Okay, let me refresh some memories here, Wade Phillips' best stint as a coach was with the Buffalo Bills from 1998 to 2000 where he previously served as DC from 1995 to 1997 prior to taking over as HC. On that Bills team, Phillips already had hall-of-famer and perhaps the greatest 3-4 end ever Bruce Smith who was still a pro-bowler until 1998. Also in those years as DC, Phillips helped draft DE Marcellus Wiley and big NT Pat Williams (320 lbs beast who now clogs the middle for the Vikings). Without a doubt, that Bills defense had Phillips prints all over it, but assembling that team required several years time and a few drafts before Phillips was successful. That is my biggest point, switching to a 3-4 takes multiple drafts. Even Belichick will tell you that. Also the Dallas 3-4 was put in place by Parcells but Phillips came in and completed the set with the right combo of linebackers. Either way, every single 3-4 defense out there has taken time and draft picks to develop from the Steelers, Jet, Patriots, Cowboys to the Dolphins. No coach is going to walk in and just flip guys around in different schemes and achieve an effective 3-4. True of what you and I've said the same before. Half of the defense must go. But in a 3-4 you lose much more where Amobi is not NT nor a good fit for DE, Mario becomes a rush linebacker with suspect coverage skills, and then to top it off, you need to draft a stud nose tackle - a rare species not easily found in drafts. Otherwise, we must overpay for an aging Shaun Rogers (31) but that's not a good long term solution. See, with our current roster, moving to a 3-4 makes the least sense. Instead, the best course of action would be what I outline in my earlier post, draft Fairley and put him next to Mario. Solves more holes on defense than any scheme shift. Smith, Akoye, Fairley, and Mario is a pretty good 4-3 D-line. This saves us the other draft picks to find a FS and a weakside linebacker. Corner can be fixed by signing Bailey who still has several years left in the tank. Honestly, like I pointed above, the defense is salvageable and could thrive under the right coaching staff and I believe Phillips would be a good start. However, since Kubiak still runs the show, who is to say we are going to make the right picks in the upcoming draft? Considering Kubiak's track record of drafting running backs in the 2nd and 3rd round and collecting 4 tight ends in two years for his trophy room, I have absolutely no faith in Kubiak nor in any of his cronies. Nothing less than a regime change is acceptable at this point. Hiring Bill Cowher means we are going to give the keys to a guy with a solid track record of building a terrific defense. I still stand firmly behind the move for Bill Cowher at the helm and Wade Phillips or Marvin Lewis as the DC. Kubiak must go, PERIOD!
Keep in mind that Phillips' 3-4 is basically a 1 gap type of 3-4. DE's can be a bit aggressive with what they want to do rushing the passer. That's why, for example, 305lb Jay Ratliff was able to Flourish as a NT. He got a ton of sacks for a NT. Not to mention, 6'7", 300lb Chris Canty was a nice starter for Dallas for 3 seasons in the 3-4. Let's not write off Mario just yet in the 3-4. You could confuse a QB by moving Williams around, and if they do go 3-4...Von Miller becomes a huge target.
Whatever defensive scheme the Texans use isn't going to mean jack **** if Mario keeps on disappearing and/or getting hurt.
Yeah, the Texans defense could not be any worse. It's not like they would be blowing up the 85 Bears. It just amazes me the excuses people give for not wanting to change.
This guy has played hurt the last three years that more than we can say for some of houstons other player yao ming ring a bell. Mario can play in any defensive scheme.
How is Connor Barwin doing with his recovery? Man, I'd love to see a healthy Barwin (big, fast and versitle) and Williams (playing a Kevin Greene/Shawne Merriman-role) on the outside with Cush and Demeco (damn more injury) in the middle. Pretty formidable if healthy.
I would think you would have Williams playing the Bruce Smith role with Connor Barwin playing the Bennet/Talley RushOLB role on the other side of the 2 DL from Mario. Bruce may have played with 3 downlinemen(including himself), but he was more of a 4-3 style end than say the ends for the Steelers in the mid 90s.
Not entirely true. Packers being the latest example. Jumped from #20 to #2 in yards allowed once Capers came in and drafted Raji and Matthews. Sure he lost Kampmann in the mix, but spectacular results. Exception that proves the rule I guess but it's possible to do if the draft has your NT.
