Will the Defense be drastically better?

[Chucklez]

I think the general consensus is that yes, the defense will be drastically better than last year. Personally, I am gonna say hold your horses on that front and let's wait and see before we all get TOO excited about our D becoming a top 5 unit.

 

Now, I'm not saying that it won't be better at all, or that it won't indeed be drastically better, but lets take a closer look at this. From the start of to the early mid season of last season, our D was actually playing pretty well as it was. They were making plays when the had too, the run D was better to begin with and when our secondary was healthy there was actual talk of our D being potentially in the top 5-6. Then of course, as ever, the injury bug hit and we sort of went downhill from there.

 

Regarding our new pickups, I absolutely love them. Art Jones could potentially cause mayhem. D. Jackson bodes well as an improvement in run D. The draft selections appear to be hard hitters with the potential to work into the starting lineup. But herein lies the problem, it's all "potential" at this point. Who knows how this team will gel together in the long haul? Sure it looks positive now, but so did the "Dream team". Obviously we didn't have as many pickups as them, meaning it will be easier to gel the D together, but the same principles apply. Let's not forget about the injury bug either, every team has to deal with the inevitability of it. Do we really have the proven depth to confidently say at this moment in time that if D. Jackson and Art Jones got injured that our D will not just return to the soft inside LB core it has been for the last god knows how many years?

 

Again, I'm not saying our D won't be better this year, I actually think it will, but shouldn't we all at least acknowledge the fact that it might not pan out as well as we hope because of a few FA signings?

 

Feel free to tear this argument apart and convince me to be more optimistic, but I just want to reign in expectations before everyone gets too upset over a possible situation.

[AntonMcG]

I think the general consensus is that yes, the defense will be drastically better than last year. Personally, I am gonna say hold your horses on that front and let's wait and see before we all get TOO excited about our D becoming a top 5 unit.

 

Now, I'm not saying that it won't be better at all, or that it won't indeed be drastically better, but lets take a closer look at this. From the start of to the early mid season of last season, our D was actually playing pretty well as it was. They were making plays when the had too, the run D was better to begin with and when our secondary was healthy there was actual talk of our D being potentially in the top 5-6. Then of course, as ever, the injury bug hit and we sort of went downhill from there.

 

Regarding our new pickups, I absolutely love them. Art Jones could potentially cause mayhem. D. Jackson bodes well as an improvement in run D. The draft selections appear to be hard hitters with the potential to work into the starting lineup. But herein lies the problem, it's all "potential" at this point. Who knows how this team will gel together in the long haul? Sure it looks positive now, but so did the "Dream team". Obviously we didn't have as many pickups as them, meaning it will be easier to gel the D together, but the same principles apply. Let's not forget about the injury bug either, every team has to deal with the inevitability of it. Do we really have the proven depth to confidently say at this moment in time that if D. Jackson and Art Jones got injured that our D will not just return to the soft inside LB core it has been for the last god knows how many years?

 

Again, I'm not saying our D won't be better this year, I actually think it will, but shouldn't we all at least acknowledge the fact that it might not pan out as well as we hope because of a few FA signings?

 

Feel free to tear this argument apart and convince me to be more optimistic, but I just want to reign in expectations before everyone gets too upset over a possible situation.

 

There was no injury bug on defense... the only players of note we lost for periods were Landry and Toler, and there was note significant drop off when they were not on the field, especially Landry who did not have a good year. Werner spent time of the sidelines but was not a big contributor anyway.

 

The injury bug hit the offense, but had little bearing on the defense

[throwing BBZ]

I think the general consensus is that yes, the defense will be drastically better than last year. Personally, I am gonna say hold your horses on that front and let's wait and see before we all get TOO excited about our D becoming a top 5 unit.

 

Now, I'm not saying that it won't be better at all, or that it won't indeed be drastically better, but lets take a closer look at this. From the start of to the early mid season of last season, our D was actually playing pretty well as it was. They were making plays when the had too, the run D was better to begin with and when our secondary was healthy there was actual talk of our D being potentially in the top 5-6. Then of course, as ever, the injury bug hit and we sort of went downhill from there.

 

Regarding our new pickups, I absolutely love them. Art Jones could potentially cause mayhem. D. Jackson bodes well as an improvement in run D. The draft selections appear to be hard hitters with the potential to work into the starting lineup. But herein lies the problem, it's all "potential" at this point. Who knows how this team will gel together in the long haul? Sure it looks positive now, but so did the "Dream team". Obviously we didn't have as many pickups as them, meaning it will be easier to gel the D together, but the same principles apply. Let's not forget about the injury bug either, every team has to deal with the inevitability of it. Do we really have the proven depth to confidently say at this moment in time that if D. Jackson and Art Jones got injured that our D will not just return to the soft inside LB core it has been for the last god knows how many years?

 

Again, I'm not saying our D won't be better this year, I actually think it will, but shouldn't we all at least acknowledge the fact that it might not pan out as well as we hope because of a few FA signings?

 

Feel free to tear this argument apart and convince me to be more optimistic, but I just want to reign in expectations before everyone gets too upset over a possible situation.

 

   Considering we were a top 25ish D last season, a jump to top 15 is Drastic jump IMO. 

 And some laughed at those Homers that looked at the #`s after a Tough Oakland & Miami and were seeing a top 5-6 D.

 One had to be Homer BLIND to the personnel involved.

 

   If the run D was better to begin with... Yikes!

 In game one Oaklands QB ran all around us.

 Game 2, Miami with a weak line and a rookie QB got 100 + rushing.

 Game 3, SF, Gore had 80+ yards 7.5 ypc almost in the 1st half, it was embarassing watching Waldren. Mysteriously quit running the 2nd half.

 Game 4, Seattle pounded us on the ground for over 200 yds rushong

 Game 5, the Jags didn`t show up

 Game 6, Chargers RB had 100+ at 4.6 ypc

 

 So, given how our D struggled to stop the run All season and our LB`s were weak in pass coverage All season, and that that

IS going to Change, we should see a drastic improvement in our D.

 

  You don`t seem to KNOW A Jones. He has yet to be a Mayhem player so i`m baffled you chose that word.

 He is one of the Best run stuffers there is and gets SOME Push, a few sacks, more of the coverage type.

 

 Dq Jackson does get his tackles in the run game but there are questions about how many yards are given up before he makes them. Think Angerer. His Big Value is considered to be his pass coverage. I do agree he will surely be where he needs to be more consistentely than Angerer & Sheppard, so yes a plus..

 

 LB`er depth. I believe in McNary and that he can start and be solid. Not sure Sheppard will even make the roster because of An Jackson, but he actually did show decent improvement and should be better in year 2.

 We have VG depth along the D-Line and dumping weak links Mathews, Franklin, and moving Moala to the bottom of the depth chart is a Huge difference.

 

 It is true the injury Bug really hurts All teams and can seriously affect how good you are come Playoff time. So....thats FB!

[Dustin]

Nope. Probably the same. Maybe a little worse. 

[Adonai]

I'll say this much - with Arthur Jones in, the Ravens were best against their opponent's running game - without him, they were dismal. Now that can partly be attributed to the packages being used as well. But the fact remains, Jones is a run stuffer.

 

Add in D'QWell Jackson and this defense is IMMEDIATELY better. Factor in last year's Defensive draft picks Bjorn Werner, Montori Hughes having a year under their belt and there should be no doubt about the improvement that this year's defense should show.

 

Also - personally I am excited to see things play out with Adongo [6'5" 250 lbs] and Muamba [will he be transitioned to a Safety role].

[Adonai]

There was no injury bug on defense... the only players of note we lost for periods were Landry and Toler, and there was note significant drop off when they were not on the field, especially Landry who did not have a good year. Werner spent time of the sidelines but was not a big contributor anyway.

