Defensive Front 7?

[jdynamite]

What's going on with McPhee pass rushing so far? I mean I figured he could at least win a few one on one battles.

Kruger and McClellan come off the edge but never bend inward to get hits on the QB.

Art jones I haven't taken much notice too, in the passing game.

McClellan and McPhee have done well in the run from what I've seen.

I actually thought that upshaw would have much better impact in the run and pass game but haven't seen any pass rush so far.

[The Raven]

[quote name='jdynamite' timestamp='1348806158' post='1171629']
What's going on with McPhee passing rushing so far? I mean I figured he could at least win a few one on one battles.

Kruger and McClellan come off the edge but never bend inward to get hits on the QB.

Art jones I haven't taken much notice too, in the passing game.

McClellan and McPhee have done well in the run from what I've seen.

I actually thought that upshaw would have much better impact in the run and pass game but haven't seen any pass rush so far.
[/quote]

Upshaw's been rushing the passer really well in my opinion.

McPhee is doing alright. He's still dinged up from camp and it shows. He doesn't have the same burst he had last year.

Kruger and McClellan gotta get around the edge better.

[omar586]

with the exception of Ellerbe, Ngata and Upshaw, front 7 is terrible, Charles Barkley Terrible, lol

[blazeon32]

Not the coordinator. It's the talent. We don't have any good pass rushers with Suggs out.

[PDO]

The DPOY is on the sidelines.

He made everyone look better... secondary, pass rush, rush D... EVERYONE.

[rmw10]

[quote name='omar586' timestamp='1348806412' post='1171644']
with the exception of Ellerbe, Ngata and Upshaw, front 7 is terrible, Charles Barkley Terrible, lol
[/quote]

Ray Lewis?!

[jdynamite]

Upshaw has looked good in the run support. I've seen him stood up plenty in pass rush situations.

I mean its frustrating to see guys all across the league make plays and create sacks in one on one situations. Then I watch us and guys are running completely by the QB or falling just infront of the QB

Tonight is perfect example, Kruger & McClellan came off the edge a number of times and they just don't dip inward off the edge rush at all they go straight down field. Even on Krugers sack it only occurred because Ngata collapsed pocket into the QB face and he turned into Kruger.

[Sunday QB]

What about Adrian Hamilton, I heard he's a beast. Why aren't we trying to get a better pass rushers, Kruger/Upshaw aren't getting it done. Or is this a Pees thing?

[Sunday QB]

Where is Kindle, if he isn't ready to go into beast mode... well do I need to say more. We are 4 games into the season and still waiting to see who develops into a Raven. Trade, activate from the practice squad, just do something.

[display name]

I say we cut Kindle. Heading into week 5 of his 3rd season, the 2nd round pick only has one tackle. He has done nothing.
I know it probably won't happen but Kelly Gregg is available as a potential free agent pick up.
I'm just throwing that our there.

[-Truth-]

It hasn't been awfully pretty. Paul Kruger finally showed up against Cleveland after being invisible in his prior 2 contests. Pernell McPhee is showing well in the running game, but hasn't been as stellar in the pass rush department as he was last season. Same goes to Courtney Upshaw, who's set the edge very well, but just hasn't been explosive enough to be a consistent force as a rusher on the short and intermediate drop backs. I'm not sure if there are any easy fixes. Sergio Kindle's seen only 12 snaps thus far, and wasn't effective in that span. But as someone mentioned above, I'd be interested in seeing whether this creates any opportunities for Adrian Hamilton to be brought up to the active roster, at least if these issues persist. Let's hope we put these struggles behind us this Sunday.

[The Raven]

[quote name='display name' timestamp='1349300984' post='1176507']
I say we cut Kindle. Heading into week 5 of his 3rd season, the 2nd round pick only has one tackle. He has done nothing.
I know it probably won't happen but Kelly Gregg is available as a potential free agent pick up.
I'm just throwing that our there.
[/quote]

Oh yeah. Let's go cut Kindle so we can have only 3 healthy OLB's on the roster! How does that increase the pass rush anyway?

