The Dean Pees Thread (merged)

[OLD SCHOOL SMASH BALL]

A very interesting read below and I must say this may be the case of what's wrong with our defense. Pees has lost control of his unit just as a Head Coach loses control of the team. I just don't understand why it's taking this long to make a change and fire him. Again, Darian Stewart didn't play this well with us last year, and Kendrick Lewis was a good signing because of how he played in Houston. Stewart has seemingly played better under Wade Phillips and Lewis has declined from what he was doing in Houston. 

 

Honestly, trading Elam and Brown who have been busts here might be good because if they go elsewhere and actually produce results while they did nothing there it would only mean Pees was the problem from the beginning.

 

There is one common denominator in all of this... Dean Pees. 

 

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2015/10/19/9566615/ravens-defensive-coordinator-dean-pees-has-lost-his-defense

THANK YOU!!! I have been saying this from jump, 4 losses ago....PEES HAS TO GO

[Static]

I was curious so I looked up Peas last season in New England.

They had "leadership problems" and their season ended because Ray Rice ran untouched all over them.

There is also.a bit about blowing 2nd half leads. Interesting.

It seems they also suffered defensive injuries.

"The Patriots need more playmakers, management needs to be sharper in identifying and keeping that talent, and coaches need to be better at cultivating, scheming, and communicating with players when their situations get sticky"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4834689

Edited October 21, 2015 by Static

[BSHU_Miami]

I was curious so I looked up Peas last season in New England.

They had "leadership problems" and their season ended because Ray Rice ran untouched all over them.

There is also.a bit about blowing 2nd half leads. Interesting.

It seems they also suffered defensive injuries.

"The Patriots need more playmakers, management needs to be sharper in identifying and keeping that talent, and coaches need to be better at cultivating, scheming, and communicating with players when their situations get sticky"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4834689

sounds familiar....

[RaineV1]

I was curious so I looked up Peas last season in New England.

They had "leadership problems" and their season ended because Ray Rice ran untouched all over them.

There is also.a bit about blowing 2nd half leads. Interesting.

It seems they also suffered defensive injuries.

"The Patriots need more playmakers, management needs to be sharper in identifying and keeping that talent, and coaches need to be better at cultivating, scheming, and communicating with players when their situations get sticky"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4834689

It's almost as though these same problems seem to follow Pees everywhere he goes, as if he's the partially responsible for them.

[Static]

"Also conveniently forgotten is that even with Bruschi, Harrison, Seymour and Vrabel last season, the defense ranked 26th in the NFL on third down and struggled in critical situations"

Very telling article

[JEEPercreepermd]

I agree with you that injuries have hurt this defense, but Pees is still to blame for a lot of these problems. Jimmy Smith is still playing 8-10 yards off a lot and receivers are running right past him. Pees does not give Wright safety help when he clearly needs it. The only reason our defense looked great Week 1 was because Manning is all but finished. Pees had the same mediocre game plan then as he does now and I wont go as far to say its all his fault, but we have seen enough where a new voice is needed. Id rather see our secondary get beat by playing aggressive and physical rather then playing soft and off coverage with no safety help, he fails to adjust when things go poorly.

I disagree. Pees has tried everything, and nothing works.

Remember, we have not pass rushers either so when you are blitzing and have man to man coverage..with these guys no less. .you don't try to jam receivers at the line unless you're asking for that 60 you bomb.

[Ravens2343]

I disagree. Pees has tried everything, and nothing works.

Remember, we have not pass rushers either so when you are blitzing and have man to man coverage..with these guys no less. .you don't try to jam receivers at the line unless you're asking for that 60 you bomb.