 

The injury bug hit the offense, but had little bearing on the defense

 

Sorry but honestly, nothing could be further from the truth.

Toler's absence was very noticable. And even if it is just from a chemistry standpoint alone, injuries to your starters are always going to affect execution. There's no two ways about that one. 

[throwing BBZ]

There was no injury bug on defense... the only players of note we lost for periods were Landry and Toler, and there was note significant drop off when they were not on the field, especially Landry who did not have a good year. Werner spent time of the sidelines but was not a big contributor anyway.

 

The injury bug hit the offense, but had little bearing on the defense

 

 Well, i thought there has been some consensus here that there was a noticeable difference in the D after Toler went down.

 I would have to agree with that point of view.

[Johnny Bui]

Well, our defense was pretty bad last year.  The only way to go is up i guess.  Hopefully, players not named Mathis can assist with the sacks.  We need to stop giving up big plays and we need to get faster at the LB position. 

[Burls' Kid's]

We're a top 10 DEFENSE! And the only reason we're not any higher is due to youth.

[NewColtsFan]

There was no injury bug on defense... the only players of note we lost for periods were Landry and Toler, and there was note significant drop off when they were not on the field, especially Landry who did not have a good year. Werner spent time of the sidelines but was not a big contributor anyway.

 

The injury bug hit the offense, but had little bearing on the defense

 

I don't believe the coaches would buy into your view.

 

I read a Colts.com story during the off-season where Pagano talked about how good the offense was in the first month or so, and then how badly it dropped off once Toler got hurt.   He specifically mentioned Toler, who I believe got hurt in the Denver game.

 

I'm just sharing what I read here....

[Valpo2004]

I think as to if the defense gets better or not depends strongly on the play of who ever starts at safety alongside Landry.  

[Steamboat_Shaun]

Ahh this conversation again. Seems like we have it every year, and every year (aside from the 2006 Super Bowl run), the D is somehow worse. The difference now is that I can visibly see what Grigson's trying to build and it is visibly coming together. The one spot that isn't visible is safety. With the Polian regime, it was the same old same old bend but don't break zone D, and it got the Colts in trouble a lot. As for Grigson's D, top 5 unit next year is probably a stretch, but I definitely think the days of the Rams and Cardinals putting up 40 pts are far behind us.

[Adonai]

Ahh this conversation again - Polian Regime - it was the same old same old bend but don't break zone D, and it got the Colts in trouble a lot.

 

It helped get us the most wins of the decade too.

[lollygagger8]

Front seven, yes. 

 

Secondary. NO.

[Jason_]

There was no injury bug on defense... the only players of note we lost for periods were Landry and Toler, and there was note significant drop off when they were not on the field, especially Landry who did not have a good year. Werner spent time of the sidelines but was not a big contributor anyway.

 

The injury bug hit the offense, but had little bearing on the defense

 

I also disagree.  We didn't have as many injuries on the defense but they were almost all in the secondary except for RJF and Werner.  It also didn't help that both Toler and Wayne got hurt in the same game.  So for the next 5 or 6 games, the team was having to learn how to execute without Wayne on offense and without Toler on defense.  

 

The defense did finally look better once Vaughn was benched and Gordy promoted in his place for the final few games of the regular season.  However going into the KC game, if I remember correctly pretty much every member of the starting secondary was dinged up in one way or another.

 

I think our defense has a ton of potential.  Yes, last year they didn't fare well in the Oakland game but that was entirely because of Pryor.  McFadden was pretty much shut down.  They simply underestimated Pryor's speed and elusiveness coupled with the fact it was the first game for 5 new starters and Mathis' first full game at Rush LB since he'd played Sam the year before.  They hadn't developed the chemistry yet so that game looked very bad.  The next few games looked better, especially the San Fran, Denver and Seattle games.  

