Quote Originally Posted by texaspackerbacker View Post
Swapping one complex system for another is about the best we can hope for. Pettine sounds like he's a lot like Capers. That's exactly what maximizes any defense, and it's exactly what a team with mediocre personnel needs to present an adequate NFL defense.
Doesn't it concern you that everywhere Capers has ever coached his defenses have had a steady downward trajectory? Dom's only success has been as a reboot artist. The JJ Abrams of defense.

Tell me what you think of this theory. What if Capers is a mad scientist when it comes to X's and O's and a genius at innovating new defenses out of leftovers, but terrible at projecting talent into his schemes. Dom lands in a place with players from the last regime, builds a winner immediately, then gets worse and worse the longer his influence exists. What if Ted is giving him everything he's asking for but he was asking for the wrong things? This could explain why guys like Casey Hayward and Micah Hyde immediately turn to studs when they leave Dom. Contrast this with McCarthy who seems to have a very good sense of what matters most to him at each position and overall did a great job working in harmony with Ted to get those players. Its clear that the coaches are a big part of the scouting process by the insights they share in the post draft interviews they give.

Pettine hasn't been anywhere long enough to gauge whether or not his defenses reliably trend downward but fingers crossed.