Originally posted by Fritz
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I think you guys read every 3rd word I write, and fill the inbetweens with your own prerecordings...
I've never deviated in my contention of how these personnel should be used. Yes, the way Dom ran his 2-4, both the jumbo and the pass rush version was severely flawed, and I've pointed out why on both counts.
I've also laid out the case for why the 3-3 is vastly superior, given our personnel, and that does involve having more size and pass rush on the field simultaneously. For the longest time I've wanted to have Perry inserted as a down linemen b/c 1) he is bigger than Brad Jones, 2) I wanted him as a down linemen, not a LB b/c he wasn't natural at LB, and he's stated all along he wanted to play DL, 3) played inside the T's he gives us better gap control, and thus we are better equipped to handle the run, should the opponent decide to run it, and 4) he provided much more pass rush potential than anything that could be generated out of dunderdummy's Jumbo.
The next thing I wanted done was to have Neal at either OLB or ILB. Since I think Neal is a very good outside rusher, my preference was to have him on the outside, and use Matthews as a rover. Before we signed Peppers we would have necessarily had to play either Brad Jones, Hawk, or Lattimore somewhere, but now with Peppers - and given our personnel, it is entirely doable to craft nickel alignments that don't have either Brad Jones or Hawk on the field at all - and of course we are much the better for it.
What you are referrencing with the LB's rushing from the 2-4 is that I don't accept the argument that that alignment is in effect a 4-2 simply b/c the 2 OLB's always rush. I don't like that alignment b/c 1) it is very static and predictable, thus easy to block, 2) it ensures that Brad Jones and Hawk remain on the field, 3) it ensures that more talented players like Perry, Neal, and D. Jones are left standing on the sidelines, 4) there are fewer downlinemen firing off and taking on offensive linemen with leverage, and 5) it limits pass rush/blitz options.
The 3-3 is the cure all for all those things - and now that dunderdummy is actually running much more 3-3 and 3-4, our defense is starting to look like a legitimate NFL defense. It only took dunderdummy how many years to come around to this realization??

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