Im actually really excited about the D next year and I anticipate for them to be dominate, similiar to 07 if not better (before Freeney got injured).

I think the Defense is going into the right direction and Im actually really excited about it. I wouldn’t doubt it they add another CB somewhere in the draft too along with the obvious DT (Jackson is going into his last season of his contract). I think the offense showed (besides running the ball) that they can pass the ball against anyone without Harrison on the field (2007 season and against the Jags this year) and without Gonzo in the 2006 season.

with Brock and Foster, but no chance they could hold up as 3-4 DEs vs the run.

You do realize that Muir and Johnson are all bigger than anyone the Cowboys use in their 3-4 right? And Reid is about the same size. Ratliff, their NT is 298, Tank Johnson (their other NT) is 300, Spears is 305, and Canty is 299. And the only one bigger on Pitt is Hampton. The Williams brothers from Minnesota are bigger than that. Like I said, the weakness we have right now is the same weakness we’d have going to a 3-4. All Dallas did was take a 4-3 Cover 2 and pull Ware off the line. Foster is a converted LB moved to DE and then move to DT because of our bad luck. All 3-4s aren’t the same, just like all 4-3s aren’t the same. They have smaller, quicker 3-4s and bigger heavy 3-4s. Just like they have smaller quicker 4-3s and bigger more powerful 4-3s. The argument’s the exact same about stopping the run. In the majority of 3-4s you normally blitz at least 1 LB but have the ability to disguise it. Essentially you’re just not showing who’s going to be in your 4 man front. It wouldn’t be any different than standing up Mathis and pulling him 1 yard off the line, that’s basically what the Cowboys did with Ware. The Patriots were running a 4-3/3-4 hybrid for years until they got enough big bodies to put on the line full time. And in a 4-3 T2 the DEs are just LBs that play on the line. They aren’t there to stop the run. Whereas in a 3-4 you have the same thing but the LBs have a chance to react to run or pass and don’t get shoved to the outside or have people hanging on their facemasks the entire game. Tell me what 4.48 and 4.56 speed does when all they do is throw you on the ground or push you outside? Well that’s Freeney and Mathis. Then all you have is one 265 lb (Foster) guy and a DT with LBs dropping back in coverage and playing the pass first and run based on reaction. Tell me how leaving Freeney on the line, getting a 325+ lb NT and using Reid, Brock, or Muir is any less effective than a 245 (Mathis), 265 (Foster), 254 (Dawson), and 268 (Freeney) with Freeney and Mathis being shoved to the outside and only having our 2 undersized DTs trying to hold the line? Ok, so we leave Freeney on the line and he gets pushed outside, now we have a 325+ NT and either one of Brock, Reid, Muir, or Johnson all being 280-310 and the ability to disguise a pass rush with Mathis, Session, Wheeler, Sanders etc. The 2 dudes left on the line that have been 2 throughout the year would be close to 150 lbs more than what consistently happens now.

And I’ve been saying it the entire time, I like the T2 ALOT better than 3-4s. I’m only saying that it’s possible, and in some situations, moving from our base T2 to a 3-4 hybrid would unbalance teams. The Colts rarely shift out of their T2 to bring a blitz and basically rely on either the zone reacting to the patterns and the DEs getting pressure. Most QBs sit there and look for slight mistakes and try to exploit it. Luckily we’re very good at the T2, but it’s definitely a reactionary defense as opposed to a pressure/confusing one that doesn’t allow a QB to get comfortable. With the heavy blitzing teams, not only do the QBs have to wait for a mistake, but their O-line and QB have to react to the unexpected. That causes alot of QBs to look nervous and make incorrect reads. Watch QBs when they play the Colts. They sit there and read the defense, most of our sacks come when Freeney or Mathis beat someone and the guy goes down. Now look at teams when they play the blitzers, their eyes move more, they scramble more, and even if they see the pressure, they can’t get away from it. And you don’t even have to be a 3-4 to be a crazy blitzing team. Philly has some of the craziest blitzes and they play a Cover 2 4-3. And like I said, all Dallas is is a 4-3 with a guy pulled off the line.

There’s alot of stuff we could do. I thought we should’ve been using a 2 man under buzz more than we have been. Granted it would’ve hinged on Sanders being there and our run defense is better with him either way, but when he wasn’t there, it would’ve helped stop the bleeding.

“One main reason for the Colts success is they pick a system that realizes more on fundamentals than one on learning 100 different shifts, blitzes, and techniques. Young talent that can play fast and be taught a zone.”

Great point. Seeing how we don’t really keep guys around for a long time and get alot of undrafted or practice squad guys, this is a very valid point. That’s why when they leave our team they look like crap. And all our money is on offense. However, with the age of our offense not getting any younger and the chance of us getting another Peyton, I actually think tilting the favoritism from the offense to the defense would be beneficial at this point. We have the important pieces on offense locked up around Peyton until he decides to leave. It’d be nice to continue to draft defensive guys who can help now and stick around for when our veteran offense guys retire and get their second contracts juicy enough to stay until we find our post-Manning identity. Very good point though, you should’ve elaborated on that and used it as your main point.

Either way drafting a DT, be it a Cody or a Jerry will help our run defense and overall defense at the same time. But I agree with shake and think we should utilize the 3-4 pass situation type hybrid formation. Even if it’s a bluff. You could easily pull Mathis or Freeney off and still have it look like blitz and drop them into a robber type role. We should just get Cody and run the 1-5-5. That’d be sick. I want to see someone run that defense one day instead of it just being a trick defense/Madden one. Or the UFO. I really liked the UFO. I saw Cleveland running it against the Giants about 4-5 times that game. It’s not any regimented defense, you just have your guys walking around like they’re not paying attention and never really set, but they know exactly where they’re going. Done correctly that could be a devastating defense. It’d be like the WildCat on defense.

Sorry, tangent, I just really like defensive scheming.