TACKLING

Watch out because the flamers are coming with their "negasaint" and "WTF".

I believe in the football axiom "you must be able to run and you must be able to stop the run" Last year we finished #28 in rushing and #16 against the run. It's only preseason and GW still has some time to get this D ready to play. But tackling was a problem last year and it still is up to now. Opps, I guess I will get hit with the "nagasaint" treatment now.

It's disappointing and frustrating to see a repeat of the style of tackling we saw in the Seattle game a year ago. You think the Staff would have done a better job shoring this detriment up. It's frustrating to see our D play the way it did last night. GB will rip us with that sort of display again.

You shouldn't pay much attention to outcomes during the preseason. But you should pay attention to details... like basic tackling. We were in the right spots last night to make the tackle, but we didn't wrap up. That is certainly a concern.

It's something that must be improved. And fortunately, it's something that can be improved.

I'm not being a smartass when I say...we don't practice tackling enough. Tackling league wide is gonna get worse with the new practice rules.

In addition to bad tackling, I saw people taking poor angles.

I said in another thread that we seemed to lose our identity on defense when we're not aggressive. It's like one of Ushers back up dancers trying to country line dance. Sure they could do it, but it's awkward.

One aspect of tackling is being in position to make the tackle. When you're not playing aggressive defense, you're not going to be in the best position to make solid tackles.

It's much easier to make tackles when you have to close a 2 yard gap than when you have to close a ten yard gap.