09-18-2023, 01:58 PM
(09-18-2023, 01:43 PM)samhain Wrote: I mean, this is after two weeks of three and out after three and out on offense against smash-mouth running teams. The number of snaps and time of possession tell the tale.
I'm never going to complain about a punt return TD, because they badly needed to score. Even so, that TD spit the defense right back out there after little rest. If someone would have told me that it was going to be up to the defense to get a 3 and out late after the time they spent on the field, I would not have felt great about our chances.
If the offense starts putting drives together as they did late yesterday, IMO the defensive woes begin to fade away.
This defense could be fully rested and they would still get destroyed. The scheme isn’t conducive to what’s needed at the NFL level. The line isn’t good enough to generate any pressure. The two linebackers are serviceable at best. Soft zone coverage has guys covering empty space. Hubbard has looked like trash and fundamentals of the position have all but been thrown out.
Bottom line is that this defense thrived on being castoffs and written off and that mentality is gone now.
They don’t disguise the defense and Lou sure as Hell doesn’t scheme to shutdown the other teams playmakers. It’s as though he just calls the play and the defense has no clue based on formations or down and distance where the ball is going. The Ravens aren’t all that unpredictable and they still forced only 1 punt…not counting the late punt where the Ravens were killing clock.
People look at it like the defense was gassed because of the offense…no they were gassed because they couldn’t get a stop. The offense couldn’t get anything together until the 2nd half because they didn’t hardly see the field.
