why is our run D so much better this year?

[isaacjunk]

Last year I think the run D was arguably the single biggest reason we were so bad: it seemed to always break down during late and close. Of course when you lose 15 games, there's plenty of blame to go around, but the inability to stop the run pretty much doomed us from having any kind of success in the 4th quarter. This year we are giving up 3.9 ypc, vs. 4.5 ypc, a big difference: which is basically from bad to good in one year. Now, in crunch time, we are able to shut down the run.

But why such a big difference this year?

Here are some of the changes that might have had an effect:
- 3-4 instead of 4-3
- new D coordinator
- Ferguson at NT instead of Traylor
- Ayodele instead of Zach
- JT replaced with Merling/Langford
- Yeremiah Bell being healthy

Not all of these would necessarily help our run D ( Taylor leaving, going to a 3-4 usually sacrifices some run D in favor of a more confusing pass rush ). My opinion? I think our personnel was not being used optimally last year in the 4-3, JP/Roth are doing much better as 3-4 OLB than in their positions last year. My guess is that the 3-4 scheme just fits our personnel better, esp. with the key additons/subtractions we made. We didn't have enough depth at DT last year to field two stud run stoppers. Given that, better to have 1 stud in the middle and two ends that are tough to move + rely on the LBs for the heat.

 

[thefranchisedef]

i believe its because we have so much depth at the defensive line. The only problem i have with our run defense is joey porter. The guy is always going for the sack so, that open up his side of the line for running lanes. I love joey porter but, we all know he is a liability in that regard. Also We have fergie, and akin. Don't sleep on kendall langford, that guy is always penetrating into the other teams backfield. Yeremiah does make a big difference as well. He is our best wrap up tackler. two games left though, lets take it home baby!

 

[Avalanche of Wins]

i believe its because we have so much depth at the defensive line. The only problem i have with our run defense is joey porter. The guy is always going for the sack so, that open up his side of the line for running lanes. I love joey porter but, we all know he is a liability in that regard. Also We have fergie, and akin. Don't sleep on kendall langford, that guy is always penetrating into the other teams backfield. Yeremiah does make a big difference as well. He is our best wrap up tackler. two games left though, lets take it home baby!

porter is doing his job as good as anyone could ask. matt roth plays the strong side and does all the dirty work as far as taking on tight ends in the run game. obviously porter cannot ignore his responsibilities, but he is getting paid to get to the quarterback and make big plays.

 

[emeraldfin]

Well I always expected our run defense to be good this season

Merling, Roth, Ferguson, Starks, Holliday and Langford are all very good against the run. Ayodele and Crowder are decent in the middle. What I was worried about was our pass rush.

 

[dolfanmark]

I would disagree that our run defense is that good. We've allowed 110+ rushing yards in 8 games, including 7 of the last 10. We've had some very good games, but overall, we've not been that good.

 

[BenchFiedler]

I think M. Roth plays a big role in stopping the run as well. They were showing a replay of the 49ers game and they showed how disciplined he is in regards to his assignments on the field..

 

[TyBless]

It's Really Simple.

We are ALOT bigger in the front 7 than we were last year. Bigger, and deeper, like Parcells likes them. Our old defense was built on small fast folk.. Parcells likes BIG fast folk.. This way in December we don't become pushovers...

 

[RUDEbyallMEANS]

Alot of new players in the front seven... Randy Starks, Ferguson, Merling, Langford, Akin Ayodele and Matt Roth consistently being matched up with TE's/RB's.

 

[MiggeMadness]

Why is our run D better than last year? hmm....let's look at last year:

Thomas and Bell were both injured, as well as injuries to our BACKUP safeties. What were down to last year....our 4th and 5th safety?

 

[isaacjunk]

I would disagree that our run defense is that good. We've allowed 110+ rushing yards in 8 games, including 7 of the last 10. We've had some very good games, but overall, we've not been that good.

We aren't elite against the run, but we are quite good: our ypc is #12 in the league out of 32, whereas last year we were #30/32---a huge difference. Same goes for yards per game: 97.1 ypg ( 11th ) this year, vs. 153.5 ypg ( 32nd--dead last ).

Interestingly, our pass D has also improved greatly: passer rating is 80.9 ( 13th ), was 92.4 last year ( 29th ). We gave up a lot fewer pass yards last year, true, but that's because people were gashing us with the run....the passer rating is the better measure methinks of overall pass D quality. Pass completion % about the same around 59.5%, but YPA down from 7.9 to 7.0. Also sacks up from 30 all of last year to 37 with 2 games to play. Interceptions almost equal. So, giving up fewer big plays, and getting more sacks have been the story for our improved pass D.

 

[houtz]

We are ALOT bigger in the front 7 than we were last year. Bigger, and deeper, like Parcells likes them. Our old defense was built on small fast folk.. Parcells likes BIG fast folk.. This way in December we don't become pushovers...

Hit the nail on the head.

 

[Jim C. from NJ]

From kind of a less personnel/X's and O's perspective.

I really feel parting ways with JT really paved the way for some guys to step
up and take ownership and become leaders of the defense. They got to create their own identity which I don't think could have happened with Jason here.

The Fins definitely owe a debt of gratitude to JT for his years of phenomonal play but I reallly think it was the right move.

 

[WVDolphan]

Two big reasons.....1) Ferguson and 2) Mainly because we dont have John Beck and Cleo Lemon turning the ball over or refusing to move the offense down the field at all. Both circumstances lead to easy scores against our D.

 

[WVDolphan]

I would disagree that our run defense is that good. We've allowed 110+ rushing yards in 8 games, including 7 of the last 10. We've had some very good games, but overall, we've not been that good.

Which suggests the biggest reason we arent giving up as many points is just what I was stating earlier............ Pennington DOES NOT turn the ball over and he also manages to move the offense down the field some, even do some scoring.

Which is the exact opposite of what Lemon and Beck did for us. That goes a LONG WAY in keeping other teams from scoring as much on us.

 

[FORMER FIN1]

We aren't elite against the run, but we are quite good: our ypc is #12 in the league out of 32, whereas last year we were #30/32---a huge difference. Same goes for yards per game: 97.1 ypg ( 11th ) this year, vs. 153.5 ypg ( 32nd--dead last ).

Interestingly, our pass D has also improved greatly: passer rating is 80.9 ( 13th ), was 92.4 last year ( 29th ). We gave up a lot fewer pass yards last year, true, but that's because people were gashing us with the run....the passer rating is the better measure methinks of overall pass D quality. Pass completion % about the same around 59.5%, but YPA down from 7.9 to 7.0. Also sacks up from 30 all of last year to 37 with 2 games to play. Interceptions almost equal. So, giving up fewer big plays, and getting more sacks have been the story for our improved pass D.

Very nice, but don't forget that all important points scored per game. A lovely 437 points in 16 games for an average of 27.31 pts per game while this year we rank 4th in defense with 269 points per game for an average of 19.2.