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After re-watching a good portion of yesterday's Debacle in the Dome, I couldn't help but to notice how few defensive players were trying to get involved with the ball carrier, whether receiver or running back. You can always tell when your defense is really into a game when you see a bunch of players attacking the offensive player who has the ball and there are 4 or more defenders on the spot to make the tackle. I call that swarming to the football.
But I saw far too many times when it was obvious that a defender away from the ball was watching and hoping that someone else would make the tackle. And worse yet even when the Bucs player was coming into their lane/vicinity, there seemed to be a very half-hearted attempt to get the runner to the ground.
I get it, they were worn out due to a lack of ball control by our offense. It's hard to go straight at a guy who is bigger and more motivated than you are. But these are the very things that helped the Bucs to sustain drives that led to scores; particularly in the 4th quarter. By that time in the game our defense was running on empty and was no longer able to put their best foot forward. It's almost like our guys knew that they had to save some energy for when the offense would go '3 & out' again and they'd have to trot back out onto the field for more punishment.
There's no substitute for being able to assert your will on your opponent. When the Saints offense went stone cold in the 3rd quarter, the handwriting was on the wall. We simply could not be as physical as the Bucs were, and it soon became evident that the Saints players didn't want to take the hits anymore.
A proficient offense goes a long way into making a defense look good. When you own the clock & the scoreboard, you then can dictate what the opponent has to do to get back in the game. And that translates into making the job easier for your defense. Since our offense in the second half could do nothing to give the defense a breather, the result was that the swarming stopped. And then the Bucs simply took the game over. Man, did they ever.
But I saw far too many times when it was obvious that a defender away from the ball was watching and hoping that someone else would make the tackle. And worse yet even when the Bucs player was coming into their lane/vicinity, there seemed to be a very half-hearted attempt to get the runner to the ground.
I get it, they were worn out due to a lack of ball control by our offense. It's hard to go straight at a guy who is bigger and more motivated than you are. But these are the very things that helped the Bucs to sustain drives that led to scores; particularly in the 4th quarter. By that time in the game our defense was running on empty and was no longer able to put their best foot forward. It's almost like our guys knew that they had to save some energy for when the offense would go '3 & out' again and they'd have to trot back out onto the field for more punishment.
There's no substitute for being able to assert your will on your opponent. When the Saints offense went stone cold in the 3rd quarter, the handwriting was on the wall. We simply could not be as physical as the Bucs were, and it soon became evident that the Saints players didn't want to take the hits anymore.
A proficient offense goes a long way into making a defense look good. When you own the clock & the scoreboard, you then can dictate what the opponent has to do to get back in the game. And that translates into making the job easier for your defense. Since our offense in the second half could do nothing to give the defense a breather, the result was that the swarming stopped. And then the Bucs simply took the game over. Man, did they ever.
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