Oh where art thou Defense...??

by bayboy on Oct 28, 2008 10:25 AM PDT Comment 6 comments

EDITOR'S NOTE 12:25pm - The 49ers defense is clearly becoming a matter of urgent concern. I've wanted to open this area up for discussion and this FanPost seems like a perfect way to do it. My opinion is that I'm willing to give the team the MNF game after the bye before completely losing faith. I'm hoping that the big issue is scheming and the Seahawks game was simply the final breath of the Nolan regime.

I realize the pass rush is atrociously bad, but not every good defense has a great pass rush. I simply think adjustments can be made in terms of blitzes and whatnot to compensate for the pass rush. Of course, if they give up another 30+ points I'll go stand in the corner. Thanks to bayboy for posting this.

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Through the Nolan administration we have seen the defense develop into young, hard hitting, athletic unit with a fast paced style of play... (Willis fits into all these catergories, but we've seen flashes from others on D).. but the rankings have not shown it. We can always come back to the same argument, inconsistency from the QB and OL positions as well as a dismal group of receivers.

This year the offense is "ok" or better yet average but the D seems to be sloping downward. Why? We can thank our FA acquisition Justin Smith and McDonald's promising pre-season prompting the D's scheme to be altered. With McDonald's injury and this scheme not working, will this promote a resurgence of the pure 3-4 scheme used for the most part last year, or will we continue to see the same hybrid 3-4/4-3 we have been seeing this year?

I hope Coach Singletary can make a couple of changes during the bye week by promoting and starting Goldson at FS and Haralson at OLB. Does anyone see these changes happening? Any thoughts on what has caused the defense to go from "promising" to what has now been referenced by Florida Danny as a "swiss cheese" defense?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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Starting with the Line...

Where for art thou Isaac? You can lift up a bus and move it 30 yards, but why can’t you stuff the run? Losing Franklin and McDonald only shows the lack of depth. No impact rushers = all day to throw.

Thanks to Manny for showing why he belongs on the field. Love Parys, not Banta-Cain. Other than Willis, some good LB’s, but why aren’t they filling holes, shooting gaps, and stopping the run on 3rd downs? Is is Manusky’s scheme? Dare we say Iron Mike’s coaching? Seems like we have enough athletes, but are they not being used right?

I think there’s too much inconsistency from the Safeties. Maybe someone can sacrifice a digit for the team! Without a pass-rush, even good secondaries will be exploited.

For the most part, there are good players at most positions. However, few impact players. And little depth. Without the impact players, it seems like the schemes need to be top-notch, and execution crucial. Alas, too many 3rd down gifts are absolutely killing them this year. I hope Sing can impact both the scheme and the execution.

by StepUp on Oct 28, 2008 11:15 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Defense

While the offensive production has been “okay” the 49ers have lost the time of possession battle more times than not this season. With the exception of the Eagles (I think) and last week’s game, the 49ers have lost the time of possession battle pretty badly (ranging from 5 to 10 minute differences). While some of that is certainly the defense’s fault, you can’t fault them for an offense that puts them right back on the field after the unit just handed the offense the ball back.

The 49ers led the league going into last weekend in points from turnovers. I think the numbers that kept coming up were somewhere in the range of 66 points off of turnovers. I think going into that game, the team had 18 turnovers, so that comes out to a little over a field goal per turnover. That’s pretty good considering you were just on the field and then you get thrown back on the field.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think this defense is playing soft. I do think that they’ve played “off” off the offense too much. However, I don’t think it would be much different (in terms of being more positive) if the 49ers cranked up the heat. The defense just isn’t built that way.

Basically, I think the defense has done a fairly solid job this season. They’ve been handed lemons and are trying damn hard to make lemonade. The offense just needs to start helping them out a little more.

by sfgfan on Oct 28, 2008 11:34 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Correction

The games I mention in the first paragraph only reference the losses.

by sfgfan on Oct 28, 2008 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 3-4 is the problem

Actually, it’s the lack of commitment to the 3-4 that’s the problem. It’s like the Niners have been check swinging on a defense scheme for the past 3 years. The lack of commitment has left the Niners without one “prototypical 3-4” player on the defense. The NT’s suck, the DE are small, the OLB are small and ineffective. Hell, it might even be time to start trying Lawson as situational pash rushing 4-3 DE.

by methodrampage on Oct 28, 2008 1:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You mean his natural position...

I agree, this defense has no structure or identity. Franklin and Sopoaga are natural DT, Justin Smith and Lawson are 4-3 DE’s. They need to decide how to run this defense effectively after the bye. Also they need to blitz more, i believed they blitz a lot more last year and got better results, I believe a MLB leads the team in INT’s that doesn’t sit well in my eyes.

Joe and Steve were under the same system for years... don't expect Smith to be super so soon.

by bayboy on Oct 28, 2008 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs