Teams generally play vanilla defenses in the preseason

[THE PISTONS]

(08-13-2017, 11:12 AM)BoomerFan Wrote: I'm concerned about our coverage. Our corners were pretty awful against the first stringers Friday night. Adam Jones needs to turn around and look for the ball instead getting lucky and getting away with PI twice. Cmon man, it is the corner of the endzone, it ain't like you're going to lose your man. Dennard needs to be demoted to our last place CB. He is a liability on special teams and in coverage. Can't man up. Looks slow and lost. Those other teams that passed on him knew something we didn't cuz this guy is one of the worst corners I've ever seen.

Oh and even in a vanilla defense I expect better run coverage from our LBs and DL. Everyone should be sent back to the weight room. Billings is a freaking joke getting pushed around in traffic like that. Or maybe he didn't realize how out of position he was? Maybe the weight room and the film room. And Marquis Flowers looked like a wimp on special teams. Got in traffic and was pushed away from the runner and couldn't even get his arms up. Have him spend extra hours on the weight room on his upper body. I realize he's supposed to be our Nickel backer, but being light on your feet is only part of that job -- you do have to actually be able to tackle people. Get your freaking arms up and show some muscle! I've seen defensive backs get pushed around less/tackle better.

Also Derron Smith had a pretty bad night.

While everyone is concerned about the offensive line, I've posted that our secondary is a hidden issue. Really...IF Jackson can come in and be a quality starter...those issues go away. That remains to be seen.

But Jones is losing a step. Dennard is a bust. Shaw and Kirkpatrick are above average.

The thing with Billings and the rookies is strength only translates so far to the field. He'll have to learn leverage and NFL techniques. Offensive lineman that start in the NFL generally know how to handle strong guys.

[lone bengal]

(08-13-2017, 08:49 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: While everyone is concerned about the offensive line, I've posted that our secondary is a hidden issue. Really...IF Jackson can come in and be a quality starter...those issues go away. That remains to be seen.

But Jones is losing a step. Dennard is a bust. Shaw and Kirkpatrick are above average.

The thing with Billings and the rookies is strength only translates so far to the field. He'll have to learn leverage and NFL techniques. Offensive lineman that start in the NFL generally know how to handle strong guys.

Agree with you on the secondary, it could be a problem once the season starts if guys like Dennard and Jackson don't play well.  I think it gets forgotten because we drafted 3 first round corners and people assume they will be good based off their draft position. Safety play was also an issue last season I'm still not 100% sold on Williams at safety.  It seemed like every time I watched Williams he was always trying to lay the big hit on the receiver or ball carrier often leading to missed tackles. Hopefully he will be better in year two as a starter. 

[BoomerFan]

So who was it who fell down in the middle of the endzone on Fitzpatrick's TD run? It was Derron Smith right?