LeBeau is the problem

[Oviedo]

Some equal opportunity criticism of coordinators is well past due. Everyone wants to worship LeBeau but he has consistently been able to make the adjustments necessary to win close games. Four losses by a FG and one more by 2 FGs and losing late leads.

The front seven is getting the job done but LeBeau has been totally unable to get the back four to do what they need to do.

The 3-4 doesn't surprise anyone anymore. Too many teams are using it so the opponents go into the games every week more ready for what we have than ever. LeBeau has not adjusted or put new wrinkles into his schemes and so we get the same story week after week. The defense fails to make plays late and we lose late leads.

Our offense and the oft criticized Bruce Arians has been doing the job. The defense and LeBeau haven't.

[JTP53609]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

love lebeau, he was putting some good calls out there i though, it was not his fault that we have william gay out there who cannot tackle or cover. and james farrior did get beat by ray rice many times and the killer was on fourh and 5.. the defense is just bad, we could of made it a difficult fg for the rats in overtime, but we just let them run down our throats.......

[Ghost]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Once again the offense gave the team the lead into the 4th quarter and and the D couldn't hold it. 3rd and 22 and they allow a 17 yard pick up which then puts Baltimore in 4th and 5 - just short enough to go for it and of course make it.

Throw out any stat you want - this Defense is not clutch.

[feltdizz]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Some equal opportunity criticism of coordinators is well past due. Everyone wants to worship LeBeau but he has consistently been able to make the adjustments necessary to win close games. Four losses by a FG and one more by 2 FGs and losing late leads.

The front seven is getting the job done but LeBeau has been totally unable to get the back four to do what they need to do.

The 3-4 doesn't surprise anyone anymore. Too many teams are using it so the opponents go into the games every week more ready for what we have than ever. LeBeau has not adjusted or put new wrinkles into his schemes and so we get the same story week after week. The defense fails to make plays late and we lose late leads.

Our offense and the oft criticized Bruce Arians has been doing the job. The defense and LeBeau haven't.

what is it you mean by this? How can this be? Sarcasm....
Blaming Arians is so easy why stop now? It's like that drunk uncle who stopped drinking a year ago but you keep blaming him for the bad holiday get together when it's obvious the favorite uncle was knocked over the turkey this year.

It's more then Gay getting beat. How many times do we see Ike run up to make a tackle after giving the 10 yard cushion and slapping his hands like he almost made a play on the ball? How many 3rd and forevers are we sweating over because we all know 3rd and long as harder to stop then 3rd and 3? I think Troy made life easy for Lebeau and without him he just doesn't have the mojo to dial up a stop.

[Oviedo]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Some equal opportunity criticism of coordinators is well past due. Everyone wants to worship LeBeau but he has consistently been able to make the adjustments necessary to win close games. Four losses by a FG and one more by 2 FGs and losing late leads.

The front seven is getting the job done but LeBeau has been totally unable to get the back four to do what they need to do.

The 3-4 doesn't surprise anyone anymore. Too many teams are using it so the opponents go into the games every week more ready for what we have than ever. LeBeau has not adjusted or put new wrinkles into his schemes and so we get the same story week after week. The defense fails to make plays late and we lose late leads.

Our offense and the oft criticized Bruce Arians has been doing the job. The defense and LeBeau haven't.

what is it you mean by this? How can this be? Sarcasm....
Blaming Arians is so easy why stop now? It's like that drunk uncle who stopped drinking a year ago but you keep blaming him for the bad holiday get together when it's obvious the favorite uncle was knocked over the turkey this year.

It's more then Gay getting beat. How many times do we see Ike run up to make a tackle after giving the 10 yard cushion and slapping his hands like he almost made a play on the ball? How many 3rd and forevers are we sweating over because we all know 3rd and long as harder to stop then 3rd and 3? I think Troy made life easy for Lebeau and without him he just doesn't have the mojo to dial up a stop.

It's not just Gay. Opponents have figured out the scheme and we can't just rely on hurculean efforts from Harrison and Woodley to sack the QB to overcome what are clear schematic problems against the pass.

Dare I say 4-3 defense without the lynch mob forming? For 2010:

DE: Woodley
DT: Smith
DT: Hood
DE: Kiesel

LB: Harrison
MLB: Farrior (Draft his replacement in 2010)
LB: Timmons

CB: Taylor
CB: Gay (always reported to be better Cover 2 CB)
SS: Polamalu
FS: Clark

Note the pieces we need are already on the team and we don't need to retain Hampton

[Leper Friend]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Throw out any stat you want - this Defense is not clutch.

Not even close.They are whatever the exact opposite of clutch is.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Throw out any stat you want - this Defense is not clutch.

Not even close.They are whatever the exact opposite of clutch is.

Automatic transmission?

