Barry from MS

Do y'all think staying in this Base D for a while is good for our slow linebackers and young secondary? Our secondary seemed to play better in this base look.

Last night, this Base D with just Front 4 pressure with 7 in pass coverage certainly seemed effective. We got 2 picks of one of the best QB's & receiving corps in the league. We had 4 sacks as well, although 1 was against Flynn.

We did give up 2 HUGE chunk plays of over 60 yards, but sometimes you have to expect that kind of thing against Rodgers & Crew.

But what do y'all think? Stay in Base D & scrap the constant blitzing? We did seem to get plenty of QB pressure with just 4 last night. Of course, DC Ryan's head would explode if he doesn't blitz.

"I'd far rather be happy than right any day" ~ Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
"Honor: if you need it defined, you don't have it" ~ Ron Swanson

dizzle88

Obviously if we can continue to get pressure with just the front 4 then the base D is extremely effective, we were able to collapse the pocket vs packers at certain points

The bit where its kind of a trial and error is when you play a QB that has wheels like Cam Newton

If we sell out on the blitz and don't get there, he'll have tons of running room
If we blitz, we need to gang tackle whenever we reach the ball

Kelvin Benjamin will be a tough matchup for our secondary.

Utah_Saint

If you can get pressure without blitzing, then that's always the better option.

Thing is, you'll have to adjust to each game. I think the goal last night was to keep everything in front of the D by running the deep zones and not blitzing so as to maximize coverage and minimize the big play. It was a bonus that the Dline finally got some pressure. It all came together last night.

But that's not to say the same defensive scheme will work next week.

B_Dub_Saint

I think you prepare for each game in a different way Barry.

Preparing for Rodgers vs Scam Cam Newton are totally different. By that I mean if were the coach, I would play more base against an elite QB like Rodgers and more of an aggressive approach against a Bum like Cam.

Cam likes to run the pistol and is not nearly as accurate as a top tier QB so if he burns you with his arm, its a give and take situation. You have to make a Bum like Cam beat you with his arm and set the edges with your OLB's and Safety's.

BTW, the most important thig is that Scam Cam Fig Newton is a total BUM.

SUPER BOWL CHAMPS 2009 :)

Barry from MS

Great responses. Pick your spots week-to-week...I'm with y'all on that.

For this week, Scam Newton does not own the tools that A-Rod has by any stretch, but Scam is bigger & faster. Just a whole lot dumber than A-Rod...and I do mean, by miles dumber than A-Rod.

I honestly don't like the idea of blitzing Scam as it just creates so much space for him to freakin' scramble. Their WRs are not on the same planet with Nelson & Cobb, but CAR has the advantage at TE. We keep everything in front of us, with Lewis on Benjamin with safety help deep.

Our blitzing just hasn't worked too well this year for some reason or another for my liking...folks not getting through the line, folks running into each other, etc. The secondary is left so exposed when that blitz doesn't get there.

For me, I say stick with the 4 rushers/2 deep safety look and blitz less. Even against Scam...make him read the coverages and don't let him scramble. And for Lawd's sake, keep on stopping the run. I think if we blitz less, it will be more effective against Scam when we actually do blitz that turd-headed, cry-baby, s--t bird.

"I'd far rather be happy than right any day" ~ Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
"Honor: if you need it defined, you don't have it" ~ Ron Swanson

saintfan

I can almost guarantee Carolina is going to try and run Cam at us every chance they get.

Rob Ryan, are you listening to me? ROB! LISTEN TO MEEEE!!!!!

If we can keep that fool in the pocket we shall win.

Euphoria

The real reason we were in more base D this past game is that they finally woke up and realized that our D doesn't have the leaders or experience to pull off the fancy scheme's.

Put the guys in positions and let them make plays.

You have far less to think about when you are in a base D and can concentrate more on making a play.

Jack Vegas

I do not understand why everybody thinks RR calls a lot of blitzes. He does NOT. Last year we were the 2nd-least frequent blitzing team in the league. This year probably somewhere in the middle of the pack. And a lot of times, even when we do blitz, it's a zone blitz and we are still only rushing 4 people.

I wanted to reach through the TV and slap Cris Collinsworth Sunday night when he kept talking about Ryan wanting to blitz all the time. He had no clue what he was talking about at all.

Utah_Saint

Having no clue has never stopped Colinsworth before.

lumm0x

Until our players show they can handle one on one assignments when we pressure we have to stay rushing the 4 down linemen. I find it hard to believe anyone on our D should be having trouble with Ryan's schemes when pretty much everyone was here and either starting or rotating last year. Aside from smatterings of Brian Dixon and Sunseri, no one is really new.