They realize it. They watched Ryans, Winston, Brisiel, etc get shipped out this offseason. Everyone went into this season saying that Barwin and Reed had to prove last year wasn't a fluke. There's no significant history to point to with either of them. FYI, last season Barwin had 2 sacks in his first 8 games. He enjoyed a 4 sack massacre at Jacksonville that made his season (11.5 sack finish). Brooks Reed only had 6 sacks last year and is currently slightly above that pace. You can't put unreasonable expectations on guys regarding sacks. And Watt doing his thing only makes things easier on the others. When he draws extra blockers, there's space and maybe a lane that wouldn't otherwise exist. When he disrupts the pocket, it's open season for everyone. Things I don't think you gave enough consideration to: Barwin might not be a perennial double digit sack guy Barwin has plenty of time to get 10+ sacks in our remaining 10 games. Watt may have simply improved enough that he's getting to the same sacks that Barwin/Reed would have gotten to last year. I'm not going to look it up, but you should probably check to see how many sacks we had last year through week 6 vs this year. If it's the same number, who cares? Jared Allen and DeMarcus Ware are pretty much the only two guys that have consistently stayed in the top 3 sacks in the last several years. It's not a category that sees tons of consistency.
I get your point but that's the nature of the biz...kinda why Peyton Manning can be considered the greatest quarterback in the history of the game or a career playoff choker with inflated regular season stats. Manning's brilliance allowed the rest of the Colts team to basically turn on cruise control and not really worry about their own game... ...but when push came to shove in the playoffs that style of football doesn't win. Each possession counts and each player gets magnified. It's why so many times you see players actually regress in stats that the winnings begins. If you make the analogy from an offensive perspective, large amounts of yards thrown can be looked at as a great stat when it often is only because your team trailed other teams consistently and you have to throw your way back into those games. The problem is not JJ. It's the coaching. It's why Brady/Belichik have 3 rings and 5 Superbowl appearances to Manning's 1/2.
don't want to sound like local radio expert here, and claim i got this info from a friend of a friend of the general manager. But that freaking o-line by green bay was sliding their protection as if they were reading the beautiful mind of wade. With the exception of Watt, they won every matchup. That was not the same line that was unprepared for seattle, where seattle made the elite arm look like dilfer. Our defense, once joseph gets over on the groin, will be just as tenacious as before. That was some serious game planning by hilgenberg and mccarthy. Props to them.
Frankly, I think you, and a lot of other people, are still reeling from a legitimate beat down at the hands of perhaps the best QB of his generation, and are thus hurriedly creating a false narrative, with regards to our defense. But settle the kettle: the sky is most assuredly *not* falling. It's the 6th-ranked defense in football. They're 2nd in 3rd down defense and have forced 11 TOs, which puts them on a better pace than year's total of 27, which I believe was a club record. So they're getting off the field routinely. And they're allowing 19.2 points/game, which is just a mere 1.8 more than last year - and that's with a 42-point night sticking out amongst just six games. Cushing's injury and JJo's groin are, moving forward, legitimate concerns. But they gave up 40 to another "best of his generation" candidate (Brees) and 29 and 28 to Flacco and Newton last year. So while we all love to wrap ourselves nightly in the warm embrace of what was a terrific defense last year, let's not pretend they were the '85 Bears. At this point, other than a no-show Sunday night - their first without Cushing - there's nothing really wrong with this defense.
in this defense OLB's need to be applying pressure. so far they're not. that's a problem going forward. hopefully it will improve.
The logic in the OP is so silly that it's hilarious. I can't believe there are serious responses in this thread.
I can't find any definitive pass rushing statistics (anyone that has hits and hurries, that'd be great), but the Texans are on a 45-sack pace - one better than last year. They're getting pressure; it just doesn't look the same, necessarily, as last year.
Yeah, i'm tired of reading FB statuses that say they will "still" be behind their team...Well, why the hell would they not be? A 5-1 team that's easily top 3 in the league right now? People are overreacting. It's like getting blown out by the Spurs a few years ago. a championship team, mvp, talent, etc...it happens.
They were better at collapsing the pocket last year imo. This year everyone is pulling a Mario and running themselves out of the play with the QB just stepping up into the pocket, avoiding the rush with a clear view down-field.
I wish I would have saved the defensive rankings before last Sunday. I seem to remember this year's defense, as a whole, was playing better than last year's defense before the Packers game. Maybe it's time to give the Packers a little credit for how well they played Sunday night instead of trying to figure out what's wrong with the defense?
I see what you're saying.. maybe your girls soccer team is CONSCIOUSLY slacking off because she is a one-girl wrecking crew at this level no one is going to CONSCIOUSLY slack off... but subconsciously I can see it as a possibility
Headline may possibly be the stupidest thing ever said on CF.(Very least top 10) Hey guys, is Tom Brady hurting the Patriots? Aaron Rodgers holding back the Packers Offense? Anybody else think Matt Ryan is killing the Falcons? God, that's a stupid question.
JJ WATT is not hurting the team ... the big question is IS the daughter hurting the team?????????????????
Maybe because Watt is a special talent happen to be zone? Our defensive line is not that bad compared to other team. You just happen to compare them to the best player in the league. Of course they going to look bad, but it's not because they're slacking due to Watt
So true...after thinking on it I feel better in regards to what you said and Hey Now stated..makes sense. In fact I appreciate the input from over half the responses with some thinking on it. ...the other 40 percent are complete idiots without simple comprehension skills, of course JJ Watt is not really the problem, my suggestion was maybe the others playing next to him weren't trying as hard and accepted the disparity in play when compared to JJ as acceptable. My main beef is obviously the rest of the defensive line, (incl. OLB) not random players from other positions, maybe i'm wrong truthfully, but you and some better posters get that and I appreciate it.
