Ok, follow me here.
Our defense has not performed to some fans standards and they have reasons. Some of them pretty reasonable IF you are worried about future performance against better offenses. But what do you think of this theory:
In the movie top gun iceman was described as flying clean and patient. Waiting on the enemy to make a mistake.
Relate that to the defenses you know are the best. They dont necessarilly put maximum pressure on the offenses they face.(example:Joe Lee Dunn). They just hold their own and then wait on the offense to make a mistake (think throw into double coverage, or get greedy with the long pass that gives the safety or corner time to react).
Now the down side to the aggressive defense is that while you create excitement, and scoring opportunities for your defense in the name of fumble returns, and pick six's) is that they tend to get beaten long when the qb sees the mismatches and gets rid of the ball quickly or the running game (like bama's) breaks through the line on the side the linebacker blitz's from.
Upside to the aggressive defense is that they disrupt offensive tempo and take advantage of an indecisive qb.
NOW, think about the upside to the defense that is like the iceman. They almost never create the plays we used to see with Joe Lee. They dont pick six or force fumbles or get to the qb nearly as much. WHat they do is wait for the mistake and make the offense pay dearly by ending drive.
Look how we beat Troy. Look how bama beat OM. Both Troy and OM played effective games but for a few plays that killed them. Maybe even more importantly than giving up long passing plays by their defenses, they turned the ball over when they got impatient.
Now before anyone thinks I'm saying that we are as good as bama or that OM is only as good as troy, you'd be missing the point entirely.
I'm saying that just because you dont see the exciting defense that you saw in last years bama team, or Joe Lee Dunn's 1998 and 1999 teams DOESNT mean you dont see defenses that can dominate.
Using another analogy, think Muhammed Ali and 'rope a dope'. It looks terrible. But the enemy, when finally attacked, never has a chance.
I think this is a plausible theory as to why Wilson's defenses dont satisfy our need for blood. It is also a plausible theory as to how you get playing time for young kids. If you werent one of the best, you couldnt play for Joe Lee's defense. Wilson's defense, if this is what it is, allows for moving in kids and getting them playing time.
When it is time to put Banks and Slay on an island, I think Wilson will. But these 1st 4 games have been for Wilson to get his backups ready when he could and mitigate the damage of hurry up offenses.
Our defense has not performed to some fans standards and they have reasons. Some of them pretty reasonable IF you are worried about future performance against better offenses. But what do you think of this theory:
In the movie top gun iceman was described as flying clean and patient. Waiting on the enemy to make a mistake.
Relate that to the defenses you know are the best. They dont necessarilly put maximum pressure on the offenses they face.(example:Joe Lee Dunn). They just hold their own and then wait on the offense to make a mistake (think throw into double coverage, or get greedy with the long pass that gives the safety or corner time to react).
Now the down side to the aggressive defense is that while you create excitement, and scoring opportunities for your defense in the name of fumble returns, and pick six's) is that they tend to get beaten long when the qb sees the mismatches and gets rid of the ball quickly or the running game (like bama's) breaks through the line on the side the linebacker blitz's from.
Upside to the aggressive defense is that they disrupt offensive tempo and take advantage of an indecisive qb.
NOW, think about the upside to the defense that is like the iceman. They almost never create the plays we used to see with Joe Lee. They dont pick six or force fumbles or get to the qb nearly as much. WHat they do is wait for the mistake and make the offense pay dearly by ending drive.
Look how we beat Troy. Look how bama beat OM. Both Troy and OM played effective games but for a few plays that killed them. Maybe even more importantly than giving up long passing plays by their defenses, they turned the ball over when they got impatient.
Now before anyone thinks I'm saying that we are as good as bama or that OM is only as good as troy, you'd be missing the point entirely.
I'm saying that just because you dont see the exciting defense that you saw in last years bama team, or Joe Lee Dunn's 1998 and 1999 teams DOESNT mean you dont see defenses that can dominate.
Using another analogy, think Muhammed Ali and 'rope a dope'. It looks terrible. But the enemy, when finally attacked, never has a chance.
I think this is a plausible theory as to why Wilson's defenses dont satisfy our need for blood. It is also a plausible theory as to how you get playing time for young kids. If you werent one of the best, you couldnt play for Joe Lee's defense. Wilson's defense, if this is what it is, allows for moving in kids and getting them playing time.
When it is time to put Banks and Slay on an island, I think Wilson will. But these 1st 4 games have been for Wilson to get his backups ready when he could and mitigate the damage of hurry up offenses.
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