Quote:
Originally Posted by NBT
Exactly my point. OK we have blitzed, but they are so easy to see coming that it is no problem for the opposing offense to block it. Pittsburgh always does a good job of moving in and out, disguising exactly who and when they are going to blitz.
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Not saying you were one of them , but when Smith tries to incorporate some of the same zone blitz principles that Pitt does, in a 4-3 form, everyone went nuts. Remember the whole Mario standing next to Demeco experiment....or the whole it would be funny if it weren't so painful to watch sight of Weaver dropping into coverage?
The whole point of moving Mario around, have him stand up, occasionally drop into coverage was to disguise things and try and keep the offense off guard. Kubiak defended it by saying it got us off the field a few times when we used it, but it didn't really help generate pressure IMO. If you ask me there are just as many instances of players not getting it done when they had the chance as there are things that you could blame on Smith.
Jump Richard Smith all day for the defense not improving under him. I don't see any problem with criticizing his scheme either, but it holds a little less weight when he's tried some of the things you are criticizing him for already. I'll be shocked if he's still here next year if things keep going this way, but don't fall into the trap of blaming everything on him. There have been many times this year when he made a call that had our defense in a great position to make a big play or get a big stop only to have the players screw it up.