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Red zone defense?

thunderkyss

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
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How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
 
I'm reminded of John McKay's response to when he was asked about his team's execution.... He replied:
"I'm all for it". :D
 
thunderkyss said:
How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

Just look at the Tacks record and red zone defense ranking. Enough said. I'll gladly be last in yds per game and first in points allowed.
I would do it by playing tighter man coverage and bringing the blitz from anywhere at any time. We tend to give to much cushion, allowing easy 7-10 yd gains and bring very obvious blitzes from very obvious positions. That's great when you get execution, but too many times, our guys just run into a bunch of their guys. Manning and Rivers will feast upon this. The NFL record for passing yds in a game might fall in the next two weeks.
It's almost like we're running a read and react, then swarm to the ball defense instead of the get upfield and slobberknocker ball carrier defense Bush promosed us.
 
Texan_Bill said:
I'm reminded of John McKay's response to when he was asked about his team's execution.... He replied:
"I'm all for it". :D
Click to expand...


There will always be people who complain that on paper our team would look bad, but keeping teams from scoring is the most essential part of winning a game. I think ultimately everyone would be happy.

Shoot...I would be ok if we were to keep giving up the big plays but hold teams to field goals. Our team (even generally on a bad day) is good enough to score 2 TDs and a FG versus an opponent's 5 FGs.
 
TheCD said:
Shoot...I would be ok if we were to keep giving up the big plays but hold teams to field goals. Our team (even generally on a bad day) is good enough to score 2 TDs and a FG versus an opponent's 5 FGs.
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That's the philosophy of bend but don't break. That's the Tampa Two, keep everything in front of you. When you get to the Red Zone, the field is much smaller, & you can play more aggressively.
 
Heck, I'd be happy with a "bend but don't break" defense at this point. The "bend and shatter, sending shards into the jugulars of fans expecting better" type defense is getting on my last nerve.

By spending decent draft picks yearly on that side of the ball you'd think there'd eventually be improvement. We see a defense that got our expectations up last season and now this?
 
Ask the Redskins...31st in the league in total defense..

Giving up 19 points a game.

"do what you want between the 20s, but guess what you WON'T do? Score."
 
HOU-TEX said:
Heck, I'd be happy with a "bend but don't break" defense at this point. The "bend and shatter, sending shards into the jugulars of fans expecting better" type defense is getting on my last nerve.

By spending decent draft picks yearly on that side of the ball you'd think there'd eventually be improvement. We see a defense that got our expectations up last season and now this?
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How did they get our expectations up last season, if there was no improvement?

I don't think there will be a major turn-around this week on the defensive side of the ball (I am looking for the O to get it in gear though). But I do believe it is coming.

4 weeks without Cushing, you knew there was going to be a little regression there. Well..... we got it.

There is no excuse for what we saw against the Giants. He was supposed to be ready, the team still wasn't ready... by gones.

KC..... didn't look to hot to begin with, but really...... not that bad. Losing Demeco at the end of the 2nd qtr hurt.

Now we're going into the second year of Frank Bush: Defensive Coordinator. We're playing musical LBs. And we're going up against one of the best offenses we've seen in a decade.

So, don't expect a whole lot from the defense Monday. We should expect them to get a stop when we need a stop, but the Offense has got to keep it competitive.

If they don't, we don't stand a chance.
 
thunderkyss said:
How did they get our expectations up last season, if there was no improvement?

I don't think there will be a major turn-around this week on the defensive side of the ball (I am looking for the O to get it in gear though). But I do believe it is coming.

4 weeks without Cushing, you knew there was going to be a little regression there. Well..... we got it.

There is no excuse for what we saw against the Giants. He was supposed to be ready, the team still wasn't ready... by gones.

KC..... didn't look to hot to begin with, but really...... not that bad. Losing Demeco at the end of the 2nd qtr hurt.

Now we're going into the second year of Frank Bush: Defensive Coordinator. We're playing musical LBs. And we're going up against one of the best offenses we've seen in a decade.

So, don't expect a whole lot from the defense Monday. We should expect them to get a stop when we need a stop, but the Offense has got to keep it competitive.

If they don't, we don't stand a chance.
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A lot of excuses there. When are we going to run out of them?
 
When people talk about ranking in offense or defense, they are almost always talking about yards; and I think that is a flawed way of looking at things.

A lot of folks have been scratching their heads over the San Diego Chargers, who are #1 in Offense AND Defense, yet have a lousy record. It's a reasonable question when it comes to that offense, because they have been scoring a lot of points. But the defensive ranking is an illusion. Although they allow fewer yards than any other team, they are actually middle of the pack in terms of points allowed. That is not the #1 defense.

Likewise, the Texans are not actually dead last in defense. We give up a ton of yards, but there are several teams giving up more points. The Bills are allowing 33 points per game for crying out loud. We are still near the bottom of the list, though, and improving the redzone defense would go a long way to ailing our woes; even if quarterbacks still torch us between the 20s.

Yards is just an indicator, but it's not terribly important. If your defense is giving up 350+ yards per game, but only allowing 13 points per game, then that is the best defense in the league.

Right now the Texans score 25.5 points per game (6th in the NFL) and allow 27.8 points per game on defense (29th in the NFL). If we could make some adjustments to improve the redzone defense and shave about 7 points off that number, we become an above average defense and a legit contender.
 
thunderkyss said:
How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

fixing the red zone defense would take more talent and McNair, Kubiak, and Smith have failed to attract quality defensive talent. Pollard is a liability in the red zone on most plays and other than him, who have they brought in (outside of the draft, which has had dubious results at best) to help the defense. Cody is ok but he was bottom feeder and not a difference maker/playmaker.

