"There's no communication right now."

[Sgt. Largent]

If true, it's on Richard. He's responsible for the defensive calls.

I'm OK with the "communication confusion" after game 1 with Dion Bailey and a new CB in Williams.

But I'm not OK with it after Kam got back. 3 all pro's in the LOB, and all three have played with each other for 4 years now.

So it's obvious Richard isn't fixing this crap in the meeting and film room. INEXCUSABLE.

 

[brimsalabim]

I think they should go back to more man coverage and start pressing more at the LOS. Go back to what made them the LOB in the first place.

You can't ask Cary WIlliams to play press man. He simply can't do it.

Then why the #$%# did we bring him here and pay him top dollar? We could have spent that money on the offensive line! This kind of crud is on both Pete and Snyder letting the hype go to their heads. They can't do the obvious because they want to look like the smartest guys in the room.

 

[cesame]

I think they should go back to more man coverage and start pressing more at the LOS. Go back to what made them the LOB in the first place.

The aggressive press man went away after the NFL changed the rules and put an emphasis on it

Thanks, NFL

 

[CodeWarrior]

These situations always make me a little sad. Kris Richard has and will continue to fail as an NFL DC, but a change won't be made midseason. I expect more of the same until the necessary changes are made. The feeling of inevitability sucks.

If Jon Snow can still come back to life, this defense littered with All-Pros can rise from the ashes.

My whole point is that it isn't a problem with personnel.

The problem is not coaching either. Richard and Seto helped create the LOB, and Carroll is one of the best defensive minds in the game. There have certainly been moments over the last three weeks where the defense was shutting down the opposition.

The problem is rust. They had some turmoil in the off-season -- losing Maxwell and working in Williams, injuries to Sherman, Thomas, and Lane, Chancellor's holdout, etc. -- and are only beginning to get their bearings. It's just a matter of regaining that level of consistency. One thing that should be an easy fix is Chancellor doing a better job communicating their coverage assignments.

What is rust? Lack of preparedness. Who is that on? The coaches. Most indicative of this is the defense's seemingly inability to make the half-time adjustments we've grown accustomed to since 2012. You know, the ones Gus and Quinn made? This defense is a veteran unit. They should know how to put teams away. It isn't lack of talent. Not being able to get the play in? That is simply unacceptable.

Someone will certainly call me an idiot, and they'd be right, but I've seen this show enough times to know when a coach is destined for failure. Right now Pete can either scapegoat Richard and Bevell or go down with the ship.

 

[brimsalabim]

If true, it's on Richard. He's responsible for the defensive calls.

I'm OK with the "communication confusion" after game 1 with Dion Bailey and a new CB in Williams.

But I'm not OK with it after Kam got back. 3 all pro's in the LOB, and all three have played with each other for 4 years now.

So it's obvious Richard isn't fixing this crap in the meeting and film room. INEXCUSABLE.

Being a long time business owner and GM my self, I can attest that the only way to "fix" repeated mistakes involves holding the employees personally accountable.... all of them. One more miss communication should cost the entire defense money. Ironically it will costs them any post season bonus that might be in their contracts.

 

[hawknation2015]

The problem is not coaching either. Richard and Seto helped create the LOB, and Carroll is one of the best defensive minds in the game. There have certainly been moments over the last three weeks where the defense was shutting down the opposition.

The problem is rust. They had some turmoil in the off-season -- losing Maxwell and working in Williams, injuries to Sherman, Thomas, and Lane, Chancellor's holdout, etc. -- and are only beginning to get their bearings. It's just a matter of regaining that level of consistency. One thing that should be an easy fix is Chancellor doing a better job communicating their coverage assignments.

What is rust? Lack of preparedness. Who is that on? The coaches.

It takes time for teams to get into a rhythm; so far, we have not had that opportunity. It is highly unusual to have one starting free safety and defensive leader sit out all of training camp and most of the preseason with a shoulder injury and to have your other starting strong safety and defensive leader sit out all of training camp, preseason, and the first two games of the season due to a holdout.

In many ways, is it has been the perfect storm of crap. Losing Quinn and Ken Norton, working in a new starter at cornerback, injuries to multiple players in the secondary, Chancellor's extended holdout, and then you have the most challenging opening six games in the NFL.

Back to back road games against St. Louis, where we always struggle, and Green Bay, where everyone struggles. Then two more games against undefeated teams. Half of our games have been played against teams that are currently undefeated. Think about that.

