09-30-2024, 11:38 AM
(09-30-2024, 10:50 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: We weren't last year and we were still only 18th in sacks despite Hendrickson having 17.5 on his own.
If your plan requires everyone to just out-talent their opponents in 1-on-1 matchups in order to win, then it's a bad plan. You should be creating mismatches and opportunities so you don't have to win fair 1-on-1s every time.
Oh for sure, Cincinnati has a talent issue on the line. The injuries are just making it worse this season. The most common usage of a blitz is to simply get 1-on-1 looks in the pass rush. The Bengals don't have anyone outside of Trey that can win those with any consistency and I'd like to think they know this. Lou likes to run simulated pressures by sending a DB and dropping a DL which can be helpful but there's only so much "scheming" that can be done on defense to mask subpar talent. These guys are stunting, there's been some overloads, so he is doing what he can but the guys simply aren't winning. It's common for a defense to be running man on the backend of a blitz, so you're really opening yourself up to get bit if you don't have guys that can win unless you have dudes at DB.
This doesn't relate to blitzes necessarily but I just don't think this defense is very good. The DL is really hurting for talent, LBers are good and I am bullish on the young corners. The safety play has been subpar and I'm not optimistic it will improve much.
