The O is great; D Bad

Fade

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The defensive scheme is going to continue to be the Achilles heal unfortunately.

Geno and the O played a near flawless game, and they barely won.

This is what we've been seeing around here for awhile. The QB has to play out of his mind to barely win a game. On normal teams, that should equate to a blowout, or a game that the team remains in command of at the very least. Not skin of your teeth barely win, which should be rare cool thing.

Also what happens when the QB doesn't have an amazing game, and just plays okay? What happens then?

They have too much talent on defense to be this bad. They are not scheming to their personel on that side of the ball enough.

Briefly, in the 2nd half they finally started showing pressure based looks, and brought some pressure too. With a nice stunt, a Nickel Blitz sack, and a pick 6.

They sped up Goff's clock, and good things happened. We must all pray, they recognize this and lean into it more.
As that is how they are built to play.

Not shell coverage which is what they are mostly in.

On the flipside I was thoroughly impressed with the Seahawks offensive staff with the plan they put together to mitigate not having both starting OTs in this game, and then the Center went out.

Going into it, I was just hoping for functional. Instead they dominated, moving the ball up and down the field all game long. Geno had 2 bad plays. 2, that is it.

He was under pressure quite a bit, but the ball was getting out quick, and pretty much everyone on that side of the ball looked good, and was being utilized how you'd like.

They still need to get the TEs involved more in the red zone, and I'd love to see them move DK around more, motion him.

But all 'n all the offense is freaking great!
 

Mad Dog

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I just think it's hard to play defense in the league especially the way Pete wants it played. But I'm willing to give this D a few weeks to gel. After all the starters didn't play in preseason and there are many new faces (Wagner, Love, Jones, Reed, Edwards, Young, Morris, Hall, Spoon).

Today was a step in the right direction with at least some TO's and a few pressures and better coverage.
 

keasley45

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The D will continue to get better as players learn to play together.

The O will as well. If we can play this well without our starting Tackles, things are looking up.

On D, Adams is coming back. Woolen will be back, and with every snap the safety and corner play gets better.

They're figuring out how to bring pressure. The run defense is solid when they aren't out schemed. But the MLB coverage is a weak spot
 

themunn

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Defensive forced 3 turnovers, and ended Goff's streak without an interception (third longest in NFL history).

Giving up 31 points isn't great, but the Lions have a great offense - 11 straight games with 20+ points averaging 28.8 PPG over those - 34.2PPG if you look at just their home games. So it's hard to put *too* much stock in the areas where we looked vulnerable today. They certainly picked on Witherspoon for a bit in his first NFL game but he'll only grow and get better from it. I saw enough positives today to feel like progress is being made.
 

Dvl Dug

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Defensive forced 3 turnovers, and ended Goff's streak without an interception (third longest in NFL history).

Giving up 31 points isn't great, but the Lions have a great offense - 11 straight games with 20+ points averaging 28.8 PPG over those - 34.2PPG if you look at just their home games. So it's hard to put *too* much stock in the areas where we looked vulnerable today. They certainly picked on Witherspoon for a bit in his first NFL game but he'll only grow and get better from it. I saw enough positives today to feel like progress is being made.
I'm a little uncertain if this defense holds during the later months of the year once the weather turns bad.
But I do believe that the Hawk's offense will be better!
 

cymatica

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Bad defense would have given up a TD instead of a FG on the final drive. They had some good drives and some bad but I thought they played pretty good overall
 

James in PA

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They were pretty bad and blew a late 10 point lead. But they still showed some improvement. That's about all you can ask from a Hurtt-led defense.

Baby steps.
 
OP
OP
Fade

Fade

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The defense forced three turnovers, scored a touchdown, and held the Lions to 1/3 on fourth down. How is that bad?
31 points. Consistly in shell coverage.

If Geno didn't play like an MVP, you wouldn't be heaping praise on the defense.

You're boiling it down to W-L results.

My concern is process.

And that brief series where they were pressure based in the 2nd half only proves, I am correct.

They need to trashcan the shell coverage, show pressure, bring pressure, and play more man behind it.
 

NoGain

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Did anybody really think we were going to win a low scoring game today? Not me. That's why I was so pissed off at Myers earlier in the game. I thought our D was above average today considering the circumstances. We just need our D to be a top 14-15ish D this year.
 

fenderbender123

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I think this game is a good reminder about sample size in the NFL. I'm not going to crown the O just yet. Half way through the season I will have sufficient data to judge both sides of the ball.
 

HawkFreak

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In regard to the D...do we think they are waiting until Adams returns to install the real gamplan?

It sounds like before he got hurt last year the Defensive scheme was being built with him playing a major role.

Any chance that's still what they're thinking?
 

NoGain

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In regard to the D...do we think they are waiting until Adams returns to install the real gamplan?

It sounds like before he got hurt last year the Defensive scheme was being built with him playing a major role.

Any chance that's still what they're thinking?
I just want him to go after the QB. Find a way to keep him near the line when he's in there.
 

HawkFreak

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I just want him to go after the QB. Find a way to keep him near the line when he's in there.
Well even just that would be huge gamechanging piece. This D is TERRIBLE at getting to the QB right now.
 

Nothinbutm

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In regard to the D...do we think they are waiting until Adams returns to install the real gamplan?

It sounds like before he got hurt last year the Defensive scheme was being built with him playing a major role.

Any chance that's still what they're thinking?
I feel like they may not be incorporating certain packages/calls because Adams isn't active and healthy. I don't think they are "saving" it for him, but I beleive Julian Love just has a different skillset than Adams and asking Love to do what Adams does will more than likely get you in trouble. People forget how incredible an athlete Jamal Adams is, but he might be asking too much of his body since he's always getting banged up with major injuries.
 

Scout

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It all really depends on which team is healthier by week eight.
Then it's a Dog Fight, WOOF!
True.

It is a long season. A season is a marathon and not a sprint.
 
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