Any opposition to...

[inkfreq]

Fairly played little last year.. But even if it's because of lost talent, the DC needs to get defense to play better than they did today. Or last week, the week before and the week before that.

Fairley played pretty well, and often, the first half of the season until Suh fell on him. (Surprised the NFL didn't fine him for that btw).

It kept Mosely and company rested for the second half.

 

[sggatecl]

No way to argue that we don't have Levy, Suh, or Fairley.

But Mathis and Tulloch showing their age, or just poorly coached? Bad system?

I'm leaning towards old age simply because they've fallen off so hard so late in their career that I don't think a bad coordinator is capable of crushing a veteran on his own. It's also (imo) partly because the D-Line last season masked a lot of the weaknesses that the back 7 had. That applies to the whole back 7 though, no specifically to these two.

Was last season the fluke for Ihedigbo, or is this season the fluke?

2013/2014 he put up gaudy pass defense stats. 2008-2012, 2015 they are not even close to good. The simplest signs point to the fluke being 2013/2014.

I think Austin was propped up by a great D-Line, which is the very first piece in the puzzle for a defense. Without it, Austin's bag of tricks is coming up empty.

I mentioned above that I fully agree with this. But to have a system that works and then have your tools taken away, I have a really hard time blaming Austin for that. At the end of the day you have to find a way to succeed and he didn't, but Mayhew really dealt Austin a shitty hand of cards.

Maybe there was a good reason out entire D-line that could leave, did.. and as fast as possible.

Money talks and shit walks.

:cheers:

 

[mhughes0021]

Ihedigbo gets benched for Qudus almost every game. We all knew Mathis wasn't going to hold up this year. We did nothing to address our poor secondary. Van Noy is riding the pine...meanwhile travis lewis is on the field the entire game next to one of the worst LBs in the league....Tulloch lmao. Jason Jones is playing DT over our drafted young guys. Then when hes out Fluellen is in. No reid...no Wright. Taylor is the only DE in the NFL that can play an entire game and not get his name called once. Its amazing!

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Fairly played little last year.. But even if it's because of lost talent, the DC needs to get defense to play better than they did today. Or last week, the week before and the week before that.

Lol.....that's the same thing as saying Jim Harbaugh isn't a good coach either......if he was....the HC needs to get his quarterback to play better......if he could....the Wolverines would be 8-0.

I guess Harbaugh has cost Michigan 2 wins this year.

Or......OR.......maybe any good coach needs SOME players to execute his scheme.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

I just don't buy it. I didn't buy into Austin as a "defensive genius" a year ago, and I don't buy into "the players got old and fell apart" this season.

I still think he's just a shitty coordinator who got lucky with a great D-line last season.

Are you watching the games? Tulloch is a shell of what he used to be......so is Mathis. So is Ihedigbo. No Suh. No Levy. No Mosley. Quin caught a tipped ball in week one and took it back for a TD......I'm not sure an announcer has called his name since.

Has Austin been great......no. But he has little control over personnel and no control over injuries. What he's left with is not an NFL caliber defense.

It's like blaming Trammell for the 2003 Tigers roster. Was he a historically bad manager......or did he manage a historically bad team?

 

[Mitchrapp]

Lol.....that's the same thing as saying Jim Harbaugh isn't a good coach either......if he was....the HC needs to get his quarterback to play better......if he could....the Wolverines would be 8-0.

I guess Harbaugh has cost Michigan 2 wins this year.

Or......OR.......maybe any good coach needs SOME players to execute his scheme.

So Austin is good DC because we had better talent last year than this year? That makes no sense at all. An adequate DC gets the team ready to play. Maybe makes a second half adjustment to get his guy to play better.

You can't blame Lombardi because of bad offense but not blame Austin because of bad defense. I'm curious why Austin gets a pass this season.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I guess the guys who left, most notably Suh..Made Austin better not the other way.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Ihedigbo gets benched for Qudus almost every game. We all knew Mathis wasn't going to hold up this year. We did nothing to address our poor secondary. Van Noy is riding the pine...meanwhile travis lewis is on the field the entire game next to one of the worst LBs in the league....Tulloch lmao. Jason Jones is playing DT over our drafted young guys. Then when hes out Fluellen is in. No reid...no Wright. Taylor is the only DE in the NFL that can play an entire game and not get his name called once. Its amazing!

That's one of the things that has baffled me the most this year.......some of the young guys we do have ALL seem to have found the doghouse at the same time....

Fuller....where the fuck has he been. Not injured. Never plays.

Whitehead.....showed a ton of promise last year. I though he really filled in well. Not injured. Never plays.

Van Noy......finally healthy. Never plays.

