Quote Originally Posted by run pMc View Post
Barry is slow to adjust, but he will adjust. I'll give him that. They played surprisingly well vs. DET and looked like an inspired defense. I wonder how much of that was Rashan Gary playing out of his mind. He was very emotional for this game and is widely viewed in the locker room as being an emotional leader, so maybe that gave them a little extra fire today. The Week 4 whipping probably had something to do with it too, along with DET being national writer darlings.

There are whispers that the Fangio defense is being figured out by teams, and that many teams who have adopted it aren't successful because you really need specific playmakers to make it go. I suppose that's why Staley looked great with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

I'm not convinced the way Barry calls the defense is smart given the Lions and Bears are run-heavy offenses. Why would you trot out 2 DL and leave the C uncovered to run up and block your ILB? That's just asking to get run off the field. I understand the idea is to make the other team walk down the field by playing soft zone and keeping things in front of you, but GB doesn't tackle well and can barely hand off covering routes that cross from one player's zone to another.

I am starting to have serious concerns Barry will be brought back. He seems tied to MLF's hip and the fact that they have held a lot of team's garbage offenses to 20 points or less is going to be a selling point. They still allow a lot of rushing yards and are a middle of the road defense statistically, and that's after playing bad-to-middling teams like CHI, DEN, LV, and ATL.
Our D looked good against detroit for 2 reasons. We did use 3 down linemen most of the game. We also played with a lead and forced a running team into passing situations. Clark is still good at pressuring the QB when he isn't getting gashed for 10 yard runs because his only one of two down linemen. Gary was in absolute beast mode. Let me see them slow down KC before I get too excited.

As I have said many times, its symbiotic. When the offense keeps the D fresh the D looks better. When the D gets stops the offense plays with more confidence. When you complete passes it opens the run, and vice versa. On and on it goes.