Just some thoughts on defense..

[*ochocincos*]

(11-14-2023, 12:40 PM)Tlawsonmariat82 Wrote: Why are we so exclusive to the 2 linebacker nickel set??we have been gashed all year long with this alignment,could it be that the safeties can't fill at the same rate as von and Jessie??Why can't we mix in some base 4-3 with ADG on the field??I'm pretty sure he would be better at run fits than our safeties at the moment..

Can we be more aggressive at LOS on the outside?we've been in off coverage far too much for my liking of late, I have no problem playing some of the zones we play, but we can still be physical while playing some of those concepts..The cold hard truth is that we have been a soft defense this year it's like we lost our physical nature somewhere,look at the Tennessee game for an example they absolutely manhandled us..In previous years against pretty much the same team we never got manhandled by them this team needs to get back to being physical..

Bengals like to run with Hilton over an extra LB.
In normal running situations, I would say take the slot CB off the field, but Hilton is a good tackler, attacks the LOS well, and also is a good blitzer. So he really may be just as good if not better than ADG being on the field.

It might be better to run with an extra DL over a 3rd LB, at least for this team/scheme.

I think the bigger thing is the two best DL for run defense (Reader and Hubbard) have not been as effective/available compared to the previous couple years.

I also do agree with you that the safety play (at least the Scott/Battle spot) isn't as good as it was last year, which is also affecting things.