What's your take on our coaching?

[SFREDSKIN]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Scary to think what the Niners will be w/ an elite QB!!!!!!!

What would happen if Luck pulls an Elway/Eli Manning and wants to play for his old coach in SF? Could happen.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by SFREDSKIN

What would happen if Luck pulls an Elway/Eli Manning and wants to play for his old coach in SF? Could happen.

Holy crap didn't think of that!!!! SanFran could be on the verge of another Montana like era...

[NC_Skins]

[Sonny9TD]

A picture tells a story don't it.

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Shanahan inherited a better defense than Harbaugh did period end of sentence. What he chose to do w/ it is the real story.

I'm going from a personnel perspective, not "stats", . Their secondary was complete ass, but yet they were absolutely dominant against the run in 2009 and 2010. The latter signifies that their front 7 was well off enough to pull that off. What put the 49ers over the top is the marked improvement in their pass defense, which the additions of Rogers and Aldon Smith bolstered.

Our front 7 was reaching the point where it would soon be worthy of the label "unacceptable", with Rak and Fletch being the only exceptions. Our secondary was decent and better than the 49ers, but that's not saying much.

Had Shanahan decided to keep the 4-3, not only did he need to find a suitable coordinator(easier said than done), but he would have had to replenish the Dline* and fill the absolutely GAPING void that was at SOLB.

The reason our yardage total was so low was that Greg Blache is the ****ing Jacques Martin of defense. An excessively conservative scheme that can limit yards even with mediocre personnel because it is designed to give up long, time-consuming drives to limit points.


*Griff was injury vulnerable, Haynesworth was a lazy flake even under Blache, and weak sauce Kedric Golston was our "depth". Phillip Daniels, while effective, retired 2 years later. Andre Carter, while good, was certainly getting up their in age as well.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

Our front 7 was reaching the point where it would soon be worthy of the label "unacceptable", with Rak and Fletch being the only exceptions. Our secondary was decent and better than the 49ers, but that's not saying much.

Had Shanahan decided to keep the 4-3, not only did he need to find a suitable coordinator(easier said than done), but he would have had to replenish the Dline* and fill the absolutely GAPING void that was at SOLB.

*Griff was injury vulnerable, Haynesworth was a lazy flake even under Blache, and weak sauce Kedric Golston was our "depth". Phillip Daniels, while effective, retired 2 years later. Andre Carter, while good, was certainly getting up their in age as well.

I am sure it could have been easier to find some band aids for the 4-3 defense, while the offense was being rebuilt; than completely overhauling the defense and putting band aids on a terrible offense.

That being said, this team still doesn't have a good NT. I like Cofield, but he's not making the impact that a true 3-4 NT should be making. He probably be better suited to play as a 3-4 DE.

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I am sure it could have been easier to find some band aids for the 4-3 defense, while the offense was being rebuilt; than completely overhauling the defense and putting band aids on a terrible offense.

That being said, this team still doesn't have a good NT. I like Cofield, but he's not making the impact that a true 3-4 NT should be making. He probably be better suited to play as a 3-4 DE.

The constant addition of band aids would only mask the fact that the D was in desperate need of long-term impact players to maintain its previous level of [imo, overrated] play. And these bandaids themselves might have sucked enough to expose these flaws on the D anyway.

Transition or no transition, the D was most certainly not in a state that it could be neglected for a couple years and be expected to perform at a highly level. No SOLB, aging line, suspect FS, okay OLB.

Not only that, we were not in good position to draft offensive players. 2010's 2nd round had very few offensive players taken during that round. Had we kept that pick, the pick ought to have went to a defensive player, i.e Lamarr Houston or Nate Allen.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

The constant addition of band aids would only mask the fact that the D was in desperate need of long-term impact players to maintain its previous level of [imo, overrated] play. And these bandaids themselves might have sucked enough to expose these flaws on the D anyway.

Transition or no transition, the D was most certainly not in a state that it could be neglected for a couple years and be expected to perform at a highly level. No SOLB, aging line, suspect FS, okay OLB.

Not only that, we were not in good position to draft offensive players. 2010's 2nd round had very few offensive players taken during that round. Had we kept that pick, the pick ought to have went to a defensive player, i.e Lamarr Houston or Nate Allen.

Adding band aids to a terrible offense didn't help either, and Shanahan was brought in to fix the defense. Speaking of defense, with that 2nd rounder, MS could have picked up T. Cody and solve our NT hole for years to come (he is now the starting NT for the Ravens). And actually, he could have traded down to get him, and acquire more picks in the process.

[GTripp0012]

Our DL has not been a strength this year. It doesn't have to be for the defense to work, but we tied up a lot of money in it, and there has not been a great performer in it.

Quietly, Stephen Bowen is getting outproduced by Kedric Golston over this four game losing streak.

I think Cofield's performance has been really underrated this season. Sure, I'd agree that he's not a traditional NT and that any time a defense has run defense issues, you point the finger first at the nose guard, but we were a horrible defensive team on first and ten last year. We've been a really good one this year. The biggest difference has been Barry Cofield keeping the pocket a dangerous place for quarterbacks to step up. He's doing a great job protecting our overpaid secondary on early downs and distances.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Adding band aids to a terrible offense didn't help either, and Shanahan was brought in to fix the defense. Speaking of defense, with that 2nd rounder, MS could have picked up T. Cody and solve our NT hole for years to come (he is now the starting NT for the Ravens). And actually, he could have traded down to get him, and acquire more picks in the process.

