As long as we can stop the run, we may be ok...

[lex]

OK, I see a lot of critique on the various positions, which is fine...its to be expected. But the reality is that if you cant stop the run, you cant win in the NFL. The inability to stop the run is a glaring weakness. If, however, you can stop the run, you can look at stopping the pass by mixing in blitzes. You win some and you lose some in that scenario but scheming a pass rush this way becomes more justifiable if you have good corners. If you have good corners and dont do something to generate a pass rush, the quality of your CBs becomes less relevant. Schematically, this is what we're going back to. Much is made about losing Coyer and after Bates I see a lot of people looking at Coyer like he was the golden age. Coyer had his flaws as well. He didnt make adjustments...and he was too all or nothing. So in reaction to this, we left this scheme, when in reality maybe we needed more flexibility within the system and more sensible blitzing (ie less all or nothing). Thats what bothered me most about the Coyer era. In any case, it seems that when its live bullets we will have a big play defense (at least until our DEs come around) both for and against. But in the end, it basically seems to be at Jays feet because if we can stop the run and have enough positive plays on defense to offset the negtative ones, the burden is then at Cutlers feet, and it basically boils down to what you expect from him. I could be way off but based on what has happened to this point, it looks like our defense will be better than last year by far to the extent that we'll go as far as Jay will take us.

Thoughts?

[SBboundBroncos]

i just hope we dont sacrifice our passing D to stop the run as much as we did last year, ints and turnovers are always a critical part of a good record, we need to be balanced and not leave champ and dre out to dry with no help over the top

but as long as we stop the run with our front 7 i think we will be a pretty good team after what ive seen so far in the preseason

[Br0nc0Buster]

Oh we are going to have to rely on our offense to win us games. Our defense looks quite a bit better than last year so far. Our DE's have been less than impressive though. But we are stopping the run better, so I see no reason to assume we wont have a better defense this year. I am really hoping that Robertson, Boss, and Niko can prove to be significant upgrades. And I hope someone outside of Elvis emerges as a good pass rusher, preferibly either Moss or Crowder.

So I am thinking we will have an average defense this year, which will put pressure on our offense to not only move the ball, but score touchdowns.

[Drek]

Coyer's time here was no Golden Age. Al Wilson's time was and Coyer's tenure happened to coincide with that.

Wilson carried this run defense on his shoulders for his whole career until he wasn't physically able to keep it up.

We aren't going to pull that kind of stalwart MLB out of thin air and we probably shouldn't go investing huge value into the position until we fix the DTs, because the lack of legitimate DT help probably cost Wilson two or three years off his career.

We aren't looking bad at DT right now with Thomas and Robertson. If they pan out well this season another free agent or draft hit or two at the position should solidify us there, making it reasonable for us to invest in a first round selection of Laurinaitis or Maualuga.

For this season I'd just like to see us be in the top 10-15 in both run and pass defense. Our offense can put together a lot of wins for us with just that level of help.

[Kaylore]

I don't think we'll ever get back to where we were until we draft another beast or two at linebacker. Great defenses are built around great middle linebackers especially in a 4-3. Until then we'll need to try and get in the top 15 and generate a lot of turnovers. If we can do that, we have a decent shot - especially with the way the offense is going to be.

[Sassy]

We had just a decent defense when we won SB 32 and SB 33...not great. I think if the defense plays ok and the offense is really good, this team will be fine.

[Kaylore]

We had just a decent defense when we won SB 32 and SB 33...not great. I think if the defense plays ok and the offense is really good, this team will be fine.

...and keep Lorne Sam off special teams.:~ohyah!:

[kappys]

We had just a decent defense when we won SB 32 and SB 33...not great. I think if the defense plays ok and the offense is really good, this team will be fine.

ITs going to be tough to replicate the 98 offense. As good at this offense looks that team had either a hall of fame or pro bowl caliber player starting at all 11 positions. Other teams couldn't even get their hands on the ball to face up against the defense