 

This year, the majority of the tampa 2 guys are gone...Angerer, Matthews, Conner etc. plus Franklin (who was a weak link the majority of the time he was on the field) is also gone.  The DL rotation is better this year than last by a pretty significant margin imo as well as the ILB position.  So all around, the front 7 depth is much better than last years.  

 

If we get hit with injuries in the secondary again then it could be problematic, but at least we know that both Gordy and Butler are far better on the outside than Vaughn was plus hopefully Price has improved over last year.  Add in the several DB's that were brought in as UDFA's and hopefully we'll have better depth in the secondary as well.

[ProblChld32]

With Addition of D-Jax and A. Jones yes, Both were brought in for there ability to play and stop the run. These guys are very familiar with the system and excelled in it. i cant wait to see this defense in action. 

[BlueShoe]

I think the general consensus is that yes, the defense will be drastically better than last year. Personally, I am gonna say hold your horses on that front and let's wait and see before we all get TOO excited about our D becoming a top 5 unit.

 

I am expecting us to take small steps each year. I don't think we will improve drastically, but we should improve some. 

 

The defensive philosophy is sound and should be around a long time. We can not say the same thing about the Dungy Tampa2. 

[mattceinicram]

I will say...it has the potential to be much better.

[BPM_Colt]

I think our front 7 will be much better with the addition of Jones and Jackson.. Getting a little more pressure and stopping the run should in turn help out the secondary.

 

But still, Toler must stay healthy and Landry has to have a much better year than last..

 

I think we could be in the 15-20 range as a defense, but not much higher

[Bluefire4]

Pretty sure nobody has us as a top 5 defense. With Jones and the Jacksons hopefully our run defense can become much better. Pass defense is still up in the air. Pass rush will be the major factor.

[Adonai]

I think our front 7 will be much better with the addition of Jones and Jackson.. Getting a little more pressure and stopping the run should in turn help out the secondary.

 

I believe that is the formula.

[Adonai]

The defensive philosophy is sound and should be around a long time. We can not say the same thing about the Dungy Tampa2. 

 

It is just as sound.

 

And just like ours it requires the correct personnel in order for it to work. Chicago ran it like a Ferrari and Tampa Bay will be running it again.

 

The problem we had in employing it was our GM's unwillingness to get/pay for the correct personnel.

[BlueShoe]

I think our front 7 will be much better with the addition of Jones and Jackson.. Getting a little more pressure and stopping the run should in turn help out the secondary.

 

But still, Toler must stay healthy and Landry has to have a much better year than last..

 

I think we could be in the 15-20 range as a defense, but not much higher

 

And honestly, I believe that is realistic. 

 

It can become better than we are expecting, but realistically we should improve to a middle of the pack defense. 

[Jason_]

Pretty sure nobody has us as a top 5 defense. With Jones and the Jacksons hopefully our run defense can become much better. Pass defense is still up in the air. Pass rush will be the major factor.

 

so...just throwing it out there.  In 2013, the Colts pass defense was ranked:

 

13 in total passing yards allowing 3,711 yards

18 in pass completion percentage allowing 60.4%

T-7 in pass TD's allowed...only allowed 21 passing TD's

T-14 in INTs with 15 

T-21 in yards per attempt allowing 7.4 ypa

 

So obviously the 2 areas of concern are completion % allowed and yards per attempt.  Just wanted to point out the pass defense wasn't terrible last year, and getting rid of Vaughn will help in the same way that getting rid of Satele and McGlynn will help with the OL.

[Jason_]

It is just as sound.

 

And just like ours it requires the correct personnel in order for it to work. Chicago ran it like a Ferrari and Tampa Bay will be running it again.

 

The problem we had in employing it was our GM's unwillingness to get/pay for the correct personnel.

 

ehh...the problem was also that Indy ran tampa 2 coverage FAR more often than the other teams that run a similar style of defense.  Essentially these teams are cover 2 teams that run tampa 2 coverage when the situation calls for it.  Teams like Chicago and Tampa only ran the tampa 2 coverage on average around 20% of the time. Indy, on the other hand, ran tampa 2 coverage over 50% of the time, often even on first downs and in short yardage which are times when should not be run.  So yes, part of it was personnel, but a lot of it was also very poor play caling.

