Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I wear his jersey to every game I go to. I'm just saying NO ONE on this defense should be above reproach when we are one of the worst defenses in the history of the league. DeMeco was hurt this year, but we were still VERY bad while he was calling the plays. I am in no way saying we should get rid of him, just that no one deserves a free pass on this team this season besides maybe our 3 pro bowlers.
Disagree...You won't convince me that Cushing was good this year. He looked slow and took himself out of way too many plays. Actually Cushing did not put much pressure on the QB. Football Outsiders which charts these things had Mario Williams and Antonio Smith in the top 10 for QB hurries at #2 and #7 respectively. Cushing was not even on the map. Part of that was less emphasis scheme wise or so it appeared, but I think more of it was lack of explosion from the "overtrained" one. The Texans got better lateral movement out of their kicker than their LB's Sunday afternoon. Cushing and Kareem ought to be fighting for their position as opposed to being gifted their positions in 2011.
Mario and smith are defensive ends, Cush played what, 9 games at olb? A position that blitzes far less. Of course he would not be at the top of the list. All I know when they sent him on blitz packages, he was creating havoc in the backfield every time.
Something else to consider is that the secondary can create "coverage" sacks for the rushers. I don't remember many of those this year. Cushing was our best linebacker, but that's not saying much once Ryans went down. Adibi was making plays yesterday for once.
