The LBer issue, is there a fix ?

[XsandOs]

(09-25-2019, 09:40 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Very good point. These guys are working too hard and the offense has to find a way to extend drives and give these guys a rest. 1 first down in the first half last week (which didn't come until 2:06 left in the half). isn't the answer. Our defense basically played 3qtrs of football before the half. That's not good. But they did keep them, although fatigued, to 14 points. So that's a pretty bad ass smiley face on their report card. So then we have to look at the offense and ask "WHY?" And I'm sure ZT is asking the same questions, right along with Andy.

Now, with the first paragraph sounding somewhat negative, I'm going to dump my thoughts on what to expect in Pittsburgh. ZT did very well preparing his team for game 1 in the loudest stadium in the league. So far, Seattle beat us by 1, beat Pitt by 2 and loss to Saints by 6 (impressive) so their respectable by all means. Then, we took a beating against the 49ers (3-0). The mistakes he seen he tried to address in the 3rd game against Buffalo (2-0 at the time). The offense was horrible in the first half but scored 17 unanswered points in the 2nd to take the lead. The defense rocked considering the amount of time they were on the field. Mixon showed signs of getting it together (which is huge cause you know the line was a major focus on opening up lanes - but most of it was Mixon), and so on and so forth.

So on my drive home from work I got stewing about the 4 three & outs in the start of the first half. The only other drives were a fumble and, again, the 1st, first down, of a 5 play drive (smh). What if these coaches are working so hard at getting these players to click together than they are game planning on film against the next opponent? I know, sounds weird, but hear me out. You first got to play as a functional team before you can plan to use your strengths against another teams weaknesses. Maybe we just haven't been there yet?

I'm sure they've busted ass this week to right the ship. These guys believe in their coach and want to play for him. Hopefully we have seen some strengths we can use against our opponents? We will play those bastards in their house and I think we are going to be better prepared than we have been. I know, I have a lot of hopes and maybes, but the Dogs tail is wagging on this one.

ZT has been decent at adjusting so far. The rival is real against Pittsburgh and this could actually be our turning point (maybe a little homerism in there). But I actually think we win this game Monday night. Oh shit, this thread is about LB'ers. Yes, they do well this week.

Good points.

The offensive issue, specific to the run game, is that there is no respect for the pass game. Defenses know that they can get to Dalton in under 2 seconds. Dalton is on pace to get sacked 60 time this year.

So they bring their SS in the box, who can drop in zone if it's not a run.

Basically they are suffocating anything short to mid range, because they know Dalton won't get enough time for any deep routes.

After the Seattle game, the blueprint on us is simple. No OL equals no run and no deep routes.

And that is exactly what Pitt will do. Zone blitzes and secondary squatting on short and intermediate routes.

On another note, I'm surprised that it took this long for a player to abuse the concussion mandate.......a non-quantifiable injury.