There really aren't any improvements out there. If Hamilton was good enough to be on the 53 man roster, [i]he would be[/i]. Barring any (highly unlikely) trades, we will stick it out with the guys we got. They'll come around soon enough. Did you expect them to come in and produce like an elite OLB right away? Kruger has been on and off, but Upshaw and MClellan have truly improved with every single game. McPhee will get there. I believe he's been battling a shoulder injury which is definitely hindering him in the pass rush. They'll get there. The front seven is going through growing pains, but the pains are not as bad as some people make them out to be.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='The Raven' timestamp='1349304311' post='1176532']
Oh yeah. Let's go cut Kindle so we can have only 3 healthy OLB's on the roster! How does that increase the pass rush anyway?

There really aren't any improvements out there. [b]If Hamilton was good enough to be on the 53 man roster, [i]he would be[/i][/b]. Barring any (highly unlikely) trades, we will stick it out with the guys we got. They'll come around soon enough. Did you expect them to come in and produce like an elite OLB right away? Kruger has been on and off, but Upshaw and MClellan have truly improved with every single game. McPhee will get there. I believe he's been battling a shoulder injury which is definitely hindering him in the pass rush. They'll get there. The front seven is going through growing pains, but the pains are not as bad as some people make them out to be.
[/quote]

I don't necessarily buy into that logic. In most cases, it definitely makes sense. But there are certain situations where it's all about the opportunity, or more importantly, the lack of it. For example, I remember watching Victor Cruz destroy the Jets secondary in a 2010 pre-season game, making full use of the skills he put on full display in 2011. It was truly a phenomenal effort on his part. Yet, not only was he activated in a mere 3 games, he was also held to a combined 4 snaps in 2010. One could assume that he must have made amazing strides through the offseason, but then he wouldn't have had to worry about his job security coming into the year. It's not as if he was battling for a starters role, or substantial playing time. The Giants FO came this close to leaving him off the 53 man roster, which in retrospect, would've been a monumental mistake. Yes, looking back at it now, it's an amazing story. But whose to say that he couldn't have been productive in 2010? Now, obviously the two are worlds apart. I'm not at all proclaiming to be Adrian Hamilton to be anywhere near the next Victor Cruz. However, this example serves well, as have others, that finding success for some players can be a matter of just being given the chance to. So I won't automatically hold Hamilton's current position against him without at least knowing how well he's doing in practice. And should he ever get his shot, I'll be interested in seeing what he'd do with it.

[bmore187]

should've never gotten rid of Antwan Barnes

[Sunday QB]

Give Hamilton Kindle's spot on Sunday and lets see what he can do with it. We just might have a beast in the making.

[redrum52]

[quote name='bmore187' timestamp='1349310582' post='1176612']
should've never gotten rid of Antwan Barnes
[/quote]

This. He was one of my favorites and thought he would've developed well along with the team. Rumor is he was in the doghouse though.

[GrimCoconut]

I liked Barnes. The problem with him was/is he didn't do special teams and at the time wasn't entirely effective against the run.

As for Kindle, I don't know. He hasn't had the snaps so it's hard to say he is terrible. He hasn't produced in the snaps he has had, though. I can't say one way or another, but I'd rather keep Kindle than not right now. I'd rather cut someone elsewhere than from the OLBs, where we are already thin. Go to the OL or something.

As for McPhee, I feel like he is still struggling from his knee injury he had. He was good last year, but since he had that knee surgery he hasn't been the same. We'll see what happens. Perhaps losing Suggs hurt him, too. I won't speculate too much.

Finally, Cody might have shined some light on it. He has complained about the new jerseys, saying that it makes him look too fat and that he is constantly pulling it down. Harewood disagrees, and says it's fine.
[url="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-big-men-agree-jerseys-us-look-fat-153337501--nfl.html"]http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-big-men-agree-jerseys-us-look-fat-153337501--nfl.html[/url]

[gabefergy]

[quote name='redrum52' timestamp='1349320622' post='1176684']


This. He was one of my favorites and thought he would've developed well along with the team. Rumor is he was in the doghouse though.
[/quote]
Here's what really happened. He was on the team for 2 plus years and never showed more than flashes of ability as a pass-rusher. He was a liability against the run and thought he was too good for ST. It took two changes of scenery for him to finally put anything together as a situational pass-rusher. He is still a one dimensional player and while we could use that ability now there was no reason to keep him on the roster behind Suggs, JJ, and Kruger.