 

As a team we have 18 sacks, which is good for 5th or 6th in the league.  Now if we rush 4 guys then we typically are not getting the sacks, but nonetheless we have been able to pressure Qb's from time to time.  I would agree with you that long bombs could happen if you jam and don't have a pass rush, but the long bombs are happening now anyways without jamming.  Jamming and being physical is Jimmy's strong suit and would probably help him out a lot.  Not having Lewis or Hill help out Wright on that Torrey TD will always confuse me, I know the niners could have ran the ball but giving that TD up was the worst possible scenario

[usmccharles]

As a team we have 18 sacks, which is good for 5th or 6th in the league.  Now if we rush 4 guys then we typically are not getting the sacks, but nonetheless we have been able to pressure Qb's from time to time.  I would agree with you that long bombs could happen if you jam and don't have a pass rush, but the long bombs are happening now anyways without jamming.  Jamming and being physical is Jimmy's strong suit and would probably help him out a lot.  Not having Lewis or Hill help out Wright on that Torrey TD will always confuse me, I know the niners could have ran the ball but giving that TD up was the worst possible scenario

I am right there with you man.   Having a guy that was just released cover one of the fastest WRs in the NFL with no over the top help to me is just plain stupid.  Ive seen that play a couple more times, as soon as i seen Torrey had Wright one on one i knew something bad was about to happen.  Wright jammed him when Torrey did that first stop and with Torrey's acceleration he had no chance.  Pees job is to put players into position to succed, that was setup for failure from the get go. 

[Ravens2343]

I am right there with you man.   Having a guy that was just released cover one of the fastest WRs in the NFL with no over the top help to me is just plain stupid.  Ive seen that play a couple more times, as soon as i seen Torrey had Wright one on one i knew something bad was about to happen.  Wright jammed him when Torrey did that first stop and with Torrey's acceleration he had no chance.  Pees job is to put players into position to succed, that was setup for failure from the get go. 

 

Its one thing if our corners get beat while jamming or having safety help, but I doubt anyone can defend Pees when he puts our guys in positions like he did with Wright on Torrey.  Having to rush 5 or 6 to get sacks is not ideal, but our pass rush numbers are pretty consistent with last year.  Our defensive problems are not being able to get off the field and getting beat for big plays, something Pees has to adjust for.  We saw it with Cooper beating Jimmy in week 2, no jam and Cooper was able to run freely for 8-10 yards before he even had to put a move on Smith.  I cannot place all the blame on Pees because he is not out on the field, but like you said as coaches they have put the players In positions to succeed and Pees simply has not done that enough. 

[WNC-Raven]

(Moved). 

 

I know the mods hate when you go off topic but anyone think it's a possibility to sign Pagano as dc if Indy fires him after the season? Or does he stick with a head coaching gig elsewhere

[GrimCoconut]

Can we seriously stop these condescending, holier-than-thou remarks to each other? It's really tiring.

These remarks have gotten out of hand lately.

[The Mom Gene]

I was curious so I looked up Peas last season in New England.

They had "leadership problems" and their season ended because Ray Rice ran untouched all over them.

There is also.a bit about blowing 2nd half leads. Interesting.

It seems they also suffered defensive injuries.

"The Patriots need more playmakers, management needs to be sharper in identifying and keeping that talent, and coaches need to be better at cultivating, scheming, and communicating with players when their situations get sticky"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4834689

Not sure that "leadership problems"...  and "injuries" have much to do with scheme... and blowing leads has everything to do with execution as well...  Even today's article outlines the defensive numbers that "have not" decreased"...

 

Why can't we realize we have lost a lot of defensive players over these same years... Lewis, Reed, Ellerbe, Suggs, Nagata, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

[RaineV1]

Not sure that "leadership problems"...  and "injuries" have much to do with scheme... and blowing leads has everything to do with execution as well...  Even today's article outlines the defensive numbers that "have not" decreased"...

 

Why can't we realize we have lost a lot of defensive players over these same years... Lewis, Reed, Ellerbe, Suggs, Nagata, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Sorry but I seriously doubt that leadership problems and blowing 4th quarter leads being a common trait for Dan Pees led defenses is just a mere coincidence. If those issues follow him from one team to another then he's likely part of the problem.

[The Mom Gene]

Sorry but I seriously doubt that leadership problems and blowing 4th quarter leads being a common trait for Dan Pees led defenses is just a mere coincidence. If those issues follow him from one team to another then he's likely part of the problem.

Problem is???  It happens to every team... at one time or another.  To say otherwise is kind of naïve.  I've even seen teams like Green Bay, Seattle, and yes, even the Patriots.

[JO_75]

I was curious so I looked up Peas last season in New England.

They had "leadership problems" and their season ended because Ray Rice ran untouched all over them.

There is also.a bit about blowing 2nd half leads. Interesting.

