A colossal part of the problem on D (that no one talks about)

[sick beats]

Yes, we need some upgrades in personnel at the D side of the ball. It seems safe to say we need better DL play, with Hood not cutting it, and perhaps McClendon not good enough. Clark seems fairly ineffective, due to age and/or new rules where you can't hit receivers without getting flagged. ILB was a weakness. OLB not cutting it with JJ being too young/weak and Woodley not being what he used to be.

So, granted, we need some new players and we got some (but whether we really filled all holes, we will have to see, not sure myself).

But you know what? We have more problems than just the above; having Troy play all over the place, with seemingly no accountability, killed us. I am not sure what the game plan was. But all I know is, it felt like we were playing 10 men vs. 11 most of the time. TP guessed wrong so often, that a WR was wide open for a huge play. LeBoo is on record for saying that TP is the most instinctual player he has ever seen. Well, maybe the old Troy, but last year was full of TP guessing wrong. Where he once made plays all over, it seemed, more often than not, he was left out in "no man's land" being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And what was with playing him at LB all the time? What was that about? Were they trying to make up for the absence of skill at ILB or something else?

Fact is, our rushing D fell off a cliff, so, whatever that experiment with TP playing ILB should probably end.

To my eyes, it wasn't about TP losing a step so much last year; for the first time in a while, I felt TP has his quickness back. But something must change from last season. TP is simply caught guessing wrong, leaving a WR wide open far too often. That game plan is FAIL. If they don't have a better plan than "Let's let Troy roam where ever he wants" then better personnel around him still won't be the answer. I wonder if this is why our D actually got better in 2011 when they had to deal with life without Troy? Could be, that allowing a player to freelance all over hurts more than it helps. Put him in a little more structure than "Let's hope he guesses right" all the time.

Do that, and the D improves. Do it not, and some better players here and there still won't be the cure.

[RobinCole]

Didn't the draft address this problem? And what's with the notion that this was a secret that nobody was talking about? It was being talked about constantly.

Oh, and who wrote this and when? The first paragraph sounds like it was written during the season.

[Shawn]

This won't be a popular post but you are right on. I have been shouted down for calling out TP's play last season...people saying he had a great year. Sorry I didn't see it. He had his moments but he doesn't look close to the old Troy. My hope? Is that the old, slow D around him caused him to feel like he needed to do everything, try too hard. My hope is that the D overall takes it off his shoulders and lets him play within his range.

[sick beats]

Didn't the draft address this problem?

Umm, that depends. I don't believe they took an ILB off the field when TP played up there, did they? They could still move TP to ILB like last year, even with a new ILB on the roster, could they not?

And what's with the notion that this was a secret that nobody was talking about? It was being talked about constantly.

Where? The subject is not just TP playing ILB; it is the fact that he is out of position so much of the time. Who is at fault for that? Is LeBoo allowing for that? Is Tomlin? Playing 10 on 11 is FAIL, period.

Oh, and who wrote this and when?

Me, a few minutes ago.

The first paragraph sounds like it was written during the season.

Not sure what you mean.

[sick beats]

This won't be a popular post but you are right on. I have been shouted down for calling out TP's play last season...people saying he had a great year. Sorry I didn't see it. He had his moments but he doesn't look close to the old Troy. My hope? Is that the old, slow D around him caused him to feel like he needed to do everything, try too hard. My hope is that the D overall takes it off his shoulders and lets him play within his range.

Right on, Shawn. I think the reason some think TP was back, was because he did appear to have most of his quickness back for the first time in a few years. To that, I agree. Where I don't agree is that he had a great season; he did not. For whatever reason - either by design or just letting TP free lance where and when ever he wanted - he just kept guessing wrong, far too often. And I am with you: I hope with upgraded personnel, TP can stop trying to do so much, which ends up causing him to screw up much of the time. If Shazier is what the front office thinks he is, if our new safety is an upgrade over Ryan "all I can do it hit" Clark, if our DL is improved with Tuitt and maybe an upgrade at NT, if Ike isn't too much a liability....maybe TP can just fill his role, not try to be all things to all over the field.

[RobinCole]

Read the first paragraph. "Clark seems fairly ineffective" "Hood not cutting it" "Woodley not being what he used to be". It's written in the present tense but those three aren't even on the team now. That's what I mean.

[sick beats]

Read the first paragraph. "Clark seems fairly ineffective" "Hood not cutting it" "Woodley not being what he used to be". It's written in the present tense but those three aren't even on the team now. That's what I mean.

I did use present tense, but my point was those areas were weak and were part of the problem. Yes, Clark, Woodley et al are no longer, but their previous presence could be blamed for part of the problem, where as, so was the way TP was being used. I don't need to use others' writings to pass them off as my own. Not even close.

