Opinions on our defense from Top Billin'

[toffee]

He pointed finger at discipline , perhaps politely hinted at coaching?

 

[keasley45]

He pointed finger at discipline , perhaps politely hinted at coaching?

In my opinion, its beyond obvious that the players arent getting what's being asked, and furthermore, there is no one on the sidelines, in-game working with them, keeping their heads in the game and helping to correct issues on the fly.

Its not happening on offense or defense.

Some of it is coaching related to in-game management of players and scheme. The rest is what Mike talked about with Brock and Salk - that he needs to reduce the defensive playbook because its obvious the guys arent getting it yet.

So if you have inexperienced staff 'durdy and gang' who are themselves new to their positions AND learning Mike's scheme themselves, being expected to right the ship, lead the unit and coach them up to be on point and maintain focus... seems like a recipe for potential failure.

 

[Ozzy]

He's been super on board with Macdonald and loves him as a head coach. Mark Schlereth when asked about it said its all execution....players aren't getting off their blocks and are slow to react to gaps. That can be a little bit coaching too because you have to re-emphasize what they need to. He seemed to think its fixable and not some scheme isssue or massive system issues. Bottom line they need to play better.

 

[hawks85]

I don't understand why Macdonald didn't bring another defensive staff member over from the Ravens to help with the defense. That's my only knock on Macdonald.

 

[bigskydoc]

Didn't it take six months or more for the Ravens to learn and execute MM's scheme?

Why would we expect it to bear fruit overnight in Seattle?

I think patience is warranted.

 

[knownone]

He's right about the Baker/Jones trade, so it's nice to see that perspective being expressed. Our fanbase trashed Baker despite him not being the issue, but that's a different topic entirely.

Coaching is an issue. The interesting question is why? Is this due to the lack of coaching experience within MM's system? Right, most of the coaching staff is also learning the details of the Ravens system. Or, as Keasely mentioned, are the coaches asking these guys to do too much too fast? Either seems fixable mid-season; you'd expect the defense to improve over time.

The absolute worst-case scenario is the guys they've invested in don't fit MM's scheme.

 

[Tech Worlds]

Mike needs to fix it.
He's the head coach. Buck stops with him.
He's getting the big bucks has the big job for a reason.
Time to start showing progress.
Make it so coach.

 

[cymatica]

Mike needs to fix it.
He's the head coach. Buck stops with him.
He's getting the big bucks has the big job for a reason.
Time to start showing progress.
Make it so coach.

He's also a rookie head coach on a brand new team with rookie coordinators. Realistically, he deserves at least a full season to develope himself into the coach he wants to be. This year, the buck stops with John. John hired Mike and surrounded him with inexperience. He was not set up to succeed this year.

 

[Tech Worlds]

He's also a rookie head coach on a brand new team with rookie coordinators. Realistically, he deserves at least a full season to develope himself into the coach he wants to be. This year, the buck stops with John. John hired Mike and surrounded him with inexperience. He was not set up to succeed this year.

I understand that but....we were 9 and 8 last year and almost made the playoffs. Mike was brought in to get us over the hump because ownership believed that the team underperformed. They actually publicly said that. I was in agreement and am glad they made the switch and hired coach Mike.
Fair or not didn't bring Mike in for a several year figure it out. He's supposed to be the wonder kid of defense. Let's see it.

 

[hawks85]

He's also a rookie head coach on a brand new team with rookie coordinators. Realistically, he deserves at least a full season to develope himself into the coach he wants to be. This year, the buck stops with John. John hired Mike and surrounded him with inexperience. He was not set up to succeed this year.

I agree. If it continues I see Mike bringing in someone from Baltimore's defensive staff that was with him last year to help with the defense. I think Durde is gone after the season. Mike can't do it by himself, he needs help. Mike is the only one on the team that knows his defense inside and out because it's his defense. There are some defensive staff members on Baltimore that know Mike's defense and he needs to hire those guys to help him out.

 

[Sperrydogg]

He's also a rookie head coach on a brand new team with rookie coordinators. Realistically, he deserves at least a full season to develope himself into the coach he wants to be. This year, the buck stops with John. John hired Mike and surrounded him with inexperience. He was not set up to succeed this year.

I agree. I still think he is a genius and I would like to see the fruits of his growth as a coach and not some other team

 

[Chukarhawk]

He pointed finger at discipline , perhaps politely hinted at coaching?

He spent the entire video blaming the players for poor play.

 

[Sperrydogg]

I understand that but....we were 9 and 8 last year and almost made the playoffs. Mike was brought in to get us over the hump because ownership believed that the team underperformed. They actually publicly said that. I was in agreement and am glad they made the switch and hired coach Mike.
Fair or not didn't bring Mike in for a several year figure it out. He's supposed to be the wonder kid of defense. Let's see it.

I don’t think it’s going to take several seasons, I’ve seen some things that were pretty awesome on offense and defense. I’ve also felt like things were not predictable like they used to be. Under Pete the team appeared near their ceiling. Under Mike the team is at their ground level. Maybe this year is gonna be painful but I believe we will see improvement and as everything starts to gel this will be fun again. If not then we get a new coach and start over. Oh well…

 

[keasley45]

He spent the entire video blaming the players for poor play.

He wasn't wrong

 

[Ozzy]

I agree with him, it’s why I always thought blaming Macdonald and his scheme was off.

 

[Smellyman]

Billin Shmillin

 

[Rat]

Didn't it take six months or more for the Ravens to learn and execute MM's scheme?

Why would we expect it to bear fruit overnight in Seattle?

I think patience is warranted.

Didn't seem to take the Ravens all that long. They gave up 17 points or fewer in six of their first nine games last season, including four games in single digits.

 

[bigskydoc]

Didn't seem to take the Ravens all that long. They gave up 17 points or fewer in six of their first nine games last season, including four games in single digits.

And that was his second season as defensive coordinator for the Ravens. How does that speak to the time it took to install his defense?

His first year, they gave up 17 or fewer in only 3 of their first 9, but 6 of the final nine. (Not sure why 17 was chosen, but I’ll use your stat).

That was despite Lamar Jackson being out for the final 7 games, which resulted in a slight uptick in opponent TOP.

Despite giving up 380, 547, and 447 total yards in the first three games, they ended the season with the third fewest points and the ninth fewest yards.

They were the 39th team in NFL history to hold a double digit lead in all of their first six games, but not have a winning record, going 3-3.

They had multiple losses in the fourth quarter, but these were pretty evenly spread throughout the year.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Billin Shmillin

10 times better than Staton.

 

[cymatica]

I understand that but....we were 9 and 8 last year and almost made the playoffs. Mike was brought in to get us over the hump because ownership believed that the team underperformed. They actually publicly said that. I was in agreement and am glad they made the switch and hired coach Mike.
Fair or not didn't bring Mike in for a several year figure it out. He's supposed to be the wonder kid of defense. Let's see it.

If that's what ownership believed, then maybe they aren't high football IQ people. They had to completely revamp the front 7 and had to find a center at the last minute because their guy isn't ready to start, on top of the fact that the oline was already bottom of the league.