Fletcher to Start against Steelers

4-3 against a non-conference opponent, maybe you rest him.

Yeah, I agree there.

I didn't see Fletch every play, but he didn't look himself from what I saw. Still better than anybody except maybe an "on fire" Riley we could put in his place.

Hope he can play well against Carolina, then enjoy the bye.

From what I saw Fletcher wasn't 100% and/or his game just sharply declined. There was only one play he made today. All others were misses.

We need to put in more of Keenan Robinson, he can play and is quick, he may be a rookie, but he is younger and faster and has potential unlike Fletcher now

The 3-4 isn't the problem right now. It's the secondary and the lack of talent there. It doesn't matter what type of front you play when you can't cover. Plus injuries have hurt the front seven and their ability to bring pressure. Between Orakpo and Carriker they combined for 14.5 sacks last year. Tough to replace that type of production.

They combined for 16.5, last season.

They combined for 16.5, last season.

Rak had 9
Carriker had 5.5

Why is the 3-4 being referred to as an experiment? It's not. It's out defense. We have personnel for a 3-4

No. Wrong. We don't have the personnel for the 3-4, which is why our pass rush is practically non existent. And if you say injuries killed our pass rush, then we never had the depth to maintain the 3-4, and that again is just proof we don't have the personnel for it.

But all of that is moot. Our starting squad wasn't, isn't and won't be best suited for the 3-4. We don't have a dominant NT on the roster who can eat up space and consistently collapse the pocket like the Ravens and Steelers do, or successfully shoot the gaps like Ratliff in Dallas. Carriker and Bowen are ok starters, but neither is dominant. And our LBs are not great at coverage, which is an absolute necessity in the 3-4.

But take that same group and switch it to a 4-3 and you're at least middle of the pack. Better run defense, and way better suited to put pressure on the QB. Cofield inside and the next best d tackle. Lots of rotation possible too.

Right now, we'd need pro-bowlers across the secondary to compensate for the near total lack of pass rush. Change the front 7 and the secondary will look average, instead of bottom of the league. But it requires better coaching too. On far too many occasions we see our secondary just flat out of position. Williams was on the Manning to Cruz TD. Other games our DBs are leaving a 10 yard cushion and giving up everything underneath.

With the exception of Carriker, every guy on defense is far better suited for a 4-3 scheme.

Goat, its seems no matter what thread you post in your crush the coaching staff. How does this relate to Fletch starting vs the Steelers?

I was just trying to contrast that other post, but it didn't have much to do w/ Fletcher either lol.

i think chris baker could be one half of the fat tubs we need at nose. haven't paid close attention, but has cofield lined up at end while baker is at nose?

we need another tub in the rotation for nt. not knocking cofield, just think he makes a better 3-4 end.

Rak had 9
Carriker had 5.5

For some reason i confused Carriker with Kerrigan, something I said I would not do.