It's time to face it

[SoulfishHawk]

The fact that Clowney gets doubled and/or held on almost every play makes it tough. Especially when nobody else seems to be getting to the QB. Unless they blitz a linebacker, it's just not happening.

 

[xray]

The Hawks will have to play with the defense they have assembled and coached . There is some good talent scattered around the defense ; but not enough to hold any decent opponents offense in check . Any more wins this season will depend on Wilson's arm . This has got to keep Carroll awake at night considering that he is supposed to be a defensive guru . Good or bad ; he owns this defense . Blaming players is BS IMO .

That's a nuanced take. /sarcasm

Why can't you blame players and coaches? Rarely is it only one issue that leads to poor play. It can be a mix of personnel and coaching. Ultimately the Head Coach and FO is responsible for the product out there but there are some unpredictable player factors like injuries that can turn an effective player group into a challenged player group.

TBH I think all of us at the beginning of the year recognized the offense as the strength of the team and weren't counting on a great defensive showing. I think what's been worrisome is the defense getting worse as it got healthier. We have a healthy DL rotation and can't take advantage of that depth late in games. Reed has regressed. Ansah is a shell. Clowney is double teamed. Woods and Poona are run stuffers only. Green hasn't stepped up. Jackson is a JAG. Only guy playing above his head is Jefferson. We need Reed, Clowney and Green to really get going and play to their best potential.[/

Like you said " ultimately the HC and the FO is responsible for the product out there " are you being sarcastic ?

 

[Seymour]

a talent problem?

Bingo.

Other than Clowney, Wagner and Griffin, this defense is devoid of talent......and even these three are suspect at times.

You bring up KJ and Kendricks. They're both good LB's, but not great LB's. That's what we've got, 2-3 good defensive players surrounded by mediocre to bad defensive players, especially on the line. I mean, we must be literally the EASIEST defense to gameplan for.

- double team and chip Clowney every play
- throw a bunch of 7-10 yard outs and slants because of how much cushion Flowers has to give so he doesn't get burnt
- wait for us to get frustrated and start blitzing unsuccessfully and take shots downfield
- rinse and repeat

Our #1 pick had six snaps yesterday. Six........and he's been healthy all season.

This...^^^

It is whiffs in the draft, then the subsequent whiffs trying to make up for whiffs that have created the "we score then we'll let you score defense" that we are now stuck in. I don't see this improving anytime soon myself. Better off just trying to outgun the other team.
I don't see the niners games going all too well this year either.

 

[Mad Dog]

The Hawks will have to play with the defense they have assembled and coached . There is some good talent scattered around the defense ; but not enough to hold any decent opponents offense in check . Any more wins this season will depend on Wilson's arm . This has got to keep Carroll awake at night considering that he is supposed to be a defensive guru . Good or bad ; he owns this defense . Blaming players is BS IMO .

That's a nuanced take. /sarcasm

Why can't you blame players and coaches? Rarely is it only one issue that leads to poor play. It can be a mix of personnel and coaching. Ultimately the Head Coach and FO is responsible for the product out there but there are some unpredictable player factors like injuries that can turn an effective player group into a challenged player group.

TBH I think all of us at the beginning of the year recognized the offense as the strength of the team and weren't counting on a great defensive showing. I think what's been worrisome is the defense getting worse as it got healthier. We have a healthy DL rotation and can't take advantage of that depth late in games. Reed has regressed. Ansah is a shell. Clowney is double teamed. Woods and Poona are run stuffers only. Green hasn't stepped up. Jackson is a JAG. Only guy playing above his head is Jefferson. We need Reed, Clowney and Green to really get going and play to their best potential.[/

Like you said " ultimately the HC and the FO is responsible for the product out there " are you being sarcastic ?

I can accept that fact and still blame players for underperforming or injuries for sapping talent away.

 

[Mad Dog]

a talent problem?

Bingo.

Other than Clowney, Wagner and Griffin, this defense is devoid of talent......and even these three are suspect at times.

You bring up KJ and Kendricks. They're both good LB's, but not great LB's. That's what we've got, 2-3 good defensive players surrounded by mediocre to bad defensive players, especially on the line. I mean, we must be literally the EASIEST defense to gameplan for.

- double team and chip Clowney every play
- throw a bunch of 7-10 yard outs and slants because of how much cushion Flowers has to give so he doesn't get burnt
- wait for us to get frustrated and start blitzing unsuccessfully and take shots downfield
- rinse and repeat

Our #1 pick had six snaps yesterday. Six........and he's been healthy all season.

This...^^^

It is whiffs in the draft, then the subsequent whiffs trying to make up for whiffs that have created the "we score then we'll let you score defense" that we are now stuck in. I don't see this improving anytime soon myself. Better off just trying to outgun the other team.
I don't see the niners games going all too well this year either.

I think we are one inside force and one edge rusher away from being a solid D. I think we just never had enough draft capital to get those kinds of guys easily. SF has those guys because they got several years of top 15 picks. Bears got Khalil Mack because they had a QB on the cheap and could sign Mack to a QB like salary. Rams got Donald with a top 15 pick and a QB on the cheap. It's hard to get these kinds of players without either top 15 picks or salary cap space.

We've been fortunate to get a few bargains (Avril and Bennett) and at least one second round hit (Clark). But we are dependent on taking flyers on guys late in the first round and early in the second. Those guys do not have a high percentage hit rate. We hit on Clark, whiffed on McDowell and probably Collier. That's probably par for the course with DE's.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

The Hawks will have to play with the defense they have assembled and coached . There is some good talent scattered around the defense ; but not enough to hold any decent opponents offense in check . Any more wins this season will depend on Wilson's arm . This has got to keep Carroll awake at night considering that he is supposed to be a defensive guru . Good or bad ; he owns this defense . Blaming players is BS IMO .

Fire Pete

 

[BigMeach]

We're in the middle of rebuilding this defense still... So the fact that we're 7-2 is amazing. People overreact.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

7-2, face it.

On another note, the next bad thing that happens...….Fire Pete