[BlueShoe]

It is just as sound.

 

And just like ours it requires the correct personnel in order for it to work. Chicago ran it like a Ferrari and Tampa Bay will be running it again.

 

The problem we had in employing it was our GM's unwillingness to get/pay for the correct personnel.

 

Lovie Smith altered the Tampa2 and used combination man coverage, and a lot of single high safety. The cover 2 will probably always be in every teams playbook. There is a place for it in certain situations, but we will likely never see it as a full time base defense anymore. The biggest reason is that the Tampa 2 was about the safeties, and they needed to be very aggressive. Lynch and Bob Sanders would knock the snot out of anyone who dared to come over the middle (which was left wide open). The new NFL rules exterminated the Tampa 2, and because the flags are not going away, it is likely dead. 

[BlueShoe]

so...just throwing it out there.  In 2013, the Colts pass defense was ranked:

 

13 in total passing yards allowing 3,711 yards

18 in pass completion percentage allowing 60.4%

T-7 in pass TD's allowed...only allowed 21 passing TD's

T-14 in INTs with 15 

T-21 in yards per attempt allowing 7.4 ypa

 

So obviously the 2 areas of concern are completion % allowed and yards per attempt.  Just wanted to point out the pass defense wasn't terrible last year, and getting rid of Vaughn will help in the same way that getting rid of Satele and McGlynn will help with the OL.

 

This sounds good, until we study our run defense. Then we see why teams did not need to pass so much on us. ;)

[BrentMc11]

Which Dream Team Chuckles?  The first Dream Team was the best squad ever assembled....

 

 

http://www.nba.com/features/dream_team_numbers_070807.html

[shakedownstreet]

I think the general consensus is that yes, the defense will be drastically better than last year. Personally, I am gonna say hold your horses on that front and let's wait and see before we all get TOO excited about our D becoming a top 5 unit.

 

Now, I'm not saying that it won't be better at all, or that it won't indeed be drastically better, but lets take a closer look at this. From the start of to the early mid season of last season, our D was actually playing pretty well as it was. They were making plays when the had too, the run D was better to begin with and when our secondary was healthy there was actual talk of our D being potentially in the top 5-6. Then of course, as ever, the injury bug hit and we sort of went downhill from there.

 

Regarding our new pickups, I absolutely love them. Art Jones could potentially cause mayhem. D. Jackson bodes well as an improvement in run D. The draft selections appear to be hard hitters with the potential to work into the starting lineup. But herein lies the problem, it's all "potential" at this point. Who knows how this team will gel together in the long haul? Sure it looks positive now, but so did the "Dream team". Obviously we didn't have as many pickups as them, meaning it will be easier to gel the D together, but the same principles apply. Let's not forget about the injury bug either, every team has to deal with the inevitability of it. Do we really have the proven depth to confidently say at this moment in time that if D. Jackson and Art Jones got injured that our D will not just return to the soft inside LB core it has been for the last god knows how many years?

 

Again, I'm not saying our D won't be better this year, I actually think it will, but shouldn't we all at least acknowledge the fact that it might not pan out as well as we hope because of a few FA signings?

 

Feel free to tear this argument apart and convince me to be more optimistic, but I just want to reign in expectations before everyone gets too upset over a possible situation.

 

*** quotes entire post with a one line response ***

[ColtStronger]

I see our overall defense around 15, but to give some credit to our high powered offense with putting up big numbers and having dominant field position.  Just think if the offense puts up at least 24 points a game and are playing ahead (which is contradicting the last 2 seasons) it will dictate how the game is played.  You will see a relentless pass rush and tight coverage with the corners.  However if they continue to play from behind you will see more of the same from last year.  I truly believe Jones and Chapman clog up that line and force teams to run off tackle which plays to our advantage because of our speed.  I just hope they don't go thru a bad tackling phase.