It seems they also suffered defensive injuries.

"The Patriots need more playmakers, management needs to be sharper in identifying and keeping that talent, and coaches need to be better at cultivating, scheming, and communicating with players when their situations get sticky"

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4834689

 

Did you find anything about their defensive rank in the NFL under him compared to us and where they ranked defensively after he left? That's what I'm more curious about. 

[Sizzlebshu]

Is he fired yet?

[Sizzlebshu]

Can we seriously stop these condescending, holier-than-thou remarks to each other? It's really tiring.

These remarks have gotten out of hand lately.

Not until the dean pees era is dead in baltimore

[GrimCoconut]

Not until the dean pees era is dead in baltimore

Lol, it's about time you returned.

[-Truth-]

Can we seriously stop these condescending, holier-than-thou remarks to each other? It's really tiring.

These remarks have gotten out of hand lately.

To summarize.

[JO_75]

Is he fired yet?

 

While I still have a hour left into 10/21/2015.....

 

If anyone can find a Delorean and go into the future, and go to next Tuesday morning. If he isn't fired, go into the future another week to the Monday after the Chargers game and the start of our Bye week and see if he is fired. If not, just go into the future to the start of 2016 and tell us if he is still our DC next September. 

[Raven_Lunatic]

Did you find anything about their defensive rank in the NFL under him compared to us and where they ranked defensively after he left? That's what I'm more curious about.

ProFootballReference.com

(Last yr w Pees)2009 NE 5th BAL 3rd

2010 NE 8th BAL 3rd

2011 NE 15th BAL 3rd

2012 NE 9th BAL 12th (1st yr w Pees)

2013 NE 10th BAL 12TH

[PurpleCity5]

I look back on that thread about this defense being the best defense since 2006 and cringe when ever I think about it.

[BmoreBird22]

I hate when people try to downplay injuries on this team. Like, injuries do happen, but what's the contingency plan? Who steps up and are they actually a worthy player to replace the injured player?

For example, with Suggs...

 

Last year, the Ravens had a contingency plan because McPhee was one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL. No, he wasn't getting a ton of sacks, but he had an absurd amount of quarterback hits and pressures. However, this year, the Ravens don't have McPhee just waiting on the bench. So, when Suggs went down, Doom was expected to take on a much larger role (the Ravens are really lucky to have masked his run defense deficiencies), but who was going to take on that Robin role that Doom once played? Is it Upshaw? He's a porous pass rusher with reckless edge defending skills, likely to try to compensate for a lack of pass rush. Is it Z'Darius Smith? He's got fine handwork, but he's still raw in his pass rushing (his sacks have been coverage sacks) and his edge setting is invisible. The Ravens lost one of the best edge defenders, pass rusher and edge setter, in the entire league, but you all want to say it's no big deal? Are Upshaw, Smith, and McClellan really going to play up to that level? If your answer is yes, they should collectively play up to his level, I want what you're smoking. The Ravens had an immense drop off because even if Doom can replace Suggs pass rushing ability, who replaces what Doom did in that batman role? I don't see anyone else getting 17 sacks. 

 

Not to mention that the Ravens are certainly missing Suggs vocal leadership. The Ravens have a lot of leaders, but they aren't the hyped up type that Suggs is. 

 

Kendrick Lewis was nothing short of mediocre in Houston in his final year, which quite honestly, is looking like an anomaly. He's always had questionable tackling and his man coverage skills have always been awful, but last year, he seemed to show good range in single high, unlike the rest of his career when he was slow to react and get over the top. Well, now he's looking like much of the same from early in his career because he's slow to react, can't tackle, can't play the run well, and his man coverage is still about as bad as it gets. 

 

Will Davis was a pleasant surprise, but he obviously tore his ACL and Webb is on the mend, so what did the Ravens do? Signed a player off the streets and played him after four days as a starter. That should just tell you how bad the injuries are, at this very moment. Sharice Wright was here for four days and he's starting, but hey, injuries are no big deal.

 

And I really hate the hypocrisy of this board. 

