re: How do you feel about the defense now?

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He doesn't appear to have the size to really put a solid tackle on a RB that has about 30 LBS on him. Unfortunately, he shouldn't be the one making those tackles all the time, either

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Well he needs to do something & maintaining his responsibilities in coverage would be a start. The point about making tackles on RB's 30 lbs more then him is BS. If that's the case, no corner or safety across the league should ever be expected to make a tackle if the opposing offensive player has 20-30 lbs on them.

I do agree that he should have more help with runs to the edges from OLB's though. When Shanle & Herring are on the field together, we literally have two of the worse 4-3 OLB's in the league on the field at the same time. Both lack the ability to flow laterally & both run like they are moving in quick sand. The defense showed signs of being able to stop the run outside once they were past the read option of the first two games. Once Hawthorne went out in the 2nd quarter & Casillas went out mid way in the 3rd against KC, is when the edges became fair game for Jamal Charles. The defense seriously needs those two back to keep Herring & Shanle off the field. This is the reason Spags has moved Harper to LB on some plays because those two are such huge liabilities.

Curtis Lofton has been played really well the last few weeks. I think he may have been a little rusty the first two games of the season. He had missed a decent portion of the preseason with that high ankle sprain. Getting back Hawthorne and Casillas should make a world of difference. When Shanle and Herring are out there, I think we have the slowest LB's in the league.

The second half of the Green Bay and San Diego games are a good sign. For the most part though, we've given up too many points(154)which is third worst in the league. We had pretty good redzone defense last year that really helped keep our average pretty respectable.

As far as pass rushing goes, we currently have 11 sacks which is 16th in the league. I know we have had points where it looked pathetic but I think that is a good number and ranking considering what we are working with.

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I can't imagine White is outperforming him to that degree

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All the guys who watch film and every minute of every practice and every play of every game seem to think otherwise.

Spags puts in Hicks over Sed and everyone agrees. Put in White and its 'WTF'?

I'm not down on the corners. Get better play from safties and D-line and they will look better whoever is starting.

I'm pumped for this week. We can't lose

some applicable comments from PFF

We’ve never been huge fans of Malcolm Jenkins (-6.1). Part of that we figured was down to being put in unfavorable situations with an ultra-aggressive Gregg Williams defense. Perhaps we were giving him more credit than he warranted? Busted coverage discussions aside Jenkins missed four tackles and while his controversial pass break up that led to an interception was crucial, it really shouldn’t make up for his poor performance in the rest of the game. He’s a safety, but he doesn’t make me feel any safer about the back end of the Saints’ defense.

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After giving up just one hurry in the first three quarters, Jeromey Clary would surrender a sack, a penalty and two more hurries in the final 6 minutes and 33 seconds of the game as Junior Galette went to work on him.

I really like all our corners to be honest. They all have been taking the heat. PROB and White the most.
I love that they are a very young group and that bodes well for the future.
As I've stated before and others its the play of your D-line and your safties covering up your blown coverages that can make or break a CB unit.

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I really like all our corners to be honest. They all have been taking the heat. PROB and White the most. I love that they are a very young group and that bodes well for the future. As I've stated before and others its the play of your D-line and your safties covering up your blown coverages that can make or break a CB unit.

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I totally agree with this assessment. Don't get me wrong, both P-Rob & White have made their share of errors but they have also made their share of nice plays as well.

What seems to be overlooked by some fans is that this pair has been left out to dry at times by the safeties especially when they are expecting safety help & the safeties are late getting over or completely out of position. The fans see P-Rob or White getting passes completed on them but they don't see that there was supposed to be safety help to the inside or over the top so they blame the corner when reality the mistake is on the safety.

In the first 3 games, White had a few problems presnap in getting lined up in the correct defense but in the last two games he's cut down on those mistakes. Those types of mistakes should be expected from a rookie 5th round pick out of Samford thrust in as a starter in a complex zone scheme. It may not have felt like it early on but if White is mentally strong, his being thrown in the fire early may reap benefits in the long run.

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I really like all our corners to be honest. They all have been taking the heat. PROB and White the most.
I love that they are a very young group and that bodes well for the future.
As I've stated before and others its the play of your D-line and your safties covering up your blown coverages that can make or break a CB unit.

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While your statement generally holds true, the past game was the exception to the rule. Each of our corners in the first half were downright garbage. They got beaten immediately off the LOS and made it so that even an instantaneous pass rush pressuring the QB made no difference. If our guys keep trying to play close to LOS, whiff their jams and get burned while they desperately trail the receiver we will be in a world of trouble.

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Message Posted by Carson123987 they still suck cock. need to clean house this offseason

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This was the main point I was trying to refute in making the thread. As horrible as they looked in the beginning, they're really coming around.

The only players ill agree to/won't be disappointed they let go are:
Sed Ellis - just bad
Smith - if he wants to restructure on the cheap then maybe, but no way at 10 mil
Jenkins - really don't know what his deal is the last two years. I really hope he gets it together
Shanle/Herring - the snow patrol needs to get the boot.