Fletcher to Start against Steelers

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

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.