 

"Pees is too conservative. He doesn't blitz enough." This year he's blitzing at a clip of about 37%, up 12% from last year (TWELVE!), but people are still going to give him crap. And it's no wonder the Ravens are giving up big plays. They're sending more than five rushers on 37% of their plays with players like Sharice Wright and Kendrick Lewis back in the secondary. Well now Pees is an idiot because he's not giving them the help he needs. But wait, if they play more in coverage to compensate for those piss poor players, it'll be that the three man rush never works and he's an idiot for not sending more pressure.

 

"The players play 12 yards off their man (exaggeration, big time), Pees must have no confidence in them." First off, Pees does not assign players how far to play off a player on a single play. That is asinine to think he'd draw up the coverage for every single player for every single player, especially with so many revolving parts in the secondary. No, not going to happen. Secondly, you all saw what it's like when Pees puts a lot of faith in his players when Wright was left 1 v 1 with Torrey Smith. That's simply placing faith in a player and no, Pees is not an idiot for it. Wright is an idiot because literally the only thing he had to do was keep Torrey in front of him and he got absolutely toasted. He bit so hard on the double move that I think his dentist had to do emergency surgery. That's not Pees, that's inexcusable on the part of Wright. But then he's going to shift more players into the secondary because people can't do their jobs and then he's going to blitz less and Pees will have no faith in his players and he's too conservative. 

These narratives won't change. Most of you have an agenda against the guy. Personally, I'm tired of his play calling because at times it puts players in really questionable positions (you can see my other posts to know what I'm talking about because there's on glaring example I always use), but Pees has literally done every single thing any of you have asked (except move from the booth), but the players just flat out aren't executing. Seriously, I don't think it's the scheme anymore. When he talked about execution in all of his press conferences, he hit the nail on the head. He has literally tried everything and it is not working because the players are not playing well. It is completely acceptable to hold the players accountable. They do get paid to do their job well, so feel free to criticize them.

 

And as far as the secondary regressing, keep in mind Webb has the durability of a wet tissue, Jimmy is coming off a Lisfranc injury, and they have had four coaches (Pagano, Austin, Spags, and Hewitt) in five years. They have had the same secondary coach in consecutive years literally once in those five years. Think that makes a difference? I'd say so. 

 

If you want to blame Pees and get mad at him, go for it, but make sure you're actually criticizing him for things he actually controls or for things within reason. Most of this thread is ridiculous.

[Tru11]

I hate when people try to downplay injuries on this team. Like, injuries do happen, but what's the contingency plan? Who steps up and are they actually a worthy player to replace the injured player?

For example, with Suggs...

 

Last year, the Ravens had a contingency plan because McPhee was one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL. No, he wasn't getting a ton of sacks, but he had an absurd amount of quarterback hits and pressures. However, this year, the Ravens don't have McPhee just waiting on the bench. So, when Suggs went down, Doom was expected to take on a much larger role (the Ravens are really lucky to have masked his run defense deficiencies), but who was going to take on that Robin role that Doom once played? Is it Upshaw? He's a porous pass rusher with reckless edge defending skills, likely to try to compensate for a lack of pass rush. Is it Z'Darius Smith? He's got fine handwork, but he's still raw in his pass rushing (his sacks have been coverage sacks) and his edge setting is invisible. The Ravens lost one of the best edge defenders, pass rusher and edge setter, in the entire league, but you all want to say it's no big deal? Are Upshaw, Smith, and McClellan really going to play up to that level? If your answer is yes, they should collectively play up to his level, I want what you're smoking. The Ravens had an immense drop off because even if Doom can replace Suggs pass rushing ability, who replaces what Doom did in that batman role? I don't see anyone else getting 17 sacks. 

 

Not to mention that the Ravens are certainly missing Suggs vocal leadership. The Ravens have a lot of leaders, but they aren't the hyped up type that Suggs is. 

 

Kendrick Lewis was nothing short of mediocre in Houston in his final year, which quite honestly, is looking like an anomaly. He's always had questionable tackling and his man coverage skills have always been awful, but last year, he seemed to show good range in single high, unlike the rest of his career when he was slow to react and get over the top. Well, now he's looking like much of the same from early in his career because he's slow to react, can't tackle, can't play the run well, and his man coverage is still about as bad as it gets. 

 

Will Davis was a pleasant surprise, but he obviously tore his ACL and Webb is on the mend, so what did the Ravens do? Signed a player off the streets and played him after four days as a starter. That should just tell you how bad the injuries are, at this very moment. Sharice Wright was here for four days and he's starting, but hey, injuries are no big deal.

