From the Website: Video interview w/DC Greg Manusky...

[Superman]

It really depends on what peoples definition of good is for the new defense this year, to be honest Im not expecting a big improvement by any stretch, I think its pretty clear our staff doesn't believe in our Corners as they are now simply do to the number of Corners we have been bringing in and in 1 case traded for., I believe we will be better at stopping the run but we will get thrown on at will, I have been going back and watching Colts games from last year, and we didnt play nearly as far off the Corners as some say, we usually played 5-6 yards off and yes a very few times 7-8 and a a couple times 10 (I thought that was weird) but I wonder if thats do to our former coaches fears of our Corners getting beat? something which happened to Kevin Thomas frequently and even Powers, in my opinion yes the scheme at times wasn't good but more often it was the players executing those schemes

Much more relevant than how far off the corners were before the snap is what the corners did after the snap. And that frequently involved them dropping back further into coverage, giving up easy catches underneath and nullifying the pass rush. Chain reaction, you have corners focusing more on tackling ball carriers than preventing catches.

[Superman]

Chargers defense was in the middle of the pack last year on defense, just in front of the Bears. It's an upgrade for us. With Pagano as the HC, i'm not worried.

Most concerning to me about the Chargers defense is that they were dead last on 3rd down (worse than us, at 49% allowed). I haven't seen the splits; if most of those are 3rd and 2, and most of ours were 3rd and 6, then it would likely offset the difference and explain the 3rd down deficiency. But in watching the games, it's more likely that ours were more 3rd and short situations than the Chargers' were, making their 3rd down numbers even worse.

They had injuries, and I don't think they were using their defensive front properly, but I'm not overly concerned about Manusky, primarily because we have Pagano. They'll figure it out together. But that 3rd down number is troubling, to say the least.

[Gavin]

Much more relevant than how far off the corners were before the snap is what the corners did after the snap. And that frequently involved them dropping back further into coverage, giving up easy catches underneath and nullifying the pass rush. Chain reaction, you have corners focusing more on tackling ball carriers than preventing catches.

Thats what I thought part of what Cover 2 is, keep everything in front, I know we gave up many catches after the snap to try to make tackles and keep the ball in front of us, Our Corners did get beat plenty to, poor angles when tackling leading to missed tackles, thats not to say they didnt make plays, Jerraud Powers made a nice interception at the goal line against Matt Ryan and the Falcons and Kevin Thomas had a couple good deflections

[FightLikeSin]

Thats what I thought part of what Cover 2 is, keep everything in front, I know we gave up many catches after the snap to try to make tackles and keep the ball in front of us, Our Corners did get beat plenty to, poor angles when tackling leading to missed tackles, thats not to say they didnt make plays, Jerraud Powers made a nice interception at the goal line against Matt Ryan and the Falcons and Kevin Thomas had a couple good deflections

i'm not saying it will make everything all better at CB, but I think with competent coaching and a full offseason with plenty of competition for the spot, we should be better off than last year.

[Gavin]

i'm not saying it will make everything all better at CB, but I think with competent coaching and a full offseason with plenty of competition for the spot, we should be better off than last year.

oh I know, and the competition could very well improve our chances of being better and coaching to some extent as well, I just dont think it will be a huge extent because coaches can coach but if the players cant make the plays then that coaching is nullified, we should be better we shall see

[Superman]

Thats what I thought part of what Cover 2 is, keep everything in front, I know we gave up many catches after the snap to try to make tackles and keep the ball in front of us, Our Corners did get beat plenty to, poor angles when tackling leading to missed tackles, thats not to say they didnt make plays, Jerraud Powers made a nice interception at the goal line against Matt Ryan and the Falcons and Kevin Thomas had a couple good deflections

No other Cover 2 has ever given up 71.2% completions against; in fact, no defense at all has. Plenty of teams play Cover 2, like the Bears, and they gave up an average completion percentage, 60.7%. It will give up more completions than a more aggressive defense, like the Raiders, or the Jets, or Steelers, or Ravens. That's part of the scheme.

But it's not supposed to give up 71.2%, for an average of 7.8 yards per attempt. There's a flaw there, and it's because the zone was too often pushed back too far down the field, right at the snap.

I do appreciate what you're saying about tackling angles by our corners, but quite honestly, you're putting the ball in the hands of some of the fastest and most elusive players in the league, and there's no one around them when they're catching the ball. I don't think it's reasonable to burden your cornerbacks with playing the role of linebackers, not as often as we did last season. And worst yet, it neutered the best aspect of the defense, the pass rush.

[Gavin]

No other Cover 2 has ever given up 71.2% completions against; in fact, no defense at all has. Plenty of teams play Cover 2, like the Bears, and they gave up an average completion percentage, 60.7%. It will give up more completions than a more aggressive defense, like the Raiders, or the Jets, or Steelers, or Ravens. That's part of the scheme.

But it's not supposed to give up 71.2%, for an average of 7.8 yards per attempt. There's a flaw there, and it's because the zone was too often pushed back too far down the field, right at the snap.

