Quote Originally Posted by pbmax View Post
Raji hasn't had his pass rush for two plus years and it isn't present early in the season, so I think that calls into question that his pass rush was diminished simply by over usage. I agree that Raji was a poor fit for the Capers system in a 2 gapping role. But he didn't perform much better at 3 tech no matter the gap responsibility, except he did stay home to plug up the run better than past years. It may be he needs to be at nose like he was in 2010 to fit. But I am not sure that's it.

Pickett and Jolly were used to stuff the run in both base and 2-4. And it worked until Game 7 or 8 and then fell apart. It coincided with rotating injuries to Matthews, Neal and Perry.

A D line with Raji and Daniels was on the field quite a bit. The were with Perry a LOT until he injured his foot. Jones was middling at best for the entire season. They can't all play DE in a four man line. Matthews has to be one of them until another pass rusher emerges. The problem isn't size, its match ups. What I wonder is who will be the run down D lineman this year.

What you might like is that McCarthy at his PC today said they were looking at sending Matthews from different places in the scheme. So they may indeed run multiple fronts, unless they just allow him to roam like an inverted psycho.
According to Capers, there are no run downs, lol...

I agree, it is about matchups and creating mismatches - it's the reason I want a 3-3 out there in the nickel. You can do more with moving people around, you have more size on the field (mobile size, not just fat guys), and you have your more talented, or at least higher drafted players on the field.

I damn sure like a 3-3 of Daniels, D. Jones, and Peppers on the line; and Matthews, Bradford/Mulumba, and Neal on the field than any combination of 2-4 that keeps Hawk and Brad Jones on the field.

You guys all get your panties in a twist over how is an OLB going to cover a RB or TE - well, how are Hawk or Brad Jones going to cover them any better, as both of those guys pretty much suck at everything. How does any other team in the league survive with better results than we've been realizing when they don't run the 2-4 at all??

I did find that article with Trgovac's comments to be disheartening - it says he and Capers simply don't get it; and it sounds like they're going to keep right on running what they've been running irregardless of MM's input.

I hope that isn't the case, but he sure sounded like they were going to keep running the same junk, and the problem all along has been the players - that's 180 degrees the wrong approach.