Obviously we need better players, but have you not noticed how hard it is to run against a 3-4? There seems to be something about having 4 linebackers running upfield with a head of steam that makes it hard for O-linemen to block. All that Tampa 2 stuff is more of a coverage scheme. I don't like coverage scheming at all. I think man to man, regardless of personnel, is your best chance in coverage. Defenses today are always confused about who's got who and when to switch off. It worked for a while, but offenses have evolved and rendered it useless.

In my opinion, defenses must use man to man and be able to win up front. If you don't jam receivers, your lineman don't have any time to get to the QB, and if you don't get pressure, you can only cover for so long. Offense is about as good as it will ever be right now. It's far too complicated to try to outsmart them on defense. With that in mind, I have noticed that 3-4 alignments have been very successful in shutting down the run and creating pressure.

DC's don't change based on personnel. They all have a philosophy, and they stick to it. The good one's always have success, no matter where they are. I'm just a llittle too young to remember the dome patrol, so all I have ever seen is 4-3 here. It hasn't been very successful.

If you have great players, then sure, you can make any scheme work. But what happens when you don't have great players? You have to be creative. I'm tired of seeing the same defense every year.

As a former LT Personally I love playing against a 3-4 because its so easy to run against... ...but that migh be just my personal experience.

But football and schemes are really simple, the guy who holds the pen last wins. Atleast when you talk and compare a scheme against another, every offense or defence has got flaws and holes you can attack.

When you don't have great players you have to be fundamentally sound to begin with. If you can run, throw, catch, tackle & block really well you will cover a whol lot of physical flaws. Then you have to be creative in the scheme your players are suited for.

Well it's all based on your talent. If you look at the top 10 defenses stat wise this year you have 5 teams that run 3-4 and 5 teams that run 4-3.
We don't have 3 good LB's how will we come up with 4?

Again, it's not about how good the players are. Everyone wants good players, everyone needs good players. But how do you get the most out of whatever you have? We've tried 4-3 for a million years in a row.

And of the top 10 defenses, how many 3-4's were in the top 5? Top 10 isn't dominant. When I say the best, I mean the best.

We have a couple pretty decent linebackers in Lofton and Hawthorne, and I think Martez Wilson would do well as one of those hybrid DE/OLB's that you see in a 3-4. How many good defensive linemen do we have?

Actually only two 3-4 defenses were in the top 5. Pittsburg and 49ers.
Denver, Seattle and Bears run 4-3.

Actually only two 3-4 defenses were in the top 5. Pittsburg and 49ers.
Denver, Seattle and Bears run 4-3.

Denver has superstars on their defense. And very few teams ever run the 3-4. Why is it that those who do, are so highly ranked? I've well said that you can be successful with great players under any system, but I'm more impressed with coordinators who can make any group of players at least decent. With four linebackers, you can cover more people over the middle, and you can move them up when necessary. There isn't much size difference between an outside linebacker and a defensive end.

You seem to believe that defensive rankings from one season mean that my point means nothing, when the fact is that almost no one runs anything but a 4-3 anymore. And it is my opinion that this should change, unless we come up with some great players real soon.

So after a little research into this, it seems we just have not had much luck with our defensive tackles producing for us. This is not from lack of bringing in help at the position, correct? Anyone remember bringing in Aubrayo Franklin and Shawn Rogers? Drafting Ellis? Bringing in Bunkley this past free agency?

I know for a fact that when we brought Bunkley and Franklin here, they were the each graded out as the best run stuffing defensive tackle for their respective years.

Well, take a guess who grades out as the best this year??? One year after we have released him, Aubrayo Franklin tops the list once again. Twice in three years. Coincidence??? It just seems like all defensive tackles are brought to failure here.

But the one lone bright spot at the position that we have had this year, Akiem Hicks, grades out at the #12 run stopping defensive tackle. He has not seen nearly enough playing time, in my opinion. Hopefully he can keep this up for years to come, but the odds are not in his favor. Thoughts?