Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

Mike Nolan turned this defense around for Dennis Allen who has never ever developed a single NFL linebacker. Anzalone we drafted but I think everyone else were free agents coming to the Saints and letting Nolan make the most of them.

I've said it to family and friends but I haven't wanted to disrespect Allen....but I'm not a fan. He doesn't know how to game plan to beat his opponent early on. He is however pretty good at making half time adjustments. That's not enough production to suit me. Our position coaches made this team great and they are being poached now. With a different staff we may not see a strong young defense again for quite sometime.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

+1. I'd personally love to see a 3 down backer with Demario. I wish AJ Klein was faster but it looks like he takes the bus everywhere. Smart player, knows where to be but simply not fast enough.

Kiko, Ellis and Anzalone are injured guys & Craig Rob is a just a back up.

I'd like to see upgrades this off season.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

This drives me crazy about Dennis Allen... the counter-punch defense. We play vanilla in the first half of a game and then make the necessary adjustments instead of imposing our will from the start. That’s why our defense always stinks for the first few weeks.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

As most of you have stated... Allen is bad in the first half, but he is also known for giving up leads or backbreaking plays at the end of a game.

Allen is good in the 2nd and 3rd qtrs and that’s because his game plan is always poor in the 1st, adjustments are good but then by the 4th the other team adjusts.

He hasn’t been too bad, let’s face it, before Allen we were constantly last in the league. We all said for years if we only had a avg defense we could be unstoppable... well for the last 3 years our defense has been solid but we haven’t punched through. I am fine with Allen staying, but we need more talent up front that can stay healthy.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

Definitely agree.
I was certainly of the belief that all we needed was a decent D to get us going, but that was when our offense was a quick starting machine which could mask a ton of issues elsewhere.
Now our offense isnt the unstoppable force and tends to get too pass happy we notice every little failure, even when the D is statistically better than in previous years.

As Brees doesnt have the arm to throw the deep ball anymore, teams dont respect it and play underneath coverage - which is why Kamara is so crowded whenever he catches the ball.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

Don't forget a big NT to man the middle of a 3-4. We don't have 1 of those either.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

Truth right here.

I can't believe people still defend Allen. It's what I mean when I talk about the non-call being a shiny object waved in front of the eyes of this fan base. It distracts them from the giant red flags waving everywhere. One of those red flags is Allen, and has been obvious since the Minnesota Miracle.

Our LB core and especially our pass rush came to form under Nolan. This is a MAJOR loss for us and it's going to sting.

I wanted Allen gone after 2016 when our defense was historically bad, breaking some record for most passing touchdowns given up. We had a chance to get Wade Phillips and I would've much rather preferred him as defensive coordinator. Pair Phillips with Nolan, and this defense would've been much better in the last 3 years.

On the flip side, I can't believe I am actually saying this; Dallas will be a legit threat in the future if they let McCarthy and Nolan build up on that team. I never bought into the talk that McCarthy was a bad coach coasting off Aaron Rodgers in GB. Rodgers is the problem over there and their front office worships him and has bent their knee to please him. If McCarthy and Nolan are allowed to do their jobs in Dallas, I expect them to make the NFCCG by 2021.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

This is true and this past year, I noticed Brees at many times, was just checking it down to Kamara and not even bothering going through reads down field. You saw this all through the playoff game.

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

Re: LB Coach Mike Nolan Hired by Cowboys
 

A clip of our LB’s before Mike Nolan:

https://i.imgur.com/zDSWuck.gif