Defensive Struggles
Somebody the other day was complaining about the defense surrendering points and their concerns about that being an issue worth discussing. I suggested starting a new thread but it didnt happen... but it does raise and interesting question considering the timing of the defensive downturn. last year it was about this time that the D started to struggle and it was blamed on the offensive woes and the cumulative effect of the D being left on the field to much ( which I disagreed with based on our offensive time of possession being respectable) now this year we are seeing even better offensive production on the score board, but once again we are seeing our D start slow, and in recent games give up more points than many fans think they should.
what say you.. is there a reason to be concerned?
Why isn't Chuck Foreman in the Hall of Fame?
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"Mike Olson" said:@"Tyr" said: I see a couple factors:
- Washington has one of the worst fields in the NFL, so it can lead to some uncharacteristic mistakes like Kendricks falling down in coverage.
I have some pictures of the field that will show you how bad it was. If anyone thought Chicago had a bad field..... It is like lush carpet in comparison.
The middle of the field was so bad that the turf was replaced the week before the game, the outer thirds were still the same original crap surface... either option is shit, newly sodded fields havent taken root yet so they tear up easily and the old shit was the reason they resodded the inner third, just not quite as bad cosmetically.
You ain't lyin Jim. Much of the grass is completely dead. I have some pretty good pics from the day I just haven't had time to process them all and get them uploaded.
I agree with the comments re the Washington field. I think our D will play much better at home on a faster, truer field.
But there were also too many plays where Washington had receivers wide open, and not because a Viking defender had slipped or fallen down. The defense just missed a lot of assignments in pass coverage last week. They need to get that fixed this week.
Plus we should have Griffen back and that will help. I do not think Goff will be comfortable standing in the pocket for long looking for receivers, knowing that Griffen is out there.
Anyway, that's how I hope this plays out when the Rams have the ball. This game will be the biggest test of the year. A win on Sunday would be huge.
@"dadevike" said: I agree with the comments re the Washington field. I think our D will play much better at home on a faster, truer field. But there were also too many plays where Washington had receivers wide open, and not because a Viking defender had slipped or fallen down. The defense just missed a lot of assignments in pass coverage last week. They need to get that fixed this week. Plus we should have Griffen back and that will help. I do not think Goff will be comfortable standing in the pocket for long looking for receivers, knowing that Griffen is out there. Anyway, that's how I hope this plays out when the Rams have the ball. This game will be the biggest test of the year. A win on Sunday would be huge.
Certainly hope Griff is back. We definitely missed him. And yes, I remember some plays in the middle of the field that weren't typically open.
You'd think, in 2017, that someone could cross breed some grass that is some really strong shit. On some of the field goals, I thought the kickers could have gotten way higher...
I'm curious to know why certain stadiums like Soldier Field and FedEx Field seem to have consistently poor playing surfaces. I don't even think it is a field turf vs grass thing. I wonder if it comes down to usage, poor drainage, poor design, or if local climate plays into it? It feels like a solvable problem and with so much invested in personnel, you would think teams would really want to solve that issue. With Chicago, I vaguely recall some accounts of them letting the grass grow longer to slow down faster teams.
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