In a “Heads will roll” season, could Anarumo be the first head on the chopping block? I know that the general consensus is that CIG should be firing everyone, starting with Ballard, but what if we have another game where the offense looks good to potent, while the defense continues to be unable to do nearly anything that a defense needs to do to contribute to wins? Sure, Lou doesn’t have a Linebacker that anyone heard of a year ago, aside from Carlies, who had seldom seen the field, but he does have some
pieces.
Moves were made to allow Lou to feature a strong DB room, with the additions of Bynum, Ward, and Gardner and using day two draft picks on Walley and Haulcey. This is a crew that was supposed to allow Lou to implement a defense that could adjust from week to week and handle a variety of offensive systems, while using a “Mad Scientist” approach. We have even brought in players that played for him, who theoretically knew what the defense was designed to do. Taylor-Britt and ADG have arrived, but those who have came in the past, have already left after being ineffective.
The plan was to de-emphasize the LB position. We were told that we likely only needed two in Lou’s system, maybe just one at times. Carlies was supposed to be just the kind of guy that would fit well. Nope. We found out that guys who are good against the run like Franklin and Pratt, are huge liabilities against the pass. So, enter ADG and a couple of premium draft picks. The most premium of these is C.J. Allen, who has a total of six snaps over the first two games. He probably isn’t ready, as we saw it in the preseason, but we haven’t seen much better from anyone else. While I would say he is probably would make mistakes, the bar is not at all high.
It would be a little different if we had witnessed a truly effective D, for more than a game or two stretch. Prior to this year, we blamed most of our problems on the lack of a pass rush. It looks a bit better to me, but numbers may not even back that up. Part of the frustration from this comes from our tendency to drop our best pass rusher into coverage. We also still have that hole in zone that makes pitch and catch on 3rd down too easy for offenses. Lastly, his head coach appears to let Lou do as he sees best, given that he does not have a defensive background.
It sounds like the entire staff if joined at the hip, but to quote Yogi Berra, “It’s getting late early”. I don’t know what voice you would choose, if you decided that Lou’s was not resonating, but you would be nearly at the “Somebody needs to do something, even if it’s wrong!” threshold. Some of the bad we are seeing is poor tackling and poor angles to the ball. Maybe someone else would offer a return to basics?
It has been called a “Must win”, so if not, are there changes coming?
Some random thoughts:
Keeping with the poor defense narrative, Tankathon has us taking Clemson LB Sammy Brown, early in the 2nd round.
I hope Slayton has something for us. He was cut and the Giants are on the hook for most of his salary, so it seems like he might have been pretty attractive for any team in the market.
You need to use Burks as more than a jet sweep guy. He had three snaps last game, and he ran the ball on two of them. I would think you lose the element of surprise, if you continue that usage.
Houston is not as down as appearances suggest. We know the D is stout, but they are also 9th in YPG at 377. The good news is that the betting public has moved the line +2.5 to +1.5, so there’s that. Would anyone else like to wipe that smug smile off of Strouds mug? They have won the last five meetings, with only the last one being by more than one score, but to look at him, it would suggest that he owns us.
