NFL Teams Discussion | Other Teams News

[NashBolt]

Gregory and Aboushi wont serve a one game suspension after all. Gregory will be fined 50k and Aboushi will be fined 12k.

[dmac_bolt]

For what it’s worth, its from when the patriots traded for Bill Bilichick from the jets.

”If Bill Belichick accepts and assumes a position with the New England Patriots, and reports to work on or before Monday, January 31, 2000 then, the New York Jets trade to the New England Patriots their 5th round pick in the 2001 annual NFL selection draft, and their 7th round pick in the 2002 annual NFL selection draft, and the New England Patriots trade their 1st round pick in the 2000 annual NFL selection draft (16th overall), their 4th pick in the 2001 annual NFL selection draft, and their 7th round pick in the 2001 annual NFL selection draft.”

He wasnt a former SB winning head coach. He was a DC that had recently failed as HC. Nowadays they don’t even have to give anything to snatch a DC from another team’s staff. The Gruden comparison is most likely closer to NO expectations, if I’m guessing.

[dmac_bolt]

No one will argue that Derwin isn't an elite talent, or that he is somehow worse than Alohi Gilman in comparison. The argument surrounding Staley placating Derwin is pure innuendo. The only semi-logical argument to that effect that one can make would be that Staley may feel pressure from ownership and the front office to maximize the utilization of Derwin in order to maximize his contract dollars and cap hit, but that is runaway speculation that may or may not hold any merit. My opinion is that Staley believes that running his scheme the way he prefers is only effective with Derwin starting in the rotation and running it on the field in real-time. My argument with that is that running the defense through Derwin has led to an over-reliance on his skillset, and an over-complexity in scheme to disguise him pre-snap causing a deterioration in performance within other defensive units due to misallocation of personnel, improper positioning/alignment, misutilization of player skill sets, etc. -- and this may not even be opinion because the defensive stats bare that out for most of this year and even dating back to last year, particularly as it relates to linebacker and secondary unit performance.

In my opinion, the most effective way to utilize Derwin is how Gus Bradley deployed him most effectively in his rookie year -- as an in-the-box, on-the-line roving safety that can blitz and get pressure as a Dline pass rusher while helping in run support and occasionally dropping into zone coverage -- and continue to let the secondary and linebackers play the assignments they have been playing for this 3-week stretch. We all know that Derwin can do it all, he can cover slot, he can cover TEs, cover deep, play in the box and on the line as a D-lineman -- even in his rookie year, we had game plans where he was almost exclusively in coverage or acting as a pass rusher, but that was game to game depending on the opponent played -- but I'd prefer that he didn't have so many roles in-game so that we can utilize where he is most effective without negating the performance and execution of the other units and the way they have played in this 3-game stretch without him.

By the way, when Derwin was starting in the early drives, we did give up some yards underneath rushing and passing while we played soft shell. The secondary locked it down when Derwin went out because more than likely Staley didn't feel comfortable running it without Derwin in making adjustments pre-snap and executing his assignment.

As it relates to Bosa, he won't necessitate a schematic change, just a rotational one. His role is defined unlike Derwin's so the defensive line won't see much adjustment other than Van Noy and Rumph would be used more rotationally, while more than likely seeing an even more improved pass rush depending on how healthy Bosa is. If Johnson were able to return, I'd argue that would cause an adjustment -- and not necessarily one that benefits the interior line play -- as we'd probably have Fehoko looking on the outside in mostly due to contractual considerations, and I'd argue him being a stalwart NT has improved the interior play because of the change in alignment for SJD and Fehoko's own production.

We can probably argue that we have (or are very close to having) the best 11 men on the field defensively starting for us, and that may come as a shock considering there are several names playing considerably important roles who appeared to be on the out with the team/organization, on the outside looking in or not even a consideration for the 53-man roster after our free agent signing frenzy.

