is it too early and too much of a knee jerk reaction to be worrying about our new DC?

some concerns based on first 3 games:

1) if our offense keeps needing to score 30+ points to stand a chance of winning a game we probably will not get to the playoffs

2) preaching turnovers is great but if you are relying on them to stop the opposition and you do not get them then you better have a plan B or C....this defense is starting to feel close to a Chuck Bresnahan one.

3) we appear to be playing soft, way back in coverage. From the talk in the preseason I though we may be going more aggressive , man to man but we continue to appear to be a step behind and allowing a lot of easy completions underneath

4) we have played 2 games against O Lines with injuries and backups who we were meant to feast on.  despite the talent we have upfront we have lacked consistent pressure...in fact i would argue the DL has been the most underwhelming unit on the team given the expectation pre season.

so what gives - talent is not actually there, still early days for new DC and scheme and we will settle down , or is he going to be found lacking throughout the year?

(09-23-2018, 07:28 PM)sonofstat Wrote: is it too early and too much of a knee jerk reaction to be worrying about our new DC?

some concerns based on first 3 games:

1) if our offense keeps needing to score 30+ points to stand a chance of winning a game we probably will not get to the playoffs

2) preaching turnovers is great but if you are relying on them to stop the opposition and you do not get them then you better have a plan B or C....this defense is starting to feel close to a Chuck Bresnahan one.

3) we appear to be playing soft, way back in coverage. From the talk in the preseason I though we may be going more aggressive , man to man but we continue to appear to be a step behind and allowing a lot of easy completions underneath

4) we have played 2 games against O Lines with injuries and backups who we were meant to feast on.  despite the talent we have upfront we have lacked consistent pressure...in fact i would argue the DL has been the most underwhelming unit on the team given the expectation pre season.

so what gives - talent is not actually there, still early days for new DC and scheme and we will settle down , or is he going to be found lacking throughout the year?

He never ran a good defense in Detroit. Feel like this goes back to willie Anderson’s comment that the players are the best in the league, but coaching is more of a boys club where friends get the best gigs. Feels like Marvin just hired a mediocre friend.

Not at all.

Dude is Chuck Bresnahan 2.0

I'm not laying it all at Austin's feet just yet but 3 games in and I'm pretty sure we'll remain near the bottom in defense so......I'm getting concerned to say the least.

We were torched today from them running the ball to the tune of 230 yards and this isn't something new we've had this problem for quite some time. Unless we can jump out to a big lead we're hurting trying to stop the run.

Whether it's scheme, lack of aggressive play calling, Lbers playing to soft, losing our gaps, all of the above ?????

But we can't expect this offense to score 35 a game all year, they gotta get it figured out.

Let's see, we're 2-1, and the defense kept us in this game pretty much up to the end while missing 2 starting linebackers. Yeah, I'd panic....

Our 3rd down defense is really confusing we have a great pass rush and a great secondary and yet we can't get off the field on 3rd down. This defense is way too good for that. 6-13 today that's terrible.

Didn’t both are wins come on the backs of defensive plays?

A fumble return by a safety and a strip sack by a safety. Just sayin.


You do have some good points though.

I don't care who the defensive coordinator is if your defensive line gets moved off the ball and linebackers miss tackles it will always look bad.

The Cincinnati defense has been going downhill since the Front Office allowed Mike Zimmer to leave town.

Guys.... We are 3 games in. Just lost a tough road game. It happens. Let's give these guys a little time. It's a young young team. Let's get some guys back before we crucify Austin. He has a gaping hole at LB he's trying to fill. Luckily 55 is chomping at the bit

I’ll withhold judgement until Tez and Brown are on the field together.

He seems too passive for my taste. He's known as a DC who came onto the seen, looked good with Suh/Fairley, and has been declining ever since. I hope that he proves me wrong, but he doesn't strike me as the guy who can adapt after he's been figured out. Also: Willis isn't all that great. He needs fewer snaps.

When Burfict and Brown are added this defense can be a great one.

But do got to stop the run.

Never cared for a Coordinator who coached from the booth...

They need to be on the field communicating with the players. Coaching them up.

Detroit's D was only good for turnovers when they got them. Other than that they struggled to stop offenses.

I am more concerned how thin Bengals are at linebacker position. Williams did not have his best game

(09-23-2018, 09:12 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: The Cincinnati defense has been going downhill since the Front Office allowed Mike Zimmer to leave town.

This 100%.  

Austin seems to want to preach turnovers, but they aren't getting them. He wants to avoid the big play. That's all well and good, but when you're soft and still get gashed up the middle, it doesn't really matter.

(09-23-2018, 10:24 PM)Go Cards Wrote: When Burfict and Brown are added this defense can be a great one.

Some of the panicky types forget we are missing 2 of the 3 starting LBs. That alone can account for a great deal in the run game. Nickerson and Evans are both on the light side. Put our 2 250 lb starters back in and we'll be fine.

(09-24-2018, 12:17 AM)Beaker Wrote: Some of the panicky types forget we are missing 2 of the 3 starting LBs. That alone can account for a great deal in the run game. Nickerson and Evans are both on the light side. Put our 2 250 lb starters back in and we'll be fine.

True, Burfict will make any DC look better and his run support is light years ahead of Nickerson and Vigil.  Honestly, hope it is as simple as getting #55 back..

Also I think yesterday was as much about Cam playing lights out - heck, half the time i was watching him on the hand offs and still had no clue who was going to end up with the ball and that seemed to freeze our front 7 at times