[schwamm]

I think DQ will help from a leadership perspective, but my understanding from Skidmarks fans is that he hasn't been so great against the run, contrary to what some above wanted to suggest. If anything, I could see AJax cleaning up as the run stuffing ILB, not DQ.

[Adonai]

-facepalm-

 

All these dead-end caveats.

 

Systems work, people don't.

[BrentMc11]

-facepalm-

 

All these dead-end caveats.

 

Systems work, people don't.

Feel free to elaborate

[Superman]

Our run defense was weak up the middle. Chapman should be a better starting nose than Franklin was (I thought he was better than him last year). Adding Arthur Jones and D'qwell Jackson should help. And RJF was better before he got injured. We need the NT rotation to sort itself out, but we're deeper and better at the DT/DE spots, and I think we'll be better at ILB, especially if McNary and Andrew Jackson can surplant Kelvin Sheppard and do better than Pat Angerer.

 

The other issue with run defense was against read option and scrambling QBs. I thought that got better as the season went on, as the coaching staff adapted their approach. Having a better scrape-exchange and mesh point attack is important, and with better ILB play, we should have that. We play the Eagles in Week 2, so that's an early test, but Nick Foles isn't going to scramble and run like Terrelle Pryor did. We play Washington in Week 13, then the Browns in Week 14 (could face Manziel in that game). Again, being better at ILB is the key against mobile QBs, I think.

 

We have major question marks in the secondary. I don't know who is going to start at SS, but if it's Howell, he's serviceable. I don't think Bethea was very good in 2013, so even if Howell isn't great, it won't be a major dropoff, IMO. The bigger question is whether Toler and Landry can give us close to a full season. Because if either of them miss any time, we're down to some pretty unheralded fill-ins. We also need more consistent play from Vontae Davis and Darius Butler. At this point, I don't think our secondary is better. It could wind up being worse.

 

The pass rush should be better. I'm assuming we're stronger against the run, and I'm assuming Mathis gets more help from the other OLBs. McNary was a good blitzer late in the year, and there are some other youngsters like Cam Johnson and Daniel Adongo who might get some reps. Justin Hickman got hurt early, but he seemed like a player in the Bills game. But I think the real key is in Werner's development, at both Sam and Rush. Throw in Arthur Jones' ability to collapse the pocket, maybe a fresher Cory Redding, maybe a more healthy RJF, and I think the collective pass rush can be improved.

[Smonroe]

I see our overall defense around 15, but to give some credit to our high powered offense with putting up big numbers and having dominant field position.  Just think if the offense puts up at least 24 points a game and are playing ahead (which is contradicting the last 2 seasons) it will dictate how the game is played.  You will see a relentless pass rush and tight coverage with the corners.  However if they continue to play from behind you will see more of the same from last year.  I truly believe Jones and Chapman clog up that line and force teams to run off tackle which plays to our advantage because of our speed.  I just hope they don't go thru a bad tackling phase.

 

There it is ^.  Totally agree.

My concern is having someone other than Mathis putting pressure on the QB.  I don't think we can expect him to have the same type of year.  And I agree with others, a healthy Toler makes a huge difference.  But is there such a thing as a healthy Toler?

[TKnight24]

There it is ^. Totally agree.

My concern is having someone other than Mathis putting pressure on the QB. I don't think we can expect him to have the same type of year. And I agree with others, a healthy Toler makes a huge difference. But is there such a thing as a healthy Toler?

Arthur Jones should help the pass rush

And I look for McNary & Werner to step up this year

I don't really fault Walden cause his job is to set the edge. But hopefully they let him rush the passer more. When he did rush, he had some good plays

[Superman]

I think DQ will help from a leadership perspective, but my understanding from Skidmarks fans is that he hasn't been so great against the run, contrary to what some above wanted to suggest. If anything, I could see AJax cleaning up as the run stuffing ILB, not DQ.