I was thinking the same thing about Navarro Bowman instead of Cody. With Bowman instead of McIntosh/Perry Riley, we'd have something close to the league's best defense right now. Who knows what our scouting opinion was of him, but Riley's been worthless.

Or even Daryl Washington of Arizona. Last draft was a great year for 3-4 ILBs. And we got Perry Riley.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Our DL has not been a strength this year. It doesn't have to be for the defense to work, but we tied up a lot of money in it, and there has not been a great performer in it.

Quietly, Stephen Bowen is getting outproduced by Kedric Golston over this four game losing streak.

I think Cofield's performance has been really underrated this season. Sure, I'd agree that he's not a traditional NT and that any time a defense has run defense issues, you point the finger first at the nose guard, but we were a horrible defensive team on first and ten last year. We've been a really good one this year. The biggest difference has been Barry Cofield keeping the pocket a dangerous place for quarterbacks to step up. He's doing a great job protecting our overpaid secondary on early downs and distances.

This is interesting stuff so do we say Cofield isn't a pocket collapsing NT but a prevent guy? Like preventing QB scrambles or stepping up in the pocket to extend a play?

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Adding band aids to a terrible offense didn't help either, and Shanahan was brought in to fix the defense. Speaking of defense, with that 2nd rounder, MS could have picked up T. Cody and solve our NT hole for years to come (he is now the starting NT for the Ravens). And actually, he could have traded down to get him, and acquire more picks in the process.

Shanahan was taken in to build a winner. His mistake in his first year was picking up a bunch of lemons(a used car with problems is defined as a lemon) and trying to build something with them.

His reputation was built on his stellar offenses, not his defensive decisions. In fact, even this year's defense was well beyond my expectations when he was first hired since the Broncos' D in 2008 was purely awful. He has done pretty well this season given his poor reputation on that side of the ball(now maybe Allen helped, but w/e). And I believe we are close to establishing something really good on D. We just need a NT and ILBs(we would have needed a DT and maybe 3 LBs if we were still running a 4-3 at this juncture).

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by The Goat

This is interesting stuff so do we say Cofield isn't a pocket collapsing NT but a prevent guy? Like preventing QB scrambles or stepping up in the pocket to extend a play?

He knocks down a lot of passes. Pretty much one per game.

Cofield is very active for a NT and draws a double team based on his ability to show up on film. That sounds great, but ultimately, he gets moved around a bunch in the running game, particularly on draws. It's not a lack of discipline, it's just his player type. He's disruptive, but not particularly quick or strong for the position.

The true test for Cofield is if he wears down over the course of the season or not. If he's playing like this in December, I'd say you have the long term solution at NT. If he's just getting knocked around, they'll need someone else to execute the defense.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

Shanahan was taken in to build a winner. His mistake in his first year was picking up a bunch of lemons(a used car with problems is defined as a lemon) and trying to build something with them.

His reputation was built on his stellar offenses, not his defensive decisions. In fact, even this year's defense was well beyond my expectations when he was first hired since the Broncos' D in 2008 was purely awful. He has done pretty well this season given his poor reputation on that side of the ball(now maybe Allen helped, but w/e). And I believe we are close to establishing something really good on D. We just need a NT and ILBs(we would have needed a DT and maybe 3 LBs if we were still running a 4-3 at this juncture).

That's...just...nonsense. Remember had we built the defense around AH (before all the drama) the DL situation was sublime. AC next to AH was amazing. Orakpo could have held down SAM or even become the LDE and then Rocky would be here as WIL regardless. The only absolute need to round out the 4-3 was a legit FS.

More importantly...this is an absurd debate the opportunity cost of blowing up the defense is painfully obvious.

Bottome line is Mike is a megalomaniac and will force the "system" whatever it happens to be on the roster regardless of opportunity cost, scheme fit etc.

[DCtoAZ]

I think Mike/Bruce walked into a hornets nest and came out alive ... they managed to get rid of the problems while building the RIGHT way. This season had us all drinking mad kool-aid at 3-1 and that's OK. Our defense is playoff caliber and you know what , if we are building our YOUNG defense first that's fine with me. Helu, Hankerson, Austin, Paul, Davis, Williams, Monty (his is a better C than you think), Paulsen, hell i'll even throw in Torrain & Hightower (just have a feeling he will be back & Cooley) .. this is a young offense learning while we have a young defense that has learned .. Bowen(only 4-5 years in league) , Jenkins next year ?? , Landry, OJ I like .. Gomes is going to be special I think . Love Neild at NT ... Kerrackpo are among leagues best .. d-hall has a solid 4 years left being a top CB .. Wilson will work out fine ... we can probably pick up a solid CB in free agency next year .. focus draft on QB ... How about the dude from Baylor .. Griffin III .... give some damn patience Redskins Nation .. you bitch about change so for once give us a second to let Shanny roll with the punches for MINIMUM 3 YEARS i'm down for all 5. Either way, could be worse, you could be the EAGLes who spent millions upon millions and I believe have the same record as us ? Good luck to Becky to get a W down in Miami .. 4-5 with Dallas on the plate .. who knows ... take it in people we are rebuilding and it's going to pay off dramatically for years to come.