Defensive giving up 80 yd scoring drives

Last year it seemed the first 1 or 2 drives were really long drives for TDs.

Then the defense clamped down the rest of the way after minor adjustments or whatnot.

Did Hoyer even have a pass that went more than 15 yards from the LOS to the target?

quote:

---

Did Hoyer even have a pass that went more than 15 yards from the LOS to the target?

---

No sure if it was 15 yds or not, but on one of the long drives in the 3rd he came in on 3rd down after Manziel lost yards on first and second down. He converted a 3rd and 10+ to keep that drive alive, which was tough to swallow after we had just drove down for a TD.

Maybe Payton has to adjust his play calling at the end of games with this in mind. It's obvious that we cannot stop the opponent in crunch time, so it's imperative that we have the ball last, or leave them with under a minute.

quote:

---

In two games, we have given up 6 scoring drives (5 TDs and 1 FG that could have easily been another) of 80 yards or more

---

That's not good.

quote:

---

The key issue is the loss of Jabari Greer.

---

This x100. In Greer's absence we have Prob who probably shouldn't even be in the league and White who is a better fit as the nickle. We just don't have someone on the other side to compliment Lewis. Every team knows this and they have taken advantage of it, even a depleted Browns team. Until we do, we will see teams continue to eat us up through the air.

quote:

---

e just don't have someone on the other side to compliment Lewis. Every team knows this and they have taken advantage of it, even a depleted Browns team. Until we do, we will see teams continue to eat us up through the air.

---

Yet we finished #2 in pass defense while having White and Lewis as our corners last year.

We shut down the #2 offense in the NFL with that duo, even without Vaccaro.

the one thing that kills me is it seems that we are reactionary on D instead of being progressive and starting the action...we need to be on attack mode all game.

I get the feeling that if things don't turn around soon, Rob Ryan will be on Payton's shite list and may be out of a job. There was some sideline bitching evident during the Browns game, and I bet that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Here's my guess on what happened: you had Champ Bailey vs Patrick Robinson as your second corner. Of that choice, Robinson is cheaper, better physically/athletically at this point, and has (in theory) the chance to develop into a longterm starter, while Bailey is more expensive, fading, and wouldn't be more than a 1 yr fix. Add to that- in practice, Robinson was probably more familiar with the Saints offense and thus was able to maybe cheat a little (using his knowledge of what Brees/Colston etc like to do), while Bailey was coming in cold... and Robinson looked better than he really was. Problem is, in real games, you can't cheat like that. And while Robinson might have a good edge on the physical side, he's flat busting coverages that I don't think Bailey would; while Champ can't be a blanket anymore, I don't think he's gonna mentally screw things up. If he's out of position, I think it's because he'd have been beat... and thus you still have to make a good throw. With Robinson, the guy might be running free, and you just need to find his man.
This might be putting a ton of stress on the schemes, and you are putting the safeties etc out of position to cover the hole.

2 weeks in, this choice might be what's costing us a shot to host in the playoffs. I really think Payton is considering this, and that's why he's starting to jump Ryan's arse. He knows his time with Brees is coming to an end, and a 1 yr patch might have given him a better shot than a long-term project.