ha well im glad most of you took the time to bash me and not address the topic .i have een on this site for several if not close to 10 years and not once did i claim i was an english professor .i cant remember whEn i proclaimed that KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE X and O OF THE GAME.most of you inision i have love for wilson but it actually the opposite.i did watch every game this year ad thanks to directv i have watched eyery game for the last 15 years.i enjoy the sport but i can not tell you schemes or packages on defense.so can someone answer my question about the 2 cb and what the safties have to do
thank you in advace
For what it's worth, I think your thoughts are valid because of a few things:
(1) Everyone wants to play the "they're just rookies" card, but Wilson was fairly new to the position he was being asked to play. Maybe it's too much Madden these days, but for some reason people think safety positions are interchangeable. THEY ARE NOT! Wilson was playing out of position for him. If this defense was structured like it was (agressive 4-3) when he won a superbowl with the Giants, then I would say he has no excuse for playing in what would be a familiar position. However, this defense was not the Giant's defense and Wilson was in a new position he was not very familiar with. So to give the rookies a pass for their inexperience at the position but blast Wilson (who was also somewhat new to his position is stupid).
(2) Players were not properly utilized to their strength. Wilson showed excellent blitzing ability yet rarely was sent after the QB. Why the hell not?!?! Oh yeah, thanks again Paul Pasqualoni (and good riddance). I'm sure if Wilson collected a few more sacks this year, he wouldn't be forgiven, but might certainly have some of his numerous mistakes overlooked. However, its a moot point because thanks to PP, he never got much of a chance to be used properly anyway. Also, I think it should be counted that playing out of position is the same as being used improperly.
(3) FACT: Davis and Smith were NOT as good as most on this board seem to think. Yes, guess what, I have two eyes on my face too and I saw the same crap you guys did. Yes Davis made some awesome interceptions. Yes Smith did a good job on numerous occaisons defensing passes. However, both rookies played like **** overall (I think Davis was abused the most). I concede they both exceeded expectations for rookies, but not by much. They both show huge flashes of talent but they are FAR from a finished product. For those of you who disagree with me about Davis/Smith, ask CKParrothead sometime. He gives a much better breakdown (and a more realistic one) than is typically found on FH about the rookies. You can probably even search for his threads on the topic. He's not always 100% correct, but he nails this issue. To be fair to the rookies, Pasqualoni often put them both in situations that is unfair of inexperienced players (such as forcing Davis to cover Randy Moss man-to-man for a good portion of the game, etc).
(4) I don't understand how some posters here turned the comment around back on the original posters about a safety being the last line of defense to cover for the CBs. Well, I look at it this way. If all 9 players in front of the safeties do their job as required, a safety's work is much easier. Due to the ineptitude of our front 9, our safeties were often put into bad situations that would be hard for any safety not named Reed/Polumalu/etc.
BEFORE I GET FLAMED (though I'm expecting it anyway): I am no Wilson appologist. I saw him get his punk-*** stiffarmed and pushed aside. For being a safety with a reputation for good tackling, he certainly had an off year. Seriously, look back to his time in Oakland and NYG and you'd know he could take almost anyone done with regularity. However, an off-year is no excuse. He got paid well to get a job done and he didn't do it well. His play HAS to improve.
With all of that said, lets not forget fellow FHeaven members, that football is a TEAM sport. To single Wilson out entirely is crap. Bell is also a poor coverage safety and yet he always gets a freepass. The rookies make eye catching moves, yet they get a freepass. This is all nothing but pure BULL****. Each and EVERY SINGLE PLAYER need to be held accountable for poor defensive performances. The regular scapegoats like Crowder/Wilson/Porter all contribute this problem, but last I checked there has to be 11 guys on the field at a team on each side of the ball. Each unit on offense or defense allows another unit to often perform better or worse. For example, if the defensive line and LBs get more pressure on a QB, the entire secondary's life becomes much much easier. My point is that Wilson shouldn't take so much heat for an entire unit's ineptitude. Short of stellar performances like those by Randy Starks, all Dolphin defenders need to step up heading into next year, not just Wilson.