Until they put a priority on improving the defense with veterans and with a little $$, they will continue to lanquish in the bottom quarter of the league's defense....but the beer still costs $8 and that is all that matters to some.

FIX THE DEFENSE or get the **** out of here
 
Second Honeymoon said:
fixing the red zone defense would take more talent and McNair, Kubiak, and Smith have failed to attract quality defensive talent. Pollard is a liability in the red zone on most plays and other than him, who have they brought in (outside of the draft, which has had dubious results at best) to help the defense. Cody is ok but he was bottom feeder and not a difference maker/playmaker.

Until they put a priority on improving the defense with veterans and with a little $$, they will continue to lanquish in the bottom quarter of the league's defense....but the beer still costs $8 and that is all that matters to some.

FIX THE DEFENSE or get the **** out of here
Click to expand...

Yea and the raiders cannot put it on the Broncos and the Browns Cannot put it on the Champion Saints, And my pisspoor attitude is gonna stay like this till the price of nachos drops.


Dude it is the NFL and these guys make money to improve. Where was your sorry attitude last year when we stepped it up in the last part of the season. Could be we are late bloomers with a 4 and 2 record, Would keep the pink soap in the drawer for now.
 
thunderkyss said:
How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

Perhaps we should blitz more in the RZ. One of the comments that I've read from opposing teams is that our defense is easy to understand and predict. I'm not sure if it's a Bush thing or player thing, but if we're going to give up points, at least throw some things at the opposing offense that might generate some big plays, loss of yards, and/or turnovers. All it takes is a good RZ stop or two for the momentum to shift, and with our offensive potential, this could make all the difference with some of our more physical opponents that we've got coming up.
 
Second Honeymoon said:
fixing the red zone defense would take more talent and McNair, Kubiak, and Smith have failed to attract quality defensive talent. Pollard is a liability in the red zone on most plays and other than him, who have they brought in (outside of the draft, which has had dubious results at best) to help the defense. Cody is ok but he was bottom feeder and not a difference maker/playmaker.

Until they put a priority on improving the defense with veterans and with a little $$, they will continue to lanquish in the bottom quarter of the league's defense....but the beer still costs $8 and that is all that matters to some.

FIX THE DEFENSE or get the **** out of here
Click to expand...

More talent would be nice, but I guarantee you this red zone D will get better if only for the simple fact that it is currently a statistical anomaly.

Last year the league average for defensive redzone % was 52.3%. Median was about the same. The New York Giants were the worst with 67.7%. So far this year, the Texans are at a whopping 80%. No matter how pessimistic you might be about this team, if you know anything about football, you know that is completely unsustainable. That number will normalize and drop off at LEAST 10%, assuming we really are the worst redzone D in football and don't improve at all. Hopefully it will decrease a lot more.
 
thunderkyss said:
How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

If Bob called me to fix the D it would start off like this:

"Slow down there Bob, I'm here to help, but ah let's talk about compensation first, you think I'm doing this **** for free?????"

You can't just give up all your pearls of wisdom, you gotta negotiate, geez man......
 
thunderkyss said:
How would you feel, if we can't stop the big yards against us in the passing game.... for whatever reason. But we are able to improve our red zone defense.... if we are able to stop teams from scoring?

I'm thinking what if it's beyond this staff to fix our passing defense, & if I were brought in to fix this situation, I may just start with red zone defense.

So, if McNair called you up & asked you to fix the red zone defense, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

Scheme wise and coaching wise I wouldn't think that there would be a lot of changes in the red zone. I think it's more about whether or not your personnel is geared towards red zone stops...JMO....Having guys that are good at stopping the run will go a long way to helping you in the red zone...safeties and LB's that cn cover ground will also help you a great deal in the red zone..

Only thing I could really think of doing differently would be running a little more zone since the field gets smaller...Make the QB find tighter spaces to fit the ball into..
 
Second Honeymoon said:
fixing the red zone defense would take more talent and McNair, Kubiak, and Smith have failed to attract quality defensive talent.
Click to expand...

You left out Antonio Smith plus drafting like Cushing, Barwin but whatever...

Double Barrel said:
Perhaps we should blitz more in the RZ. One of the comments that I've read from opposing teams is that our defense is easy to understand and predict.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that. I didn't think it was worth its own thread but Eric Winston just commented this week that the Colts run an incredibly simplistic D but do it well.
 
infantrycak said:
Funny you mention that. I didn't think it was worth its own thread but Eric Winston just commented this week that the Colts run an incredibly simplistic D but do it well.
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That is an interesting quote....

Colts have the two edge rushers in Mathis and Freeney that are great when teams are down early. They are not so great against the run though.

Colts are giving up about 21 points per game and we are giving up about 28. We don't really have problems scoring against the Colts.

I think if we dumbed things down a bit we may get a little bit better, but I am not sure we could be effective in the same way that the Colts are. Of course we have different personnel so we'd have to rely on play makers from different positions.

On the other side of the aisle though, I could see the Colts being a bit better defensively if they mixed things up a little bit. Like if they had a D-coordinator that moved Freeney and/or Mathis around some or just did some different things...

But it is a good quote because simple doesn't necessarily = poor and complicated doesn't necessarily = good.

Whatever you do though, you need to be able to do it well.
 
If we continue to run the ball on the Colts, expect to see Freeney on the sideline.
 
infantrycak said:
You left out Antonio Smith plus drafting like Cushing, Barwin but whatever...



Funny you mention that. I didn't think it was worth its own thread but Eric Winston just commented this week that the Colts run an incredibly simplistic D but do it well.
Click to expand...

They aren't the best D in the league, but they've got enough speed to overcome most of their deficiencies.
 
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