Quote Originally Posted by KYPack View Post
Wist, I think you are hung up on the DC and his schemes, So you blame the coach and the x's & O's. I tend to think it is the Jimmys and the Joe's. There is a problem in the execution and players are ultimately responsible. Peppers and others got sucked in last week and gave up some big plays.

One way or the other, we got troubles. We are dead last in rushing D in the NFL. Last with a bullet. We are the only team that has allowed over 700 yards rushing this season. Our opponents average 176 yds/gm. That's also worst in the NFL. Hell, Oakland is only allowing 158/gm. We've given up 42 rushing first downs, also the worst number of all 32 teams. Oakland has only allowed 32 rushing 1st dns. Many times, excessive totals happen because a team has been gashed by long rushes. Not us. We've only given up 3 runs over twenty and none over forty. We are getting pounded by the run in smaller chunks than the other shitty rushing D's.

If this don't pick up, we'll be lucky to wind up 8-8.

We have played some excellent running ball clubs and we will have better numbers when we play some of the more pedestrian running clubs.

But, we will get embarrassed in the play-offs if we don't turn around our rushing D.
If a DC is putting his players in positions to be successful - and then they are not making plays, are not making the tackle, are not forcing the play inside, et al, whatever their responsibility is - then you can say it is on the players.

But when a DC is putting his players in impossible situations, or such difficult situations that it is calling for the player to make a superhuman play - then there is something wrong with what the DC is doing.

As I said to Max - once in a while?? sure... it's gonna happen, and a defense is going to be out of position, or outschemed on a given play, etc; but we're not seeing a bad play call here and there, or a bad game plan on occassion, or a couple of bad games per season, etc. What we're seeing is a mess on just about every snap, in every game for the past 4 seasons.

And it is philosophical - Capers does not view controlling the LOS and being stout up the middle as being important, and it is painfully obvious. We are dead last in rush defense - and we have been utterly pathetic in just about every aspect of playing defense for years running now.

What Capers is doing is fundamentally unsound - I don't know how else to say it. If something is unsound - it will collapse; and that is what we've been witness to for the past 60 games or so... over and over again.