Re: Interesting Test Case
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mojouw
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/11372/deion-jones
Jones is similar to Shazier. Wonder how Atlanta's defense fares? While I strongly suspect Duke Riley is better than Sean Spence and Tyler M. it is an interesting test case for the idea of depth on a roster. And can you ever really have "depth" for the centerpiece of your defense.
If Atlanta comes through it then maybe their GM an DC are better than Colbert. But if they struggle, maybe that is just life in a league so focused on elite athletes?
Will be impressive if Falcons D does not drop off after losing both Jones for a while and their other Pro Bowl defender, safety Keanu Neal, who is out for the season after the Eagles game
Falcons HC Quinn was DC in Seattle but he cannot just trust dysfunctional OC Sarkasian to take care of the offense while he focuses on fixing D
Re: Interesting Test Case
No matter what happens, the GM of the Falcons is no better than Colbert!
Quinn is maybe a better defensive coach than Tomlin but he's not a better HC .... Also, last year, the steelers had nobody to replace Shazier, but of course we can blame Tomlin/Colbert for not having a plan B on that.
Re: Interesting Test Case
The falcons defense is a big disaster.
Matt Ryan has a QB rating of 128 in the last 4 games with 12 TD, 0 INT (good as his MVP season in 2016) but the falcons are 1-3 in his 4 games.
Re: Interesting Test Case
So maybe when you lose one or more ludicrous athletes in the middle of your defense, it simply isn’t something that a team can overcome?
Maybe all the hysterical calls for firings and storming the Steelers facilities last season were more than a tiny bit reactionary?
Re: Interesting Test Case
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mojouw
So maybe when you lose one or more ludicrous athletes in the middle of your defense, it simply isn’t something that a team can overcome?
Maybe all the hysterical calls for firings and storming the Steelers facilities last season were more than a tiny bit reactionary?
Maybe - maybe not
Although he is not a middle of the defense player, Chargers have not had Joey Bosa all season to pressure the QB and still are ranked as a middle of the pack defense
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...1&d-447263-n=1
Steelers defense went to pieces after Shazier went down against mediocre Ravens (although I recall Haden also was out then) and Jags offenses
Losing more than one above the line starter is tougher to overcome - Falcons have lost multiple Pro Bowl players on defense rather than just one
With the rules changes that now assist achieving light 'em stats from journeymen on offense (such as Fitzpatrick), it probably now is easier to replace a key player on offense than defense. That happened with the Eagles after Wentz went down in 2017 at the most important position of them all
Re: Interesting Test Case
Every week we continue to see that defenses across the league are very, very, very well below the offenses. Look at the over/insets that are showing up in the betting lines. It’s crazy. Steelers Defense May not be as bad as some of us initially thought. They may only be a few players away opposed to 6-8...lol.
Re: Interesting Test Case
The defense of the steelers has been better in the last two games .... Giving 17 points against the falcons is impressive and the Bengals had 30 PPG before the game against us yesterday .... I am not yet confident about this defense but they are not in the Falcons, Bucs or Chiefs level.
Of course, I do not trust this defense in the clutch .... I prefer to be behind by 5 points with the ball with 2 minutes left in the game than to be ahead by 5 points and that our defense is on the field with 2 minutes left in the game.But almost every defense is now horrible in the clutch.
For the falcons, they have faced a lot of good offense lately ... in the last 4 games, they play against the saints, bengals, steelers and the bucs, each of his offenses are in the top 10 in PPG .... It did not help.
Re: Interesting Test Case
Chargers and Falcons situation is intriguing. For me I think it demonstrates you scheme to overcome the loss of a pass rusher to some degree. Adding an amazing player in Derwin James doesn’t hurt. But I don’t think you scheme out of not having playmakers in the defensive middle.
Re: Interesting Test Case
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mojouw
So maybe when you lose one or more ludicrous athletes in the middle of your defense, it simply isn’t something that a team can overcome?
Maybe all the hysterical calls for firings and storming the Steelers facilities last season were more than a tiny bit reactionary?
I think the real problem is the plan of bringing in one or two top notch players and then gameplanning around that person. We did it even more with Troy, and when he was out, our defense was not that good. Now, we saw the same thing (albeit to a lesser degree) with Shazier. I'd like to see the team grow stronger in scheme and less dependent on the name on the name tag. Of course, in the end, we always want (and need) the better players. But there's a difference between better players and top notch players. I'd take 7 better players and 4 average over 2 top notch, 2 better, 4 average, and 3 below average players every day. It's easier to pick up "better" players than it is top-notch in the draft or in FA if we have to replace someone as well.