 

[CodeWarrior]

Does Richard have an authoritative voice in the defensive room? From what I've seen he's more of a player's coach in the model of Pete himself. Who is the enforcer on the coaching staff? Who do the players both fear and respect? Quinn and Norton were that guy. Who is it now? Cable? Pete is a player's coach, and he plays that role well. He needs a hardass as a counterweight, though. I don't know if I see appropriate coaching personnel on the roster at this point.

 

[OkieHawk]

I think they should go back to more man coverage and start pressing more at the LOS. Go back to what made them the LOB in the first place.

The aggressive press man went away after the NFL changed the rules and put an emphasis on it

Thanks, NFL

I'll have to look it up but I thought within 5 yards it was still all good.

 

[OkieHawk]

Alright, just looked up the rule and it doesn't appear they have changed. I'd link it but I'm on my phone.

 

[CodeWarrior]

Alright, just looked up the rule and it doesn't appear they have changed. I'd link it but I'm on my phone.

It wasn't an explicit rule change so much as an emphasis being put on it. The NFL always emphasizes specific penalties at the outset of a new season.

They discuss it specifically here: http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/new-rules-for-the-2015-16-season/, stating, "The league will also emphasize points on several existing rules this season, although the rules themselves have not changed."

 

[Hawks46]

Pretty sure that wasn't Kam's man. Looks like the lack of communication on the game winner was between him and Sherm. This defense used to be lauded for their communication. I don't know what the interruption is but Its up to them to fix it.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Kam's responsibility either. Especially since Kam was on the other side of the field and the only 3 people who could even remotely be responsible for Olson was KPL, Thomas or Sherman.

It seems to me that Richard is still finding his way at the DC. He was great as the secondary coach, but now his responsibility is the entire defense. Either we're looking at:

the new secondary coach is not doing his job

Richard is spending more time elsewhere and figured that the LOB had things locked down, being intelligent veteran players

Chancellor's hold out really screwed up the communication. They've talked about it before, how playing good defense wasn't worrying about what the other guy was doing because you trust him, and communicating all game. Maybe Kam mas messed up the chemistry, especially by holding out for himself, then coming back and playing poorly and being out of position often.

 

[HawkFreak]

- Earl Thomas, following the loss to the Carolina Panthers

@Softykjr @ChuckPowellKJR asked Earl about the communication in the secondary on last play: "There is no communication right now."

If that's true, I think this season is toast. If that's true, something is seriously broken with this defense, and it's not a question about talent. It's not a question about anyone losing a step. It goes much, much deeper than that..

This. Obviously that quote isn't only about that last play. He was making a general statement about the state of things. Who knows how far the lack of communication goes at this point.

If there are in-game communication systems that are breaking down - the coaches need to fix that. If KR isn't communicating the things that need to be said to the players - he needs to figure out what that is, man up, and lead the D. If players aren't communicating well among themselves for whatever and it is affecting play performance on the field and the team...it's time for a brutally honest "family meeting" to clear the air and get things flowing again.

 

[OkieHawk]

Alright, just looked up the rule and it doesn't appear they have changed. I'd link it but I'm on my phone.

It wasn't an explicit rule change so much as an emphasis being put on it. The NFL always emphasizes specific penalties at the outset of a new season.

They discuss it specifically here: http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/new-rules-for-the-2015-16-season/, stating, "The league will also emphasize points on several existing rules this season, although the rules themselves have not changed."

I don't see how they can emphasize something that is completely legal, except to leave it the hell alone.

 

[marko358]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AaronQ13Fox/status/656598092410523648[/tweet]

 

[hawknation2015]

This was a full-scale mess up. Wright says he made the correct call for a cover 2, but the coaches from the sideline were incorrectly signaling a cover 3, which was seen by some of the players but not by others, like Wright. :34853_doh:

 

[Bigpumpkin]

This was a full-scale mess up. Wright says he made the correct call for a cover 2, but the coaches from the sideline were incorrectly signaling a cover 3, which was seen by some of the players but not by others, like Wright. :34853_doh:

Sounds like they might need a "double check" system.

 

[jammerhawk]

This particular failing will get fixed, and this will happen this week.

 

[jammerhawk]

This particular failing will get fixed, and this will happen this week.

 

[Tech Worlds]

If we pay Kam more money it will fix everything

 

[hawknation2015]

This was a full-scale mess up. Wright says he made the correct call for a cover 2, but the coaches from the sideline were incorrectly signaling a cover 3, which was seen by some of the players but not by others, like Wright. :34853_doh:

Sounds like they might need a "double check" system.

I guess that is what they have. The MLB gets the call through the headset and signals it to the rest of the defense. The coaches are supposed to be signaling the same call from the sideline to confirm it.