So if the defense is terrible again this season?

[3irty1]

You're being intentionally thick and misleading.

The 5th DB is extremely important and is much clearer than "3rd DL" as DL in general are much more specialized and situational than most DB's. Yes the LB are the most important unit on the defense because they have the edge rushers. Its super common to draft a college DE and convert them to OLB in a 3-4, in fact that's where most of them come from. They are edge rushers first and foremost.

Try this logic - if you're advocating a 3-3 but think one of our LB in a 2-4 is a DL anyways aren't you saying the solution to our defense is the difference between a guy standing or not?

[wist43]

Try this logic - if you're advocating a 3-3 but think one of our LB in a 2-4 is a DL anyways aren't you saying the solution to our defense is the difference between a guy standing or not?

So you're saying the way Capers ran it last year was the cat's meow??

You still have the same problem against the run, i.e. you only have 4 guys in the box, 2 of whom are well below average players (Hawk and B.Jones); and, if the offense passes and you are in the jumbo nickel to account for the possibility of a run, now you're getting exactly zero pass rush up the middle. To make matters worse, as Capers seemed paralyzed by the uncertainty of whether it was going to be a pass or run, he played the 2-4 very static, i.e. little presnap movement, e.g. the offense knew who was rushing, and from where - how many times did we see the OLB's rush upfield, assisted by the OT's as they knew what was coming, zero pass rush from the interior DL, and the QB frying bacon and eggs while reading the paper in a mindnumbingly comfortable pocket??

Both problems are taken care of by going to a true 3-3, i.e. DL with their hands on the ground - preferrably inside the tackles; and, at the same time having that DE sized OLB on the strong side.

Sometimes I wonder if you guys even watch football at all?? Don't know what Dom's excuse is, but since he seems out of his depth these days, McCarthy has been forced to get his hands dirty on that side of the ball.

We'll see if MM actually forces some changes. The personnel are upgraded, so even if dunderdummy stays status quo, I expect we'll be a little better, but if he goes thru the season playing 2-4 nickel 65% of the time, and tries to use it as our base - we'll be making another quick exit from the playoffs.