 

And I really hate the hypocrisy of this board. 

 

"Pees is too conservative. He doesn't blitz enough." This year he's blitzing at a clip of about 37%, up 12% from last year (TWELVE!), but people are still going to give him crap. And it's no wonder the Ravens are giving up big plays. They're sending more than five rushers on 37% of their plays with players like Sharice Wright and Kendrick Lewis back in the secondary. Well now Pees is an idiot because he's not giving them the help he needs. But wait, if they play more in coverage to compensate for those piss poor players, it'll be that the three man rush never works and he's an idiot for not sending more pressure.

 

"The players play 12 yards off their man (exaggeration, big time), Pees must have no confidence in them." First off, Pees does not assign players how far to play off a player on a single play. That is asinine to think he'd draw up the coverage for every single player for every single player, especially with so many revolving parts in the secondary. No, not going to happen. Secondly, you all saw what it's like when Pees puts a lot of faith in his players when Wright was left 1 v 1 with Torrey Smith. That's simply placing faith in a player and no, Pees is not an idiot for it. Wright is an idiot because literally the only thing he had to do was keep Torrey in front of him and he got absolutely toasted. He bit so hard on the double move that I think his dentist had to do emergency surgery. That's not Pees, that's inexcusable on the part of Wright. But then he's going to shift more players into the secondary because people can't do their jobs and then he's going to blitz less and Pees will have no faith in his players and he's too conservative. 

These narratives won't change. Most of you have an agenda against the guy. Personally, I'm tired of his play calling because at times it puts players in really questionable positions (you can see my other posts to know what I'm talking about because there's on glaring example I always use), but Pees has literally done every single thing any of you have asked (except move from the booth), but the players just flat out aren't executing. Seriously, I don't think it's the scheme anymore. When he talked about execution in all of his press conferences, he hit the nail on the head. He has literally tried everything and it is not working because the players are not playing well. It is completely acceptable to hold the players accountable. They do get paid to do their job well, so feel free to criticize them.

 

And as far as the secondary regressing, keep in mind Webb has the durability of a wet tissue, Jimmy is coming off a Lisfranc injury, and they have had four coaches (Pagano, Austin, Spags, and Hewitt) in five years. They have had the same secondary coach in consecutive years literally once in those five years. Think that makes a difference? I'd say so. 

 

If you want to blame Pees and get mad at him, go for it, but make sure you're actually criticizing him for things he actually controls or for things within reason. Most of this thread is ridiculous.

 

A++

 

way better worded then i ever managed !!!!

[ravensdfan]

I hate when people try to downplay injuries on this team. Like, injuries do happen, but what's the contingency plan? Who steps up and are they actually a worthy player to replace the injured player?

For example, with Suggs...

 

Last year, the Ravens had a contingency plan because McPhee was one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL. No, he wasn't getting a ton of sacks, but he had an absurd amount of quarterback hits and pressures. However, this year, the Ravens don't have McPhee just waiting on the bench. So, when Suggs went down, Doom was expected to take on a much larger role (the Ravens are really lucky to have masked his run defense deficiencies), but who was going to take on that Robin role that Doom once played? Is it Upshaw? He's a porous pass rusher with reckless edge defending skills, likely to try to compensate for a lack of pass rush. Is it Z'Darius Smith? He's got fine handwork, but he's still raw in his pass rushing (his sacks have been coverage sacks) and his edge setting is invisible. The Ravens lost one of the best edge defenders, pass rusher and edge setter, in the entire league, but you all want to say it's no big deal? Are Upshaw, Smith, and McClellan really going to play up to that level? If your answer is yes, they should collectively play up to his level, I want what you're smoking. The Ravens had an immense drop off because even if Doom can replace Suggs pass rushing ability, who replaces what Doom did in that batman role? I don't see anyone else getting 17 sacks. 

 

Not to mention that the Ravens are certainly missing Suggs vocal leadership. The Ravens have a lot of leaders, but they aren't the hyped up type that Suggs is. 