 

DJackson is a good tackler, which wasn't the case for Angerer and Sheppard, who mostly played alongside Jerrell Freeman. So you have a better tackler, and hopefully he's playing behind a better defensive line, and I think DJackson will contribute to better run defense.

 

AJackson is, to me, a bigger version of Kavell Conner, who should have played more at ILB last season. I do think he'll help as a rotational backer. McNary as well.

[DougDew]

   .

 Game 3, SF, Gore had 80+ yards 7.5 ypc almost in the 1st half, it was embarassing watching Waldren. Mysteriously quit running the 2nd half.

 

 

I agree with your post, but wanted to single out this statement, which was repeated on this board often last year.

 

In the first half, Gore got three big runs due to quite bad, and obvious, misplays by Matthews, Walden, and Sheppard.

 

In the second half, the Colts actually stuffed SF about every time they ran Gore.  And...they never let Kaep have much success in the read option all game.  I think SF got away from the run in the second half since they were not succeeding with it at all early on....unlike the first half. 

 

As far as th topic at hand......

 

Landry and Toler both played well early in the year.  Landry did not play well after coming back from the injury.  The secondary was quite good when it was healthy.

 

The Colts struggled against the run all year, and never really had much of a pass rush.  Offseason moves have drastically improved the front 3, and churned the LB position.  The run D should be much improved from last year.

[AntonMcG]

 Well, i thought there has been some consensus here that there was a noticeable difference in the D after Toler went down.

 I would have to agree with that point of view.

 

 

Sorry but honestly, nothing could be further from the truth.

Toler's absence was very noticable. And even if it is just from a chemistry standpoint alone, injuries to your starters are always going to affect execution. There's no two ways about that one. 

 

 

I also disagree.  We didn't have as many injuries on the defense but they were almost all in the secondary except for RJF and Werner.  It also didn't help that both Toler and Wayne got hurt in the same game.  So for the next 5 or 6 games, the team was having to learn how to execute without Wayne on offense and without Toler on defense.  

 

The defense did finally look better once Vaughn was benched and Gordy promoted in his place for the final few games of the regular season.  However going into the KC game, if I remember correctly pretty much every member of the starting secondary was dinged up in one way or another.

 

I think our defense has a ton of potential.  Yes, last year they didn't fare well in the Oakland game but that was entirely because of Pryor.  McFadden was pretty much shut down.  They simply underestimated Pryor's speed and elusiveness coupled with the fact it was the first game for 5 new starters and Mathis' first full game at Rush LB since he'd played Sam the year before.  They hadn't developed the chemistry yet so that game looked very bad.  The next few games looked better, especially the San Fran, Denver and Seattle games.  

 

This year, the majority of the tampa 2 guys are gone...Angerer, Matthews, Conner etc. plus Franklin (who was a weak link the majority of the time he was on the field) is also gone.  The DL rotation is better this year than last by a pretty significant margin imo as well as the ILB position.  So all around, the front 7 depth is much better than last years.  

 

If we get hit with injuries in the secondary again then it could be problematic, but at least we know that both Gordy and Butler are far better on the outside than Vaughn was plus hopefully Price has improved over last year.  Add in the several DB's that were brought in as UDFA's and hopefully we'll have better depth in the secondary as well.

 

You all watched something very different to me when Toler was on the field. He was bullied at times... he was not terrible, but was very very patchy, and his absence was not the making and breaking of the defense by any means.

 

Landry even less so... there was virtually no drop-off when Howell was on the field.

 

The 'injury bug' was not the reason this defense failed, nor was it in 2012. It is incredible levels of inconsistency and an inability to adapt.

[AntonMcG]

May I add that we have had huge issues with being unable to close off run lanes, and our Linebacking corp having absolutely zero coverage skills.

 

I think the run defense has been addressed to an existent, but I sitll think our LBs are in trouble in coverage.