The Defense

[PhillyPhreak54]

It's becoming painfully obvious that the achilles heel of the team is going to be the defense. I know they don't have Cole out there right now, but it doesn't even matter. Because when he is out there there is no legit pass rushing threat to line up opposite him. So he will get doubled and chipped all year and we'll be stuck watching Juqua Thomas Parker try to get after the QB.

How sad is it that a guy they signed the eve of camp, who was a washout with three other teams, is now the second best DE on the squad?

And its also obvious that opposing TEs are going to eat them alive. Chris Baker last week and all Colts TEs this week have had good games. Can any one of you motherfargers cover the TE...please? Or better yet, how about McDermott fixes the hole in JJ's scheme that was known to leave TEs open all day long (after the loss of Emmons).

Underwhelming and potentially dangerous (and not the good dangerous), this defense.

[The BIGSTUD]

Love this defense.

[SunMo]

once again, the front 4 will not be able to put any pressure on the quarter back, which means the linebackers will have to blitz and we'll see open tight ends and running backs all year

[The BIGSTUD]

and it will still be good enough to be a top 5 defense in the NFL like it was last year.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Love this defense.

What's to love?

[PhillyPhreak54]

once again, the front 4 will not be able to put any pressure on the quarter back, which means the linebackers will have to blitz and we'll see open tight ends and running backs all year

And they won't be fast enough to get to the QB, a half step late.

Worst LBs in the NFL?

[SunMo]

Worst LBs in the NFL?

easily

[The BIGSTUD]

Love this defense.

What's to love?

Two premiere defensive tackles, a stud pass rusher in Cole, the best secondary in the NFL. Mediocre linebackers, but good enough to win football games. This defense isn't all that different from last year and wehad one of the best defenses in the NFL last year. So what changes all of a sudden?

[mpmcgraw]

I think we're overreacting a tad.

We're definitely taking a step back without Bradley, but other than that we didn't lose anything from last year to this year and there's no reason to think our top guys are going to fall off a cliff.

And yes I know we lost Dawkins, but he was not a good safety and I doubt the drop off to Demps/Jones will be that much.

Still a top 10 defense at least.

[Sgt PSN]

expectations are (and should be) lower for the d this year.  losing a guy like dawk was bad enough and then to have jj kick the bucket certainly didn't help any. 

new coordinator, several key injuries, loss of icon, etc, etc means that reid better learn how to run a clock eating offense otherwise this defense is going to be completely worn out by week 8.

[The BIGSTUD]

I think out of all the defensive losses, Dawk is the smallest. He had such a terrible NFCCG and looked so slow on some plays. He had a resurgence in the final 6 games or so, but was so average in the first half of the season.

[mpmcgraw]

Dawkins is not a good player anymore.

He's just not.

[PhillyPhreak54]

For the record...

I do love Bunkley and Patterson in the middle. I love Samuel and Grumpy on the corners. I dig Mikell and Cole too.

But as a whole, as a complete unit...they cannot get after the QB without the blitz. And the LBs suck.

Joe Mays can hit, but he guesses too much and can't cover.

[The BIGSTUD]

The defense looked bad. I won't deny it. But answer these questions:

1. When doesn't Peyton Manning eat up this defense?

2. The defense was top 5 in the NFL last season. Do you really think it will be that much of a dropoff with no Dawk, JJ, and Bradley? You must, because you think the defense sucks.

3. Trent Cole not playing can't be understated. He's easily the best pass rusher. This isn't a question obviously, but added it anyway.

[PhillyPhreak54]

I do.

Hopefully they prove me wrong and we can bump this thread later in the year.

I just can't see anything to make me think this is a special defense or a Super Bowl defense.