Quote:
Originally Posted by SouperMeister
At the time, I hated this decision, and disliked Haslett orchestrating it even more. If you're going to a 3-4, bring in a guru like Wade Phillips, who has done great things with that scheme. Lastly, retooling to a different defensive scheme has put other pressing issues on hold, especially addressing offensive deficiencies at WR and OL.
I would like to see the team mix in some 4-3 after the bye. Can the results possibly be worse than we've seen to date? Opinions welcome.
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Many of the Shanahan regime apologists will say that the team DOES incorporate some 43 looks into the 34 base defense. They just mix it up with pre snap looks, but about 20-30% of our defense is actually 43 defense, leaning heavily on nickel packages after 1st down. This is the thing. If you are going to run it like that and disguise it, why not play to the strengths of the squad you inherited, and "tailor it to the strengths of the players", kind of like what he did with RG3 on the O side of the ball. If we had more speed just with our MLB's, I think you would see alot more progress, but our MLB's, Fletcher included, are just flat out not fast enough, so the seams on middle of the field have to have an eye kept on them, so they safeties cannot roam as much as they should be allowed to. Nosetackle is a important part, as everyone knows, but even with the guy we have at the spot, Cofield is just not commanding or even DEmanding enough double teams to ensure success; run game suffers, pass rush suffers. The lack of speed on this team is kind of astounding.
I think at the end of the day, especially with the bye week, we would perform better running a 43 from this point on to the end of the season. The personnel doesn't fit, we are on a collision course with having the worst defense in the history of the NFL, and something has got to give. This issue cannot be ignored, and that is just what Mike Shanahan is doing. He is ignoring that there is a problem. Acknowledgment of the problem at this point is not enough. We have 2 weeks to make something happen. Switch back to the 43, drill the team to death, and I almost guarantee our defense would improve by next game. No way it could get worse, and I have a feeling that alot of people would be pleasently surprised with the outcome of the change. Fletcher would immediately become the focus of the defense, and with what we have right now, might as well lean on him as much as you can to make some plays. The 34 has come, it has failed, lets all please move on.