Our D: It is what it is
 

After 5 games into the season, I'm starting to accept the fact that our Defense is "good" - not "great". I had so many high expectations before the season started with the addition of Franklin, Rogers, and Jordan (who's been very good) - the promotion of Casillas to starter, and the continued development of Jenkins at FS. I thought our D would be much better than they've been. I'm starting to wonder whether or not Gregg Williams is over-rated, although at this point, I wouldn't trade him for any other DC out there because of the chemistry and intensity that he brings to the team. One thing that stands out to me is that G3 seems more focused on getting sacks rather than creating turnovers. Honestly, it's great to get those sacks, but what good is it if you can't stop the other team on 3rd and long? The intensity and nastiness that he supposedly brings to the sideline doesn't seem to be translating on the field.

Here are our rankings through week 5:

Yds allowed - 16th
Pass - 16th
Rush - 15th
Sacks - 6th
TD's - 24th
INT's- 21st

I am bashing them pretty hard myself.

I am seriously hoping that what happens in the NFL happens to us this year and that is you want your D to come together and peak late in the season and into the playoffs. Much like our SB year and the Giants.

My problem I am having is that the SB year there were flashes on D of what they were capable of and what to expect if it came together and sure enough!

So far this year all I am seeing is the flashes of the playoff game with Seattle.

I think a lot of it is the personnel we have on the field ..lets say we had the Jets secondary..the Lions D line..and the Niners LBs...then what would we be like?..I think G.W would have the number 1 ranked D..

JMHO

There's no pressure without bringing the house.
Tackling leaves a lot to be said and done.
Even the sack stat is scued in my view...Harper has half of them.
I haven't seen enough games from start to finish to match to the numbers,
but I still see our DB's high on the list of leading tacklers every week,
and O-lineman low on the list every week.
The one game we lost was the one where we just couldn't outscore our opponent.
Every week is new, so I'll stay hopeful and look for fundamental improvements.

GW is scheming with less than average talent.....it ain't his fault we can't tackle.(is it?)

The biggest difference is turnovers! In 09 we had 26 picks with 5 returned for TD. Sharper had 9 picks alone and we caught just about everything that hit our hands. Right now we have 3 and I see at least 2 drop picks every game. If I were GW I would make every DB spend an hour a day catching balls off the jugg!

They'll get better. They got a lot of pressure on Cam but what else can you do, he's very good at escaping with his feet and making tough throws for most QB's. He's been doing it all season. Then that gimmick option they make work. Very tough to defend. Nobody really has an answer for it.

doubt it, bend dont break, with occasional breaks will be our theme this year.

I'm not sure I agree with this. We made big upgrades in the middle with Rogers and Franklin. Smith is in the best shape we've seen him in in a while, our secondary has only improved, with Greer/Porter healthy and P-Rob/Jenkins developing well. Only real area we didn't upgrade was at LB.

So, is it really that GW is working w/ less than average talent? Maybe so, but sometimes I think we out-think ourselves. And, that's coaching.

Get back to basics; blocking and tackling. Also, what about the 1st year that we had GW? Remember all the hooplah about him changing the culture in practice? Everyone running full-speed to the balls on the ground? I haven't heard too much about that happening anymore. Not saying it isn't, but it makes you wonder....

A lot of it could also be the new CBA with the limited amount of time you can practice in full pads.