[Captain Lemming]

This won't be a popular post but you are right on. I have been shouted down for calling out TP's play last season...people saying he had a great year. Sorry I didn't see it. He had his moments but he doesn't look close to the old Troy. My hope? Is that the old, slow D around him caused him to feel like he needed to do everything, try too hard. My hope is that the D overall takes it off his shoulders and lets him play within his range.

Not unpopular at all. Who said Troy was "great" last year? He was better than his hobbled self but nobody thinks he was great.Perhaps people defended him as not being "done" based on the unreasonable load he had. But I and I would guess most people completely agree with you.

[sick beats]

Not unpopular at all. Who said Troy was "great" last year? He was better than his hobbled self but nobody thinks he was great.Perhaps people defended him as not being "done" based on the unreasonable load he had. But I and I would guess most people completely agree with you.

I agree that most would agree he wasn't as physically hobbled. He did seem to have his burst back, he just launched it in the wrong direction far too often. Reign him back in. Give him two options each play, not 10.

[hawaiiansteel]

Who said Troy was "great" last year? He was better than his hobbled self but nobody thinks he was great.

I agree, I can't recall even one poster ever saying Troy was "great" last year...

[Shawn]

Actually, I commented on TP last season and several posters came to his defense saying he was playing really well.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Yeah, I remember that, Shawn.

Here's hoping that with improved play from the front 7, DL won't feel the need to have Troy playing LB and freelancing so much.

[Rod Polamalu]

The problem with our defense is that we are trying to run a 3-4 with average to below average and undersized project linebackers and NO stud NT. End of discussion.

[Mr.wizard]

Yes, we need some upgrades in personnel at the D side of the ball. It seems safe to say we need better DL play, with Hood not cutting it, and perhaps McClendon not good enough. Clark seems fairly ineffective, due to age and/or new rules where you can't hit receivers without getting flagged. ILB was a weakness. OLB not cutting it with JJ being too young/weak and Woodley not being what he used to be.

So, granted, we need some new players and we got some (but whether we really filled all holes, we will have to see, not sure myself).

But you know what? We have more problems than just the above; having Troy play all over the place, with seemingly no accountability, killed us. I am not sure what the game plan was. But all I know is, it felt like we were playing 10 men vs. 11 most of the time. TP guessed wrong so often, that a WR was wide open for a huge play. LeBoo is on record for saying that TP is the most instinctual player he has ever seen. Well, maybe the old Troy, but last year was full of TP guessing wrong. Where he once made plays all over, it seemed, more often than not, he was left out in "no man's land" being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And what was with playing him at LB all the time? What was that about? Were they trying to make up for the absence of skill at ILB or something else?

Fact is, our rushing D fell off a cliff, so, whatever that experiment with TP playing ILB should probably end.

To my eyes, it wasn't about TP losing a step so much last year; for the first time in a while, I felt TP has his quickness back. But something must change from last season. TP is simply caught guessing wrong, leaving a WR wide open far too often. That game plan is FAIL. If they don't have a better plan than "Let's let Troy roam where ever he wants" then better personnel around him still won't be the answer. I wonder if this is why our D actually got better in 2011 when they had to deal with life without Troy? Could be, that allowing a player to freelance all over hurts more than it helps. Put him in a little more structure than "Let's hope he guesses right" all the time.

Do that, and the D improves. Do it not, and some better players here and there still won't be the cure.

Its not that hes getting caught guessing, the problem is QB's no longer have to make quick decisions because we have no pass rush especially right up the middle. So it looks like hes getting caught guessing because hes anticipating routes the qb would try and throw under pressure but when the pressure doesn't get home it looks like hes out of position. So I think we addressed our needs perfectly during the draft.

[chiken]

Are we saying that if Troy had played his regular Safety position that this defense would have gotten faster? The front would have stopped guys from running up the middle and there would have been some real pressure put on the Qb? Would that have have lit a fire under Hood and added some bulk to Mclendon? Would that have helped us stop the run because last year we could not?

Saying that Troy guessing wrong was a Colossal part of our problem is really not being honest about what was happening. The real problem was not Troy guessing wrong but Clark being unable not back him up like he use to. They use to be able to do that, let Troy Gamble and Then Clark use to be able to cover the hole left by him. The problem was not Troy it was the lack of Talent around him. The 3-4 is suppose to be a defense built around the element of surprise and Stong line backer play. We had to play Troy as a line backer so much last year because we didnt have another linebacker who could make plays.

Tp was the only X-factor on this defense.. How many times did we have to read about the opposing QB knowing exactly what we were going to do.. The defense was old and very predictable.. all the blitzes were being picked up. Teams were punching us in the mouth, taking the game to us because we didnt have the Atheletes to hit them first. We were physically getting our butts kicked on both sides of the ball but especially on Defense.
Troy, Hayward and Timmons were really the only ones consistently fighting back.. 8 other guys were stinking up the Joint.

Thats the Colossal problem that nobody is talking about.