Quote Originally Posted by wist43 View Post
Sam was not between a rock and a hard place - he did what he was assigned to do. Everyone has acknowledged that Shields reacted properly within the misguided design of the defense - he was supposed to abandon the receiver, and the safety was supposed to pick him up, i.e. the design was unsound. That is entirely on Capers.

Seattle's offensive coaches saw it earlier in the game, and knew that if they ran that play, Shields would crash and Lockette would be left alone with only a rookie safety, several yards off, between Lockette and a TD. We all saw the result - Wilson laughing and looking back at his coach as if to say, "... yep, it was there for the takin'... easy peazy".

We are giving up 176 yds/game on the ground; we have allowed record setting performances to opponents; we have been repeatedly embarrassed in the playoffs and on national TV; we have had one of the worst defenses in the league for several years running - those are not "exaggerations" - that is the sad reality of Dom Capers defense.

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As for Thompson and the players he's brought in... I've never wavered from my position - good players, bad fit for the 3-4. It was up to Capers to adjust his scheme to make use of those players - he's never done that.

If there is blame for Thompson it is two-fold, i.e. the players he drafts not being a good fit; and 2) not forcing Capers to adapt; and 2a) failing that, firing his ass for not making it work.

Any way you slice it - there is plenty of blame to go around, and there is no accountability.

I keep hoping Capers will get his head out of his ass, but that hope isn't realistic; he does fundamentally unsound things on a regular basis; he doesn't think the opponent will run the ball - ever; he plays russian rhoulette with how he deploys his defensive fronts - almost always foresaking the interior line; he puts incredible pressure on players at the point of attack, with little hope of getting support there in time; on and on....

There is simply no defense for Capers.
How long is several years? One? We had the 11th ranked defense in 2012. That's exaggerating. With you every success Capers has is attributed to the opposition's own incompetence or blind luck. Every one of your arguments is an absurd caricature of Capers painting him as a idiot who huffs paint until he's knee-walking stoned before calling every game. You make no effort to isolate him as the cause of any failures, instead just launch your daily witch hunt. Show me another professional defensive coordinator who is overcoming the dearth of talent we've had in the same places. Your assumptions on the players and their fit aren't shared by me. Am I just supposed to just believe you know better than Thompson as well as Capers? Because I don't.

What I think is you don't want to give Thompson his share of blame because he won't make a believable witch. Not many will call for Thompson's head because they know it'd be stupid to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Same for MM, many of the players etc. A few of us on here care more about the truth than the sweet dopamine drip of indulging our god and martyr complexes.