That's IT..WHIZ needs to be fired.

[DoTheDew]

Never have been either.

The 3 4 is very weak against the pass happy teams in the NFL now.

You either have 4 run stopping pass rushing studs on the line or you're in a world of hurt against the most elite passing teams like us, the Colts and the Saints.

I always have thought the 4 3 was the best defense and still believe it is.

I'd love to agree with you but when 6 of the last 10 SBs were won by 3-4 teams and the others were won by teams with cover 2 defenses and top tier pass rushing ends (Dockett and Campbell have not proven to be close to Mathis and Freeney in this regard), it makes it awfully difficult to agree. Good 3-4s don't get torched in the passing game because they have good pass rushing OLBs, not 32-34 year old retreads.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

The responsibility, in fact, for poor tackling, etc. lies with the position coaches and the players, not the DC. His job, week in, week out, is not to supervise drills, but to be put together a D-plan for the upcoming opponent.

I respect your opinion.

I am like a DC at my job. I am responsible for the overall product even though there are divisions under me. But I micro manage those areas and even get hands on to insure things are being done correctly. This is what I am referring to when I allude to Davis. If his asst's are not doing their job he needs to step in and help. Whether it's input or direct working with the players it has to be done. I do realize that he has a lot of pressure and responsibility, but it's part of his job.

And the players have to be accountable.

 

[conraddobler]

I'd love to agree with you but when 6 of the last 10 SBs were won by 3-4 teams and the others were won by teams with cover 2 defenses and top tier pass rushing ends (Dockett and Campbell have not proven to be close to Mathis and Freeney in this regard), it makes it awfully difficult to agree. Good 3-4s don't get torched in the passing game because they have good pass rushing OLBs, not 32-34 year old retreads.

Never said it wasn't effective and it is, everything in the NFL cycles, but currently IMO we're at the peak of the 3 4 cycle which means if I'm building a defense right now I want either a 4-3 or something different.

My favorite defense of all time is the 46, yeah I'm a Buddy Ryan fan, not as a head coach but as a defensive coordinator sure.

It's just so out there that not a lot of people want to run it for the same reason it stank here, "not when we ran it but afterwards" it takes weird personell that cause great problems if anyone tries running a regular defense without turning over a ton of the team.

I'm watching the Jets real close, they play some ball on defense.

I think you can tweak that one to be a premier defense, because you can tweak it to become a coverage monster which would smother a lot of passing teams.

That's not how it was designed but with today's athlete if you had the right personell I think you could build the kind of smothering defense that would win you a championship.

 

[Covert Rain]

Never said it wasn't effective and it is, everything in the NFL cycles, but currently IMO we're at the peak of the 3 4 cycle which means if I'm building a defense right now I want either a 4-3 or something different.

My favorite defense of all time is the 46, yeah I'm a Buddy Ryan fan, not as a head coach but as a defensive coordinator sure.

Not me. The main weakness of the 4-3 defense is that you MUST and I mean MUST have large, athletic defensive tackles and two very athletic defensive ends. Where are we going to find that? There usually is only one of those guys in each draft. If you can't find two good defensive ends, you're in for a long season of living and dying by the blitz.

The 4-3 is even more dependent on having strong defensive ends then the 3-4. Teams figured that out. It has less to do with cycles as much as teams know how to attack teams using the 4-3 with weak ends. Now factor in that todays running backs are more athletic and quick and more QB's with running ability exploited teams using the old 4-3 because typically that defense requires BIG defensive lineman. These guys lack the speed to chase down fast RB and mobile QB's.

Hence the birth of the 3-4. In the 3-4 your linebackers are expected to make most of the plays. Because there are so many athletic "tweeners" available in the draft, you can get much more out of the draft with a 3-4 in mind. The problem is we don't have the personal to run the 3-4 right now either.

In terms of the 46, it's major weakness is with teams that run the short and/or quick passing game. It puts too many people up at the line of scrimmage and leaves your DB's on an island more then any other formation. You had better hope your secondary is rock solid. If the Cards used a 46 the way our secondary plays, the Saints might have put up 60 points or more.