[redrum52]

[quote name='gabefergy' timestamp='1349323979' post='1176713']

Here's what really happened. He was on the team for 2 plus years and never showed more than flashes of ability as a pass-rusher. He was a liability against the run and thought he was too good for ST. It took two changes of scenery for him to finally put anything together as a situational pass-rusher. He is still a one dimensional player and while we could use that ability now there was no reason to keep him on the roster behind Suggs, JJ, and Kruger.
[/quote]

I thought after the Ravens he went to the Chargers? Could be wrong but true about the st thing. My problem was we hadn't had another decent rusher opposite Suggs for a while and he was inexpensive. Also Kruger wasn't drafted before we got rid of him. We drafted Kruger I think after we didn't retain Barnes. He had done alright as a rush specialist though when he did get time.

[RavensAllTheWay]

McPhee is the biggest mystery to me. He's not winning one on ones up to this point. Most of our guys aren't but I'm especially surprised with McPhee.

[gabefergy]

[quote name='redrum52' timestamp='1349324363' post='1176716']


I thought after the Ravens he went to the Chargers? Could be wrong but true about the st thing. My problem was we hadn't had another decent rusher opposite Suggs for a while and he was inexpensive. Also Kruger wasn't drafted before we got rid of him. We drafted Kruger I think after we didn't retain Barnes. He had done alright as a rush specialist though when he did get time.
[/quote]
Kruger was on the team for sure. We first traded Barnes to the Eagles who cut him, then the Chargers picked him up off the scrap heap.

[redrum52]

[quote name='gabefergy' timestamp='1349324698' post='1176721']

Kruger was on the team for sure. We first traded Barnes to the Eagles who cut him, then the Chargers picked him up off the scrap heap.
[/quote]

Forgot the Eagles. My bad. Concerning McPhee I think he's still recovering from the knee. The season is still young and I think the d adjusts.

[BenMir]

About McPhee,I think those 10 lbs he gained during the offseason really hurt his explosiveness

[izvoodoo]

[quote name='BenMir' timestamp='1349354934' post='1176786']
About McPhee,I think those 10 lbs he gained during the offseason really hurt his explosiveness
[/quote]
That was my thing about mcphee, he was such a 4-3 DE only.

[Corvus]

This seems like as good of a thread as any to make some bottom line points about our defense. Of course we're giving up more yards than we want to, but Ngata himself said last week that with so many young guys stepping in to play roles and with a new coordinator that everyone is still really getting a feel for eachother and geling. There are a lot of good offensive players throughout the league that can hurt any defense badly on any given day. In other words, the yards are gonna still keep coming. Arizona easily has a top 5 unit this year and they just gave up 230+ yards to BRIAN HARTLINE. My point is our defense will get better as the year progresses and our guys know they've got a lot of work still to do. But I am completely confident with our team's leadership that they will continue to do just that.

Also, while we are getting gashed by chunk pass plays, our defense is still ranked 10th in the league in points allowed. To put that in perspective, the other 3 AFC north defenses currently rank 13th (PIT), 20th (CLE), and 25th (CIN) in this all important stat. Couple that with our offense currently being ranked 2nd in yards per game (2nd only to a team we already beat in NE) and 5th in points scored. The next best efficient offense in the division is Cincy who rank 10th in points scored. And we have yet to even see the best out of our offense IMO. In other words guys, feel free to continue critiquing because that's what all fans do, myself included. But to come out and just say that most of the guys on our front seven "suck" when you look at all of the circumstances and facts just seems like a foolish statement to me. Carry on.

[GOTA]

[quote name='Sunday QB' timestamp='1349299133' post='1176488']
What about Adrian Hamilton, I heard he's a beast. Why aren't we trying to get a better pass rushers, Kruger/Upshaw aren't getting it done. Or is this a Pees thing?
[/quote]

We've all heard he's a beast but he hasn't shown it enough to make the team decide to bring him up. If you can't beat Kindle out you must have a way to go.

[Sunday QB]

Hamilton just needs a chance to get out there.

[Free Agent]

Its frustrating to me that we don't have any pass rush. We have two second round picks in Kruger and Kindle who should be providing some great pressure, but Kruger isn't playing as well as he should, and we all know Kindle's situation. What more can be done...

Obviously Upshaw needs to be cut some slack since he's a rookie, but I really hope at least one of these three guys gets it going here in the near future, or our defense isn't going to look much better than it has the first four games, at least until Suggs gets back.

[Ravenseconbeast]

Starts with Paul Kruger. He stinks. The end.

[Alexir]

Remember when most of us wanted Watt to slide to us in last years draft?

That would of been great.