No offense as this is great. But I think that is a much more articulate and thoughtfully reasoned hypothetical presentation of the same exact made-up bullshit. There is no evidence of any of this. the confusion of defenders extended beyond “where is Derwin”. There is zero evidence anywhere that Staley had any pressure whatsoever to design his schemes exclusively around Derwin at the cost of overall defense performance, just 100% made up. If Derwin was deployed at the LOS every play, thats dictating a single high aggressive D that OC’s can counter and no Gus did not have Derwin at the LOS every play at all, thats also just made up.

bottom line is people here are just making jup shit about Derwin to try and understand why the defense has been better the last month. I am countering that IT IS NOT JUST DERWIN. Again - lets all shout it together: it is NOT JUST DERWIN. It is the entire defense, its DBs playing tight or press vs trying to disguise what they are going to do, its DL and LBs starting to play gap penetration assignments more correctly, its reducing the contingency assignments based on offensive actions to allow players to just play as the disguises and multi-=part pop quizzes that defenders had to pass every play were not consistently passed. Often it confused defenders as much as offenses and made them play slower, hesitant.

[jaguarmanftype]

Fine post, if I don't buy into it completely....but clear points. I lean towards the possibility that the players just finally are figuring it out...but I am a fan of simplifying Derwin"s role, with occasional shake ups/disguises in coverages, provided we can keep a high level of talent around him in the secondary...as well as an effective and healthy pass rush...we will see how the future pans out.

I'm sure that there are a class of factors as as it relates to the improved overall play on defense, such as the reported regular weekly players-only meetings that may have offered new perspectives and insights into players by players themselves while also exposing each others' idiosyncrasies and preferences -- and by extension of said meetings, those perspectives and insights may have been shared in the players' one-on-ones with coach and ultimately incorporated into weekly game plans. I suppose we won't truly know unless we win a Superbowl, and have an America's Game documentary covering the team's season with player interviews. We can only operate based on what we know and can see for ourselves -- and that is that there have been noticeable adjustments to the defense, such as playing more base 3-4, more press and man coverages, etc., and changes to alignments in personnel that by extension have led to improved execution and performance in the various defensive units.

And I'm with you -- if we could draft several Derwin James', a couple Aaron Donalds and Ray Lewis' and have them starting on the field and playing as one cohesive unit any given game day, I'd be ecstatic, but that is certainly a herculean task -- to scout and assess that level of talent, have the necessary draft capital to draft that talent, to ultimately retain such talent in the long-term and most importantly, have that talent develop chemistry and an ultimate bond while operating with one another -- if not an impossible one. Sometimes, we have to live down the fact that we can't have the best talent on the field in every phase operating as one cohesive unit, and that perhaps the most talented may not necessarily be the best 11 on the field when it comes to overall performance and execution.

[jaguarmanftype]

No offense as this is great. But I think that is a much more articulate and thoughtfully reasoned hypothetical presentation of the same exact made-up bullshit. There is no evidence of any of this. the confusion of defenders extended beyond “where is Derwin”. There is zero evidence anywhere that Staley had any pressure whatsoever to design his schemes exclusively around Derwin at the cost of overall defense performance, just 100% made up. If Derwin was deployed at the LOS every play, thats dictating a single high aggressive D that OC’s can counter and no Gus did not have Derwin at the LOS every play at all, thats also just made up.

bottom line is people here are just making jup shit about Derwin to try and understand why the defense has been better the last month. I am countering that IT IS NOT JUST DERWIN. Again - lets all shout it together: it is NOT JUST DERWIN. It is the entire defense, its DBs playing tight or press vs trying to disguise what they are going to do, its DL and LBs starting to play gap penetration assignments more correctly, its reducing the contingency assignments based on offensive actions to allow players to just play as the disguises and multi-=part pop quizzes that defenders had to pass every play were not consistently passed. Often it confused defenders as much as offenses and made them play slower, hesitant.

No offense, but you have selective reading comprehension. No where did I state that the confusion between defenders is exclusive to Derwin -- I suppose you can infer that, but I only argue it is a large component (especially taking into account my other posts within context and reason). Neither did I state that Staley had pressure to design his schemes exclusively around Derwin, I actually argued against that for the most part -- I posited that Staley prefers to design his game plans and scheme around Derwin, not that there is any pressure on Staley to do so. And no where did I state that Gus deployed Derwin exclusively at the LOS every play in his rookie year -- I actually stated we used him in multiple ways that year, but his most effective play came from the LOS if you look at his stats in terms of pressures.