[Leper Friend]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Throw out any stat you want - this Defense is not clutch.

Not even close.They are whatever the exact opposite of clutch is.

Automatic transmission?

That was good. It's hard to get me to laugh this morning.

[frankthetank1]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

i hate to say it but part of the problem has to be the age on defense. this upcoming draft better be mostly on the defensive side

[phillyesq]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Having Farrior try to cover Rice in man coverage on the 4th and 5 was a big mistake, no doubt. I don't think that Timmons or any LB would have been able to do so, but Timmons would have been a better coverage option than Farrior.

[LouSteel]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

$$$$$

Our offense performed as well as I could've hoped. When the third-string QB gets you the lead with 5 minutes left, that's phenomenal. And it's up to the D to finish the game. Ours didn't.

I think it's Cover 2 time. We've got the personnel on the roster to run it tomorrow, and I think Oviedo definitely has the personnel right. As a UofL fan, I can definitely confirm that Gay was stout when we played out of a cover 2.

My main point of concern is also Farrior. He looks old. He's got the smarts, but does he have the speed?

Cover 2, draft a MLB, get a S to learn behind Troy and Clark, and get younger on the DL...

[Blitz-en]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

I hate to see all the criticism put on Lebeau. He's probably the greatest defensive coordinator to ever coach in the league. He's currently coaching a top 3 defense, with two major veterans missing in action. From last year, the organization decided to let McFadden go and trust in Gay. So, Lebeau is attempting to coach a team missing 3 main starters from last year. While doing that, he's been able to somehow keep the group in elite status in the league.

Now, I understand the frustrations with the late game collapses on that side of the ball. But, it's been one or two big plays in each case. If Ryan Clark just looks back for the ball on the long pass. If Gay can drag down Rice instead of getting juked out of his jock. If Baltimore doesn't call the exact perfect play on 4th and 5. It is what it is, but alot of the defensive woes that we are nitpicking are things that happen when your missing a key component or two in that unit.

I choose, instead, to question Arians. This offense, all year, has underperformed. Not too many teams in the NFL can boast comparable players to Ben, Mendy, Miller, Holmes, Ward, Wallace. Yet, we have consistantly struggled to score 3 offensive TD's in a given game. With that much fire power, I'd like to think that expectations would be a little higher. Much of the offenses success occurs on broken plays, ad libs, etc. Not on designed plays that were called at the right time and executed perfectly.

Just my 2 cents.

[Leper Friend]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

I hate to see all the criticism put on Lebeau. He's probably the greatest defensive coordinator to ever coach in the league. He's currently coaching a top 3 defense, with two major veterans missing in action. From last year, the organization decided to let McFadden go and trust in Gay. So, Lebeau is attempting to coach a team missing 3 main starters from last year. While doing that, he's been able to somehow keep the group in elite status in the league.

Now, I understand the frustrations with the late game collapses on that side of the ball. But, it's been one or two big plays in each case. If Ryan Clark just looks back for the ball on the long pass. If Gay can drag down Rice instead of getting juked out of his jock. If Baltimore doesn't call the exact perfect play on 4th and 5. It is what it is, but alot of the defensive woes that we are nitpicking are things that happen when your missing a key component or two in that unit.

I choose, instead, to question Arians. This offense, all year, has underperformed. Not too many teams in the NFL can boast comparable players to Ben, Mendy, Miller, Holmes, Ward, Wallace. Yet, we have consistantly struggled to score 3 offensive TD's in a given game. With that much fire power, I'd like to think that expectations would be a little higher. Much of the offenses success occurs on broken plays, ad libs, etc. Not on designed plays that were called at the right time and executed perfectly.

Just my 2 cents.

If they lost a lead last night alone , I would be ok with that. However, at this point it's a trend.

The coordinator has to know his team's stregnths. James farrior in coverage is a weakness.Baltimore knows this and went right at him. Game on the line.

Cam Cameron - 1

Dick Lebeau - 0

[flippy]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

The only issue I have with Lebeau is putting James Farrior on Ray Rice 1 on 1 in a critical situation.

[LouSteel]

Re: LeBeau is the problem

Just my 2 cents.

There is no question whatsoever that Lebeau is one of the best ever. I don't put a lot of the blame on him -- I put it on the 3-4.

Ever since the Superbowl we've been giving up leads late in the game. Lebeau's 10 yard cushion is based on containing the big play and making the other team grind it out. That's going to give us excellent stats.

But if we can't hold the other team late, we're going to be paper champions along with the Stains.

Lebeau's scheme isn't working. Neither is Arians'. The big difference: Lebeau is smart enough to change it up in the offseason. I'd love to see his take on the 4-3 -- we've got the right players, and I think he'd bring some unexpected wrinkles to the table. Arians isn't smart enough to change it up, so he has to go.