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What about the Defense


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We have spent a lot of time discussing the offense particularly the O line issues and now AJ.  What we have not discussed much is the 32nd ranked defense from last year and what it looks like going into 2019.

 

I haven't heard much about Germaine Pratt and how he looks other than he should be a contributor day 1 barring injury which is like saying the sun is coming up tomorrow.  The unit was terrible last year and it really hasn't changed much at all.  William Jackson was pretty good but didn't improve much over his rookie year.  Dre is Dre. Dennard is average. 

 

Carl Lawson may not be available for week 1.  

 

As much as we have talked about the offense, I am far more worried about this unit. 

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20 minutes ago, SF2 said:

We have spent a lot of time discussing the offense particularly the O line issues and now AJ.  What we have not discussed much is the 32 ranked defense from last year and what it looks like going into 2019.

 

I haven't heard much about Germaine Pratt and how he looks other than he should be a contributor day 1 barring injury which is like saying the sun is coming up tomorrow.  The unit was terrible last year and it really hasn't changed much at all.  William Jackson was pretty good but didn't improve much over his rookie year.  Dre is Dre. Dennard is average. 

 

Carl Lawson may not be available for week 1.  

 

As much as we have talked about the offense, I am far more worried about this unit. 

Going to be a long year in cincy....

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29 minutes ago, SF2 said:

 

 

I haven't heard much about Germaine Pratt and how he looks other than he should be a contributor day 1 barring injury which is like saying the sun is coming up tomorrow.  The unit was terrible last year and it really hasn't changed much at all.  

 

According to the Enquirer, Pratt is working with the second unit but calling the plays for the 2nd unit. Either that means he's picking up the scheme quickly, or no one else on the unit is good enough to call the plays. 

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3 hours ago, Shebengal said:

According to the Enquirer, Pratt is working with the second unit but calling the plays for the 2nd unit. Either that means he's picking up the scheme quickly, or no one else on the unit is good enough to call the plays. 

And that Malik Jefferson is too stupid to find his way out of the locker room with the door open.

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Haha, had a feeling this thread was coming. I too am pretty worried. We absolutely sucked getting off the field on 3rd down, we didn't get to the QB nearly enough, and the middle of the field (big surprise there right) killed us time and time again. 

 

Much like the offense, health was a major factor in the defense being as bad as it was. Fingers crossed things are better on that front this year. Lawson being questionable for week 1 already is really unfortunate. 

 

Another factor was the putrid scheme we ran until the DC was fired. Here's the thing though, i know next to nothing about Anarumo and what the plan is there. If the offense wins TOP hopefully it helps mask some deficiencies the D still has and keeps em fresh? That's all I got

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36 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

If we play a vanilla defensive scheme we should be able to move up to close to the middle of the pack. We should have a good pass rush. If we generally stay healthy, we should have enough personnel to be average. 

Vanilla defense? You havr alot of "we shoulds" in there...

 

...

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Not having Austin as DC for the whole year should be worth 5 or 10 spots right there. Now if the oline can show some improvement and keep the defense on the sideline that may be worth a couple more. Staying on the field for 35-40 minutes will crush any defense no matter how good.

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49 minutes ago, gupps said:

Not having Austin as DC for the whole year should be worth 5 or 10 spots right there. Now if the oline can show some improvement and keep the defense on the sideline that may be worth a couple more. Staying on the field for 35-40 minutes will crush any defense no matter how good.

Do you really think the offense isgoing to stay on the field 35-40 mins?

If the oline shows improvement?...

I see opponents getting 35 mins on offense...this unit cant get off the field if they had a bus to carry them...

Plus this team cannot stay healthy year after year..

Ross and Green are limping...

Only hole Mixon will run thru is the tunnel at halftime..

But good luck with tour assesment...

 

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2 hours ago, gupps said:

Not having Austin as DC for the whole year should be worth 5 or 10 spots right there. Now if the oline can show some improvement and keep the defense on the sideline that may be worth a couple more. Staying on the field for 35-40 minutes will crush any defense no matter how good.

I agree about Austin.  His scheme led to the worst results in franchise history.  That said, Anarumo is a question mark with limited experience as a coordinator.  They also still have issues at LB, which has been the case for awhile now.  If they get lucky health-wise, I could definitely see them jumping the 5-10 spots you predict.  We usually don't get lucky though.

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Where do I start.  

 

Baltimore had the highest time of possession in the league last year at 32:05. That is 2 whole extra minutes, not 5. 

 

A Vanilla Defense?  This isn’t the MAC or Sun Belt.  By week 5 we would be getting obliterated. Most NFL OCs get paid 7 figures for a reason. 

 

We move up 5 to 10 spots and we are still bottom 1/3rd of league so yay!   I actually think the defense can be mid teens if we get any kind of decent play from the linebackers. 

 

The reality is the defense was near the bottom of every category last year and the starting field position was middle of the pack at 17th. 31st In 3 and outs. Nope, defense just plain sucked. 

 

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestatsdef

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If you ever wondered just how much influence a coordinator (or his scheme) had on a unit, last year showed that it's quite a bit.

I confess, I was stunned at how bad our D was. Sure, there were a lot of injuries but holy crap we looked like the Washington generals playing the globetrotters in too many games. It was confirmed that Austin was the culprit once he was fired.

I like what the players are saying, along with Hobbs. The reports are that they are playing faster (not thinking too much) and held accountable. Somewhere, someone threw out a comparison to Zimmer....don't need to tell you guys how high a compliment that is.

If you couple this with the return of the injured players, we might be better than you think.

 

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