Popular Post OILERMAN Posted August 30, 2013 Popular Post Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 One of the biggest reasons the Titans went 6-10 last season was because they fielded one of the worst defenses in franchise history. If they are going to contend and save the coaching staff beyond this season the defense is going to have to be vastly improved.The Titans chose to go with cheaper veteran defensive free agents as opposed to big named free agents and didn't draft a defensive player until the 3rd round. They chose to use most of their resources on offense while hiring Greg Williams to help improve the defense. Greg Williams should help in terms of putting together game plans and schemes to best utilize the talent. Whether that's enough to make the Titans a playoff contender remains to be seen. Last season teams spread the defense out and were able to run against the smaller defensive front. At the same time when the Titans went to their nickel had they struggled covering the middle of the field and defending the run. To improve the base defense the Titans signed a couple of bigger defensive linemen in Sammy Hill and Pitoitua to play in their base 4-3 defense. They also signed Moise Fokou because of injuries to McCarthy. Linebacker depth was a big issue last season. They brought in Bernard Pollard to play strong safety, a big run stopping safety who excels close to the line of scrimmage. Where the Titans have to improve is their nickel defense. They brought in George Wilson to play safety early in free agency and later signed the aforementioned Pollard. Some fans and the media have mistakenly confused the reason they signed the two. Both safeties will play in the nickel and have completely different roles. They would have signed both guys regardless of who they signed first. When the Titans go to nickel Pollard may play in a nickel linebacker role with Zack Brown. George Wilson is going to play deep safety with Michael Griffin in two deep zones. Pollard is weak against the pass in space against wide receivers, but Greg Williams will not use him like a safety. He's going to be a coverage linebacker who plays against running backs and tight ends while still being stout enough against the run. He's got the speed to drop back in zones and protect the middle of the field. The Titans may have drafted Zaviar Gooden for this exact role. While Gooden is a linebacker, he and Pollard are very close to the same size and can do the same type of things in the nickel defense. Coty Sensabaugh seems to have really taken the nickel job and should be a big upgrade over what they had last season. They'll use Griffin and Wilson to help the cornerbacks so Sensabaugh will have to play well to protect the middle of the field. The pass rush is going to rely on the same players from last year. Morgan will have to continue his play from last season and the younger guys will have to improve. By all reports Ayers will have a much bigger role rushing the passer. I believe their coverage was a bigger issue than the pass rush last season. The Titans defense does not have the talent to rank as one of the better defenses. They are going to have to play good red zone defense like they did against Atlanta and cause a lot of turnovers like the Super Bowl winning Saints under Greg Williams. Against the Falcons Steven Jackson ran wild but in the end it didn't hurt the Titans on the score board. There is one more area I think should help the defense. The way the current rules are it seems near impossible to protect late leads. Even a great defense like Seattle could not protect their lead in the playoffs against Atlanta. The last offense to have the ball wins more and more. The best way to defend these offenses is to keep them off the field. The Titans should be able to own the time of possession in the fourth quarter and last four minutes of games. They can line up their heavy set formations with two tight ends and a fullback with Shonn Greene and really hammer defenses, especially considering today's defenses are mostly undersized and designed to defend the pass. Add in Locker's legs and there is no excuse not to dominate running the ball late in the game. In the perfect world the Titans start aggressively using play-action down-field passing to score points and get a lead in the first half of games. As the game wears on they wear teams out with their running game and in the fourth quarter control the ball and end the game with three or four first downs to run out the clock. Click here to view the article TampaTitan, Denali, prometheus, and 11 others 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
prometheus Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Quality read, O-Man. Keep up this kind of stuff. pro Btowner, and OILERMAN 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenj Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 I think regardless of how improved the defense is, it won't be close to as bad statistically as last year, simply due to the change in offensive philosophy. The Pollard comments are spot on -- people should see him more as a hybrid S/LB. Anybody who wants to see what role he'll probably have should watch old film on Roman Harper, who is also one of the worst cover safeties in the league. We haven't seen Pollard blitz much in the preseason, but I'd be surprised if he isn't regularly in the backfield come regular season. reo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonboy Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Jurell Casey has shown signs of just totally blowing up this season. That would go a long way toward improving the defense. begooode, and Omar 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omar Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Good write up Oman...the new offense will def help the D this season, Greg Williams needs to help show these young guys how to create turnovers..that will be key for this defense imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenj Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Jurell Casey has shown signs of just totally blowing up this season. That would go a long way toward improving the defense. It makes sense -- he was absurdly good as a rookie. The injury looks to have been a huge issue last year. Putting him next to Morgan should make a strong left side and should free Ayers/Wimbley and Martin/Klug for some 1-on-1 chances. We'll rotate guys inside on passing downs, but IMHO Casey is too good to keep on the sideline on key downs, and anything that is 3rd & 5 or less. And while I've warmed up to the Warmack pick, it does make me wonder "what if?" had we gone with my choice #1, Star L., to pair with Casey. That could have gone a long way to masking coverage problems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitansGuru Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 I really think Casey is going to be a top five defensive tackle this year. Makes this article from before the draft look even more impressive: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-silver_rogue_scout_enjoys_label_042511 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamalisms Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 And while I've warmed up to the Warmack pick, it does make me wonder "what if?" had we gone with my choice #1, Star L., to pair with Casey. That could have gone a long way to masking coverage problems. I'm with you on Star. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WG53 Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 They have used Wilson as a Nickel lb in 3 safety sets not Pollard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobo Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm with you on Star. I'm with both you. Several picks seemed nice at the time, but that was the one I wanted most. SLH could just be another guy. I like Casey, but don't think he'll ever be a dominant player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OILERMAN Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 I wanted Star and it will be interesting to see it unfold Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IowaOiler Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 The offense going 3 and out is a factor that hurt an already poor defense, to act as if that is the solution to fixing the defense is a pretty weak conclusion. The best way to defend these offenses is to keep them off the field. LOL! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OILERMAN Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Read the very first part and just think a while Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschool Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 It will be interesting to see how teams attack the Titans Nickel with Pollard at LB and Ayers at DE. I'd run out of 3 WR sets all day until those guys prove they can hold up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
prometheus Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 A lot of us on TR wanted Star. I see he and Chance to be major line upgrades. The future will tell which was the better selection. Given our election to go offense, it will now of course depend on what additions the team gets in the future to improve the defensive line. Duh. pro Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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