 

Kendrick Lewis was nothing short of mediocre in Houston in his final year, which quite honestly, is looking like an anomaly. He's always had questionable tackling and his man coverage skills have always been awful, but last year, he seemed to show good range in single high, unlike the rest of his career when he was slow to react and get over the top. Well, now he's looking like much of the same from early in his career because he's slow to react, can't tackle, can't play the run well, and his man coverage is still about as bad as it gets. 

 

Will Davis was a pleasant surprise, but he obviously tore his ACL and Webb is on the mend, so what did the Ravens do? Signed a player off the streets and played him after four days as a starter. That should just tell you how bad the injuries are, at this very moment. Sharice Wright was here for four days and he's starting, but hey, injuries are no big deal.

 

And I really hate the hypocrisy of this board. 

 

"Pees is too conservative. He doesn't blitz enough." This year he's blitzing at a clip of about 37%, up 12% from last year (TWELVE!), but people are still going to give him crap. And it's no wonder the Ravens are giving up big plays. They're sending more than five rushers on 37% of their plays with players like Sharice Wright and Kendrick Lewis back in the secondary. Well now Pees is an idiot because he's not giving them the help he needs. But wait, if they play more in coverage to compensate for those piss poor players, it'll be that the three man rush never works and he's an idiot for not sending more pressure.

 

"The players play 12 yards off their man (exaggeration, big time), Pees must have no confidence in them." First off, Pees does not assign players how far to play off a player on a single play. That is asinine to think he'd draw up the coverage for every single player for every single player, especially with so many revolving parts in the secondary. No, not going to happen. Secondly, you all saw what it's like when Pees puts a lot of faith in his players when Wright was left 1 v 1 with Torrey Smith. That's simply placing faith in a player and no, Pees is not an idiot for it. Wright is an idiot because literally the only thing he had to do was keep Torrey in front of him and he got absolutely toasted. He bit so hard on the double move that I think his dentist had to do emergency surgery. That's not Pees, that's inexcusable on the part of Wright. But then he's going to shift more players into the secondary because people can't do their jobs and then he's going to blitz less and Pees will have no faith in his players and he's too conservative. 

These narratives won't change. Most of you have an agenda against the guy. Personally, I'm tired of his play calling because at times it puts players in really questionable positions (you can see my other posts to know what I'm talking about because there's on glaring example I always use), but Pees has literally done every single thing any of you have asked (except move from the booth), but the players just flat out aren't executing. Seriously, I don't think it's the scheme anymore. When he talked about execution in all of his press conferences, he hit the nail on the head. He has literally tried everything and it is not working because the players are not playing well. It is completely acceptable to hold the players accountable. They do get paid to do their job well, so feel free to criticize them.

 

And as far as the secondary regressing, keep in mind Webb has the durability of a wet tissue, Jimmy is coming off a Lisfranc injury, and they have had four coaches (Pagano, Austin, Spags, and Hewitt) in five years. They have had the same secondary coach in consecutive years literally once in those five years. Think that makes a difference? I'd say so. 

 

If you want to blame Pees and get mad at him, go for it, but make sure you're actually criticizing him for things he actually controls or for things within reason. Most of this thread is ridiculous.

So nothing is his fault? Even though the trends are there since his time in NE?

 

The blitzes have been addressed. In Denver, he used delayed blitzes. We've not seen them since and now a 4 yr old can see his blitzes coming a mile away. It shows a lack of any creativity or even an attempt at creativity.

 

He rarely uses press man. At this point in time you can talk about personnel as a reason for that, but there hasn't been much of it for his entire tenure.

 

None of that accounts for the 4th quarter melt downs that are our trademark since he took over. Nor the complete lack of any passion in the players. If it is one player or two, then you can say it is a player issue. When it is your entire defensive unit, it is a coaching issue.

 

The secondary has had the exact same issues year after year after year. I'm glad you mention the turnover in the secondary coaches because the only constant here is Pees himself. The players aren't the same, the secondary coaches aren't the same, just him.

[berad]

"Agenda against Dean Pees"? Ugh. Conversations die when you throw that hat in the ring. Any dissention of the sacred scheme is seen as blasphemous.

 

Dean Pees might be so nice that he makes Mr. Rogers look like a jerk, doesn't make any difference to me. It sure doesn't make any difference that his defenses have been inconsistent, underperforming, and have a tendancy to falter in big moments since he arrived.

