Have The Polians Hurt Peytons Legacy?

[MAC]

The defensive side - Polian has always been known to accomodate what his coaches want w.r.t a system they wanted to run. Dungy wanted the smaller undersized but faster players and that philosophy worked as long as we were playing ahead, which we were when we played less than elite Ds that were able to limit Peyton and their Os able to play ball control. In fact, I wish Polian had been more stubborn there and told Dungy that we needed bigger DTs in the middle and bigger LBs which could have complemented Dungy's system. If that is attributed as a Polian fault, accomodating his head coach's defensive system, yes, he was at fault there.

For better or worse (this may only prove your point further) I'll also point out that Polian brought in Dungy specifically because he wanted his type of defense. Some (ie: Jason) will point out that there are different ways of running that D, and that Dungy preferred smaller players compared to what Caldwell prefers - and Polian has accommodated him. But the fact remains that Vic Fangio's defense was considered too complicated - which is why he (and then Mora) left. If Mora had been willing to hire a DC who would change defenses Mora might well still be here. They wanted that defense specifically to compliment (and to be able to afford) that offense. Getting players which are both big AND fast requires investing high draft picks. That defense only requires special talent at the DE position to succeed. So if you add a Derrick Brooks and a Warren Sapp, who do you give up? Dwight Freeney? Reggie Wayne? I'm not sure it's possible to have it both ways.

It's pretty obvious that the defenses biggest problem is youth (and perhaps lack of talent - remains to be seen) amongst the DBs. But Polians plan would still have Marlin Jackson, Kelvin Hayden, and Bob Sanders (high draft picks all) still in the prime of their careers. Can't forget Bullit either. The volume of injuries was too fast to overcome with comparable talent. Maybe they should have used the Hughes and Brown picks differently, but I can't say that I objected at the time.

[presto123]

I'm not tired of hearing about Andrew Luck what I'm tired of is "we built this team around Peyton Manning". What a cop out. That is a reason to suck so bad the experts all say you don't even look like an NFL team right now? The offense has been horrible and believe me it's not all on Painter. The defense was built to play with a lead? Really? What kind of guru would build a defense that can only be good if you jump out to a lead? A good defense should be good period. End of story. Might as well say our defense is only good when we know the other team is going to pass because Freeney and Mathis can pin their ears back. What does that say about the rest of the defense? "built this team around Manning" is simply a cop out and I m tired of hearing it. It's only when we quit making excuses that this team can get where it needs to be. The is NO accountability right now from anybody and that is still disturbing.