the playoffs by good offensive coordinators/coaching/teams. The Jets got exposed and therefore, made a lot of moves in the off season but make no mistake about it, good scheme took them to the top with not a lot of talent to boot. That's good coaching and a good benchmark for Manusky, IMHO.
[ Edited by NCommand on May 25, 2010 at 12:51 PM ]