Yes, that last part is the big one. Without a solid NT there is no 3-4 defense. Also, the Packers had most of the pieces in place before they made the switch to a 3-4. AJ Hawk, Matthews, BJ Raji, plus a terrific corner in Woodson and an excellent FS with range Nick Collins. Look at the Texans we have too many holes (NT, 2nd ILB, 2nd OLB, CB, FS) to make a move. At a minimum, it would take 2 drafts and a good free agency signing to make the Texans a good fit for a 3-4. The way I see it, you could start a make shift 3-4 like this: Mario / Paea / Smith Cushing / Hightower / DeMeco / Barwin Bailey / Jackson Moore / Pollard So, we would draft Stephen Paea, Rahim Moore, and Dont'a Hightower in the first 3 rounds. Again, I'm just projecting a best case draft scenario with reasonable probability of getting each player at that position or moving up a few spots. Anyway, Okoye would be on his way out because he wouldn't be cost effective considering he could make more money for a traditional 4-3 defense elsewhere. Yes, Okoye is still valuable because he's only 23 years old and could still develop under a better coaching staff. A trade would be a pretty good option to explore. Nonetheless, this kind of offseason could makes a smoother shift to the Phillips 3-4, However considering that Kubiak will be back next season along with Rick Smith, I have zero confidence in their ability to make the above moves in the offseason. I fully expect the Texans to take another Kreamed Jackson early in the draft, another RB, and 2 more tight ends with the other picks.
I notice no one is considering Cushing and Ryans. They are 4-3 linebackers. Things would be just a different for them as it would for Mario. What would you do with those 2 to help the D in a 3-4 setting
LOL Who cares? For as good as Mario, Demeco and maybe Cushing are talking about being, not one of them is actually a disruptive force at this point that we need to afraid of taking out of their comfort zone. Demeco makes a lot of tackles, but he is not a game changing linebacker. For the sacks that Mario has gotten he is not a disruptive force that is raising hell in the backfield. It seems like when he makes an impact he gets a sack, but if he didn't get the sack he was a nonfactor.
Anyone with eyes should consider Cushing a non-factor until proven differently. The guy was a below average player at his position this season. He is clearly a product of science that should be fighting for his starting job next year rather than have it gifted to him based on 1 phony season. Demeco is smart enough to be a good player at any position. He can play inside if you have a good NT to keep blockers off of him.
But didn't you see his training videos on YouTube?? Dude is an ANIMAL. And Bernard Pollard said "**** you, mother-****er!!!!" on camera during Week 1, so we should keep him too! It amazes me that there are people actually worried about making major changes to one of the worst defenses in the history of the NFL.
Who cares if he can't though? I just don't get the love affair with Demeco. He's a solid player who gets a lot of tackles on a defense that has never been good. Oh my gosh we can't mess with that formula!!!! If he can't excel in a 3-4 what would happen? The defense would be bad as a 3-4? LOL What has changed since Capers ran the 3-4 here? We are so built for a 4-3 now, here is the Texans rankings in points allowed every year in franchise history. 4 of these years are under the Capers 3-4 and 5 of them are under Kubiak and the 4-3. Wow! What a difference! Let's not mess with this 4-3 unit! 29-Kubiak this year, won't get him fired 17 27 22 25 32-Capers last year, got him fired 15 27 20
I kind of agree with this. MLB's typically lead the team in tackles. Ryans is slightly better than average, but he's treated like Ray Lewis around here for some reason. It's funny, the defense wasn't nearly as bad in 2009 as it was this year. Yet in 2009, we were still.........wait for it.........5-7 after 13 weeks. So let's just keep the HC and fix the defense and everything will be A-okay!
Demeco is a good player. He has his limitations in coverage, but he does everything else well. No one called him Ray Lewis, but the fact that he has made 2 pro bowls without being on anything close to resembling a good defense would lead me to believe he has the respect of his peers and the coaches. It's not like he's going to be dominating the fan vote with Ray Lewis at his position. Much like complaining about the Texans 2010 offense as a source of their problems, worrying about replacing Demeco would seem to be way down the laundry list of things to do.
You misunderstand, neither of us was saying replace Demeco, just that Demeco's ability to assimilate to the 3-4 shouldn't be what scares you from making that switch. He's not a good enough MLB that we should avoid changing defenses to keep him where he's comfortable.
Are you nuts Matt? Jesus, when playing in position, Cush was arguably the best player on the defense (or only good player), he put more pressure on the qb than anyone on the team
"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ghettocheeze again." I learned a lot reading this post; thanks!