I do appreciate what you're saying about tackling angles by our corners, but quite honestly, you're putting the ball in the hands of some of the fastest and most elusive players in the league, and there's no one around them when they're catching the ball. I don't think it's reasonable to burden your cornerbacks with playing the role of linebackers, not as often as we did last season. And worst yet, it neutered the best aspect of the defense, the pass rush.

Ill have to watch some Bears games to see how there Corners were played in the Cover 2 compared to ours I think, cause I swear they did the same thing and that they were better with pursuit angles and such

[Superman]

Ill have to watch some Bears games to see how there Corners were played in the Cover 2 compared to ours I think, cause I swear they did the same thing and that they were better with pursuit angles and such

They may have been better with pursuit angles, they may have played cushions just like we did, they may have tackled better. But they had better players, and the results were better. When you're giving up 71.2% completions, and when you get beat 62-7, and when the same tight end catches three straight touchdown passes against you on basically the same play, on the same side of the field, and when you're 0-5, 0-9, 0-13, you need to make adjustments. It would have been better for us to give up big plays and get into the defensive red zone, where it's a little easier to contain an offense, and maybe we would have forced some more field goals. Maybe our defense wouldn't have spent a league-high 33:47 on the field every game.

The Bears defensive numbers don't look anything like ours. It's partly because of the players, but it's also because we refused to make adjustments.

[Gavin]

They may have been better with pursuit angles, they may have played cushions just like we did, they may have tackled better. But they had better players, and the results were better. When you're giving up 71.2% completions, and when you get beat 62-7, and when the same tight end catches three straight touchdown passes against you on basically the same play, on the same side of the field, and when you're 0-5, 0-9, 0-13, you need to make adjustments. It would have been better for us to give up big plays and get into the defensive red zone, where it's a little easier to contain an offense, and maybe we would have forced some more field goals. Maybe our defense wouldn't have spent a league-high 33:47 on the field every game.

The Bears defensive numbers don't look anything like ours. It's partly because of the players, but it's also because we refused to make adjustments.

[TKnight24]

The Bears have CB's really? I never noticed them. They don't have CB's -__- which you'll see Week 1 at Soldier Field

[mystrymaster]

The fact that Tim Jennings went from our cover 2, were he stunk, to the bear cover 2, were he was a very solid corner, tells me all I need to know about our cover 2.

[Kyle]

The difference here, compared to SD, is that he now has a defensive specialist as his HC.

This is all speculation but Manusky is a D-Line specialist and Pagano is a DB specialist who has experience calling the plays on D. Maybe Manusky was brought in to develop our D-line and OLBs and Pagano will call the plays and develop our DBs.

I feel Manusky may not be the greatest D coordinator on his own but he compliments Pagano very well.

[Kyle]

The fact that Tim Jennings went from our cover 2, were he stunk, to the bear cover 2, were he was a very solid corner, tells me all I need to know about our cover 2.

im really hoping we see this out of our current DBs now that we have a new D scheme.

[Superman]

The difference here, compared to SD, is that he now has a defensive specialist as his HC.

This is all speculation but Manusky is a D-Line specialist and Pagano is a DB specialist who has experience calling the plays on D. Maybe Manusky was brought in to develop our D-line and OLBs and Pagano will call the plays and develop our DBs.

I feel Manusky may not be the greatest D coordinator on his own but he compliments Pagano very well.

That's my feeling as well. My hope is that Pagano and Manusky can complement each other, making up for each other's deficiencies. This will either work really well, or it will have glaring deficiencies. But I think the quality of the union will be obvious throughout this season.

I'm more concerned about who Pagano's right hand man will be. He doesn't have any experience as a game manager, aside from being a coordinator last season. I'm really nervous about head coaches who haven't spent a lot of time making big picture decisions. Jim Caldwell and Mike Singletary were plagued by poor game management. On the other hand, John Harbaugh went from position coach to head coach, and he does a fine job at game management. This is one of those things that everyone kind of learns on the job, and as they play their gut, and it's also somewhat a matter of personality. But if Pagano has someone who can give him advice on game management decisions, it would be good. I think this is what we brought Jim Tressel in for last season.

[mystrymaster]

That's my feeling as well. My hope is that Pagano and Manusky can complement each other, making up for each other's deficiencies. This will either work really well, or it will have glaring deficiencies. But I think the quality of the union will be obvious throughout this season.

I'm more concerned about who Pagano's right hand man will be. He doesn't have any experience as a game manager, aside from being a coordinator last season. I'm really nervous about head coaches who haven't spent a lot of time making big picture decisions. Jim Caldwell and Mike Singletary were plagued by poor game management. On the other hand, John Harbaugh went from position coach to head coach, and he does a fine job at game management. This is one of those things that everyone kind of learns on the job, and as they play their gut, and it's also somewhat a matter of personality. But if Pagano has someone who can give him advice on game management decisions, it would be good. I think this is what we brought Jim Tressel in for last season.

Great point superman, I agree that is what scares me about first timers.

[Girlzarefanstoo]

Chargers defense was in the middle of the pack last year on defense, just in front of the Bears. It's an upgrade for us. With Pagano as the HC, i'm not worried.

I hope it is an upgrade, we were like 28th or something in gettting off the field on 3rd down - directly attributable to his head scratching calls.