Cauron Reid.....nope.

Abdul Quddus.....about 37X faster than Ighedibo and can stay will TE's running crossing routes.....never plays.

I don't get it. I have a hard time believing they all are worse than the person playing in front of them.....but all of them only see the field sparingly.

I fucking hate Caldwell.

 

[cheeno]

Punt, int, punt, punt, int...ok guys go play defense.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

I guess the guys who left, most notably Suh..Made Austin better not the other way.

Lol......yes......good players make coaches look good.

Welcome to the last 150 years of sports.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

So Austin is good DC because we had better talent last year than this year? That makes no sense at all. An adequate DC gets the team ready to play. Maybe makes a second half adjustment to get his guy to play better.

You can't blame Lombardi because of bad offense but not blame Austin because of bad defense. I'm curious why Austin gets a pass this season.

How does that not make sense? Losing Suh, Levy and Tulloch's and Mathis' ability to play at a high NFL level is going to hurt any DC. Austin doesn't get a pass........nobody said that. What I said was he has shown the ability to produce a great NFL defense when he has the players.....and that's why I would keep him.

 

[inkfreq]

How does that not make sense? Losing Suh, Levy and Tulloch's and Mathis' ability to play at a high NFL level is going to hurt any DC. Austin doesn't get a pass........nobody said that. What I said was he has shown the ability to produce a great NFL defense when he has the players.....and that's why I would keep him.

He can produce a great defense when he has great defensive players.

Hopefully ANY coordinator could do that.

Right now he has mediocre players and he's produced the worst defense in the league.

Sorry, not impressed at all.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

He can produce a great defense when he has great defensive players.

Hopefully ANY coordinator could do that.

Right now he has mediocre players and he's produced the worst defense in the league.

Sorry, not impressed at all.

Check out Houston.....or Kansas City.....or Buffalo......great players on all three teams. All average to below average team defenses......so, no......not any coordinator can do that.

Buffalo is STACKED......average D.

I think if we had Buffalos defensive players......Austin would have a top 3 defense. Just my opinion.

 

[Mitchrapp]

How does that not make sense? Losing Suh, Levy and Tulloch's and Mathis' ability to play at a high NFL level is going to hurt any DC. Austin doesn't get a pass........nobody said that. What I said was he has shown the ability to produce a great NFL defense when he has the players.....and that's why I would keep him.

But solid DC don't give up 140 points in 4 games regardless who you have. Offense is lacking big time. No OL, bad RB's, average QB (at best), etc. Yet the offense's problem were because of Lombardi apparently. I guess Austin needs an all star roster.

 

[Mitchrapp]

He just isn't preparing the D. Where's the fire? All season I hear "talented team", fire coaches. Now I hear shitty team, not coaches fault.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

But solid DC don't give up 140 points in 4 games regardless who you have. Offense is lacking big time. No OL, bad RB's, average QB (at best), etc. Yet the offense's problem were because of Lombardi apparently. I guess Austin needs an all star roster.

Were the 2014 Detroit Lions defensive players an "All Star roster"?

 

[Mitchrapp]

Were the 2014 Detroit Lions defensive players an "a All Star roster"?

I put good play and bad play mostly on the players. Coaches in the NFL might matter more than MLB managers but it's still the players executing and not executing.

All I know is everyone stinks. If any blame Lombardi then Austin should get blame as well.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

I put good play and bad play mostly on the players. Coaches in the NFL might matter more than MLB managers but it's still the players executing and not executing.

All I know is everyone stinks. If any blame Lombardi then Austin should get blame as well.

Again.....nobody said Austin is without blame. At all. my point was simple. 4 weeks is not enough...to me.....to call Austin a bad DC given the fact he is working with these players. That's all.

Lombardi had 22 games with some pretty good players at his disposal and showed no ability to get it done against anyone but Chicago.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Again.....nobody said Austin is without blame. At all. my point was simple. 4 weeks is not enough...to me.....to call Austin a bad DC given the fact he is working with these players. That's all.

Lombardi had 22 games with some pretty good players at his disposal and showed no ability to get it done against anyone but Chicago.

And my point is.. Others have got fired for less. And all we know is the DC needs better players. Are we going to get better players the rest of this year or next? So apparently, with Austin, 45-10 games will be common. We have way too many holes to fill in 1-2 seasons so if Austin can't work with this bunch why keep him?

 

[dubbsco]

There is some irony with the Austin stuff. When the defense was leading the league last year, he reaped all sorts of praise from everyone. Now that they suck, it's not his fault?

I think he should have really looked into taking a head coaching job. Because losing a few pieces (even though they were important) and taking your defense from 1st to last is unacceptable.