And no offense, but "trying to understand why the defense has been better the last month" -- and really trying to make sense of the team as a whole while "making shit up" is why this forum exists and why we're all here -- to share our opinions, whether informed or uninformed. Some may agree, others may not and that's fine. Certainly the banter makes the forum more lively at the very least.

[dmac_bolt]

No offense, but you have selective reading comprehension. No where did I state that the confusion between defenders is exclusive to Derwin -- I suppose you can infer that, but I only argue it is a large component (especially taking into account my other posts within context and reason). Neither did I state that Staley had pressure to design his schemes exclusively around Derwin, I actually argued against that for the most part -- I posited that Staley prefers to design his game plans and scheme around Derwin, not that there is any pressure on Staley to do so. And no where did I state that Gus deployed Derwin exclusively at the LOS every play in his rookie year -- I actually stated we used him in multiple ways that year, but his most effective play came from the LOS if you look at his stats in terms of pressures.

And no offense, but "trying to understand why the defense has been better the last month" -- and really trying to make sense of the team as a whole while "making shit up" is why this forum exists and why we're all here -- to share our opinions, whether informed or uninformed. Some may agree, others may not and that's fine. Certainly the banter makes the forum more lively at the very least.

No offense here at all, appreciate your thoughtful analyses. I’m not saying you are definitely by fact wrong - i am saying I think its wrong and i am saying why i think that. 100% agree, just forum posting opinions. Thats mine. Sorry for cuss words that sound harsh, thats just the crowd I grew up around . it don’t mean anything.

You did hypothesize that Staley felt pressure to put Derwin in positions blah blah because of his contract … the clear implication is he was doing this to the detriment of the entire defense overall. I say there is still zero evidence he plans his entire defense “around Derwin”. Does he try to utilize Derwin, of course. Does that mean the entire defense is designed around just him and all other players fuckng up all other assignments are a result of that? Derwin isnt the only non-line player he blitzes. He’s not the only one who will feign coverage and then attack the LOS. He’s not the only one that is near LOS to then drop into coverage. He’s just better than the others. So i see it is just conjecture - or “made up”.

[Critty]

I really hope Chargers play Chiefs again......in the AFCCG.

[jaguarmanftype]

No offense here at all, appreciate your thoughtful analyses. I’m not saying you are definitely by fact wrong - i am saying I think its wrong and i am saying why i think that. 100% agree, just forum posting opinions. Thats mine. Sorry for cuss words that sound harsh, thats just the crowd I grew up around . it don’t mean anything.

You did hypothesize that Staley felt pressure to put Derwin in positions blah blah because of his contract … the clear implication is he was doing this to the detriment of the entire defense overall. I say there is still zero evidence he plans his entire defense “around Derwin”. Does he try to utilize Derwin, of course. Does that mean the entire defense is designed around just him and all other players fuckng up all other assignments are a result of that? Derwin isnt the only non-line player he blitzes. He’s not the only one who will feign coverage and then attack the LOS. He’s not the only one that is near LOS to then drop into coverage. He’s just better than the others. So i see it is just conjecture - or “made up”.

No worries, because in part it is all conjecture. We aren't in the facility and we don't have lines to the players, though I wish we did with some of them here posting. Either way, we will see how it all unfolds as we see more Derwin and perhaps Bosa throughout the last stretch (and into the playoffs), and see how the interior line and secondary hold up and what they do.

[jamrock]

I really hope Chargers play Chiefs again......in the AFCCG.

We want the Chiefs!

[Heatmiser]

Wouldn’t it be nice to play the Chiefs with our whole team? All our starters and pro bowlers? For the entire game? When is the last time that happened? I feel like the Chiefs have never really truly played the Chargers and they still are really tight games.

TG

[wu-dai clan]

Stidhamszn.

[NashBolt]

Stidhamszn.

Cuncta mea mecum.