That's too simplistic, although true. Watch the tape. Jackson gets bumped off at the line of scrimmage, slips and falls routinely when trying to turn and pursue, gets beat by double moves, etc. It isn't the QB carving up our secondary, it's the receivers blowing up our corners. Your point would work if it was just a matter of the QBs just getting the ball there despite the coverage, but that isn't the case.
i'm not saying you had to go give $10 million to someone else. just bring in ONE veteran corner with SOME level of experience.
unfortunately that's the case. the biggest plays haven't been QB's throwing into tight coverage. they've been hitting guys who are skipping through blown coverage. and consider we have 2 dropped TD's in Garcon and Santana Moss in weeks 1 and 2 as well...guys wide open in the end zone on fly patterns. i believe they can and will improve. i just feel like they missed big time in addressing these two areas of concern. and the schobel thing is just beyond explanation to me.
Not to mention Joey Galloway just burning by Jackson on a streak towards the endzone because Jackson slipped at the line. McNabb put just a little too much on the ball and it fell just in front of Galloway. Right now the secondary is trying to survive by the hair on their chinny chin chin. I hope they improve, and I honestly feel like they have to by default. I'm just with you on it. It doesn't make sense to let this come to this. It's an uncapped year. But, the boss has to fight the union...
My impression from the last page-and-a-half of this thread is that Dunta is still overrated. The secondary isn't the only reason the pass defense was doing a bit better last year than so far this year (Robinson and Reeves??? are you kidding me???) The LB corps is missing and all-pro LB. Our third-down-rushing guy is out for the year. I believe those are factors, too. I understand the point about KJ getting blown up at the line and not recovering, etc. Thing is, Robinson gave up a TON of passing yards last year. He may have "looked" better doing it, but the fact remained. And whoever said QBs didn't pick on Dunta last year--I remember it quite differently. Yes, they did. He struck fear into exactly nobody. As far as the tackles statistic being unimportant for a CB -- I'd rather see fewer tackles are more passes defended. Dunta gets a lot of tackles. A lot of tackles of the receivers he was supposed to be covering. My thought: if Dunta were here, we'd still be giving up 400 yards a game, and we'd be all over the Texans for spending $10MM on crap.
But Dunta wouldn't make the pass defense any better according to you? Sounds more like you hate Dunta and want to defend JacksOWND more than anything else.
I'll stop well short of saying they're equal, but say that the perceived differences between them aren't as great as some are arguing right now. 1) He's going to improve. Rookie Corners have to adjust to the speed of the NFL, and it's one of the tougher positions to do so (QB being the most difficult). 2a) He had a terrible outing, but had it against one of the better receiving corps in the league. Baptism by fire. If he gets lit by Oakland, we have a major problem on our hands. I won't defend him if that happens. 2b) He had a terrible outing, but so did Eric Winston. We know Winston will rebound, it's too early for us to have confidence in Jackson. But maybe it's also too early to rip him to shreds over it. 3) I still blame the coaching staff for putting him in a position to fail. It was no secret going into the draft that this guy is a hitter 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and cover guy 8th. Why trot him out there in the starting lineup and not give him help over the top? Aren't you asking for it? 4) It was a bad matchup - Pollard assigned to Witten, Quin on Austin with Wilson backing him up, and McCain on Bryant. Jackson was on an island and paid for it. Pretty tough for his 3rd game out. Had Cushing been around, he'd have Witten and Pollard could play back behind McCain and Jackson.
I think the rest is irrelevant. This one point is what will change the defense in week 5. When Pollard is less responsible for coverage and can roam, due to Cushing's coverage abilities, this defense will improve more than you know. There won't be that huge gap behind Jackson in zone. Pollard will be more free to clean that up. We all love Cushing and are eagerly awaiting his return. Even with that, I think we're still underestimating his importance to this defense. It's HUGE. I kind of already feel bad for the Chiefs. They already have issues throwing the ball and the Texans already have a very good run defense. Add a highly motivated Cushing making his season debut?
^ Jackson slipped in one of the long catches and just plainly played badly the rest of the way. That way he learns...
Correct. If you look at last year, they still caught plenty of balls off Dunta, he just didn't get blown up on the line of scrimmage (but he *was* badly outjuked (so to speak) routinely). So, Dunta *looks* better while still giving up tons of passing yardage. And, Dunta is flat-out better against the run, so no way they're "equal". Oh, how cute: "JacksOWND". It is a common logical error to recast an argument into something other than what was stated--either in an effort to refute it, or because one simply doesn't understand it. Thanks, but my point is all about how overrated Dunta is. Jackson has been poor so far. Hopefully he figures it out, he's on the way to being labelled a "bust" as it stands right now.
who cares if dunta helps this defense, no one in their right mind would pay for that price for him, especially how he has played this year.
I have seen it argued that not wasting $10MM on Captain Average is only justifiable if the Texans spend $10MM somewhere else. I disagree. They are two separate situations. -- Don't waste money on a CB who can't cover: check. -- Spend money to fill holes: .........
They did go after Leigh Bodden but he re-signed with the Pats. Antonio Cromartie was on the trade market and is talented but he has all kinds of red flags. When your teammates don't like you and say it publicly, it says a lot.
how about if we had used $5 million...or $6? personally, i don't care what they spent. this was a make or break year. i'm not necessarily arguing they should have kept dunta...just that they should have had a more reasonable Plan B for a season of this magnitude, with this sort of opportunity.
No argument with any of this. For me, it's just two separate issues. Any money spent on Dunta is paying for a hole -- and they should be credited for not doing that. But they should have spent to fill it. Someone above gave some examples of how they tried. I can't comment on whether they did enough and folks just turned them down, but you and I both know that what's on the field isn't enough. I just don't believe Dunta would make any difference whatsoever, except for some highlight tackles (when what we need are some highlight pass deflections).
