Where I think Losing Bradley will hurt the most

Twisted":1bwu390i said:

yea Bradley was huge in the second half of the Falcs game when it counted against the ONLY option the Falcons had... can you say double team those 2, 3 man rush, spy?

Falcs shouldnt have even got a first down after the kick, which should have been buried

if Bradley was worth his weight the Hawks would have went 16-0, they're that good!

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I'm not even going to comment on the 16-0 comment. That is just ridiculous.

But, man, you guys are so fixated on that final drive.

How about the fact that the Falcons put up 20 points in the first half, moving the ball at will...and then in the second half were only able to muster 1 TD and were being stopped regularly? Even though in the Sound FX segments, Mike Smith said they were going to keep the pressure on and not let up on Offense!

In about 8 or 9 of our games, we shut out or held the opposition to ZERO TDs after halftime.

The in-game adjustments were huge this year. Yes, there were 4 huge, frustrating collapses this year. But stop acting like Bradley didn't do anything good this year. It's just ignorant and homer-ish.

It occurs to me is that the jags want him because they like our defense and want to implement something like it. We've talked about how teams would start to copy Pete's innovations if it was successful and this is how it happens, the coaching tree.

Second half adjustments have always been Pete's specialty. They commented on it during just about every USC game during Pete's tenure.

He always talks about the importance of the 2nd half. Anything can go wrong in the first half, but you don't win a game in the first half.

Calm down people. Pete and Gus both came from the Kiffin system. The next DC will come from the same structure.

pehawk":af8jey7i said:

Yup, he DID call the plays. No matter what people say about him being a stepford DC, it's just noise. Gus called the plays.

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which is why you don't want him as your opposition, well, unless you are down by 1 and have 31 seconds left.

For the more football savvy than myself, can someone explain how we are supposed to be better?

My understanding was that Gus put into place a defense that made it difficult for the opposing QB to make effective presnap reads.

Regardless, he was able to put together a very solid defense without really having an effective means of pressuring the QB. Most good defenses I have seen had that component, and Green Bay game aside, we seemed to have a harder time pressuring the QB this year. We did get sacks, but a lot of those were also coverage sacksl.

I don't think it is fair to give this defense a high rating (and it did rate high) and then not give the person responsible for calling the defense the credit for the results. Clearly Gus had to be part of why our defense did so well. Because of that, I do believe that losing him hurts us.

Obviously we have little control over him leaving, so we have to adapt. I just do not see how we can expect to be better next year when we will be dealing with this and the second issue of whether Clemons or Red can get healthy and productive again.

Anyone want to help me understand why I should be more confident here?

TwistedHusky":2zr92qpn said:

Anyone want to help me understand why I should be more confident here?

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Most experts agree that our defensive is Pete Carroll and John Schneider's baby. They were the architects of our big, fast and physical style of play and schemes.

Not to take anything away from Bradley, he's a great coach and a great motivator. But IMO our defensive is good because of Carroll and personnel.

pehawk":2l9uirfw said:

Yup, he DID call the plays. No matter what people say about him being a stepford DC, it's just noise. Gus called the plays.

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It isn't noise. Choosing the personnel and and installing the defense and its philosophy is by far more important than calling the plays on Sunday. Pete basically did the former and Bradley the latter. Bradley was an LB coach anyway - so his stamp isn't even on his specialty group as Ken Norton Jr. is running that show. I thought of Bradley as the glue.

I disagree. In today's NFL, it's ALL ABOUT playcalling.

I want a DC who can make adjustments BEFORE halftime....while the game is being played, if/as needed!

purpleworld":38l0je7o said:

I want a DC who can make adjustments BEFORE halftime....while the game is being played, if/as needed!

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That's good, cause every DC makes adjustments before, during and after halftime.

Pete is the architect, Bradley was the contractor. He oversaw the game planning and called the plays during the game.

Well, our so called "Elite" defense sure blew a lot of games at the end. It's extremely frustrating to watch them fold in the clutch (Atlanta, Detroit, Miami etc.)
Once this team gets a pass rush, we will be a very strong contender to win it all.

Most adjustments were at the the line. PC was the DB coach at SF and was excellent. I suspect he gives his input there

Tech Worlds":17xhpsg3 said:

We never made adjustments that worked before Pete got here.

I am inclined to believe that will continue with Gus gone.

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Beat me to it.