Randomania : Random thoughts on season

After week 4, we were 6th against the pass and 23rd against the run i believe (or thereabouts). Some observations worth discussing below.

1 )Pass Defense: This was supposedly our biggest fear on Defense, being the team that gave up most big plays last year. So what happened? two things IMO: a) Clemons has been asked mainly to play of the top at almost all times, while Gibril was given alot more freedom. Thats why we saw him make good tackles on RBs (but not in open space!) and the occasional sack, then get burnt for 40 yards the next play. b) We are attacking more on defense which doesn't allow plays to set-up as well. 

Another factor is how poor our run defense has been, which is my next point.

2) Run Defense: a bit surprising how well teams have run against us. While the Jets and Vikings have two of the best run offenses in the league, whats the excuse with Pats? again, two things come to mind IMO : a) the DL rotation all in all. Starks seemed to have moved well to NT, but with Odrick out we moved him again. Solai to me isn't consistent enough to play so often. Keeping him to 25-30% of snaps only at best fits him better. Thats why the depth we had on DL was a plus (Douglas and Grant), keep our guys fresh, sadly the coaching staff didn't see that. b) Crowder. I hope so at least. Haven't seen Dobbins make any plays worth mentioning, and Dansby can't do it all alone, if anything, he has been very limited in last 2 games. If Crowded can focus on plugging gaps and Dansby becomes a QB spy / read-and-react type of LB, i am hoping we can get better here.

3) Run Offense: Don't be fooled by Ronnie's YPC (and i have to play him this week in fantasy!), because if you look at last 2 games alone, its clearly lower. Ronnie likes to run between tackles. with Jerry out, Berger became more exposed and this line, as many pointed, is not creating the lanes. We clearly had a better OL last year especially between the tackles. I am hoping if Jerry gets back we see an improvement. Not very optimistic. Play calling has also been all too predictable, which never helps.