 

I'd love nothing more than a Dean Pees-led defense to go on the field, play with aggression, confuse opposing offenses, and hold onto a lead but it has not happened to the standard we have.

 

Blaming the players is cool and all until you're up there every single week doing it. And the reporters ask what you will do to correct those issues and the only answer is 'coach better'... and then repeat next week.

[PurpleCity5]

I think the saying Pees doesn't blitz is absolutely false, he does blitz and he has been blitzing now more than ever with Sizzle out. My problem is that the communication on this team is quite awful. Communication has to be the prime thing that works in a defense, you cannot play defense and not communicate. That's a huge problem that Pees even went as far as to deny and not even address, that's ridiculous. Now you can argue that it's the players job to communicate, but at the same time Pees has got to make sure that communication is one thing that works in his scheme. If communication isn't working, then either players don't know what to do on specific plays, or are playing individually and not as a team.

 

As far as injuries go, yeah, injuries have been somewhat insane given that we lose Suggs in week one and then Will Davis a guy who we thought we be a huge contributor goes down to an ACL tear. Then we lose some guys against Cleveland but other than that I think defensively we haven't been killed by injuries, its our attitude and aggressiveness that we lost when Suggs went down. To be honest I think this defense began its collapse the moment Suggs went down to injury and I think it would be a ridiculous excuse to just give Pees a free pass because one guy(Suggs, who may be our best player on defense) went down. I feel that we still should be playing much better than what we are right now and I fault Pees for that a bit. I feel that he's not getting enough out of his guys. Week two against Oakland did we come into the game without anyone else but Suggs? Same with Week three. This defense just doesn't have "it" factor and doesn't have any Swagger(I hate this word). I mean look at the Steelers, are we really going to contend they have a better secondary than our own? Look at the Jaguars and the Saints, they have significantly less talented and even they outperform us, how is that even possible? Our secondary DOES have talent, I'm confident about this but even before the injuries piled up, we were still bad there. I understand that Jimmy doesn't look the same, I mean week one he looked amazing but I really feel that his foot injury is still bothersome for him, but we had him and Webb together week two and three and yet we haven't yielded the results needed to in order to win games. 

 

If I can recall, it was Pees who expected the secondary to get better. He anticipated big things from the secondary and expected guys would preform to the level needed to in order to win against the Pass, that hasn't happened at all.

 

I don't think it's all on Pees but there are surely blame to placed on his end, I put it on the Front Office, positional coaches, and most importantly players. They've each failed to do their job when it comes to the defense. 

 

Yes, Suggs injury has been a huge blow to this team, but in the end regardless if Suggs is healthy or not, if the defense isn't doing its job than neither is Pees. It's that simple. Most of the time the HC or DC isn't even at fault for what has happened to the team, they just lose their jobs. That's life in the NFL. I feel that Pees isn't mostly at fault, I personally feel that we need a change in philosophy which fits to our players.

[arnie_uk]

Didn't read that long post as I'm just passing in a hurry bit are injuries bring used as the excuse again?

[BSHU_Miami]

Didn't read that long post as I'm just passing in a hurry bit are injuries bring used as the excuse again?

yup. Unfortunately we are the only injured defense in the NFL. I wish we had pro bowlers and healthy players like on the steelers defense.

[BmoreBird22]

So nothing is his fault? Even though the trends are there since his time in NE?

The blitzes have been addressed. In Denver, he used delayed blitzes. We've not seen them since and now a 4 yr old can see his blitzes coming a mile away. It shows a lack of any creativity or even an attempt at creativity.

He rarely uses press man. At this point in time you can talk about personnel as a reason for that, but there hasn't been much of it for his entire tenure.

None of that accounts for the 4th quarter melt downs that are our trademark since he took over. Nor the complete lack of any passion in the players. If it is one player or two, then you can say it is a player issue. When it is your entire defensive unit, it is a coaching issue.

The secondary has had the exact same issues year after year after year. I'm glad you mention the turnover in the secondary coaches because the only constant here is Pees himself. The players aren't the same, the secondary coaches aren't the same, just him.

Oh, I didn't realize that my last post indicated that he deserves his definite share of blame, but not exactly what you all are pinning on him. He's not perfect, but you all are making the scope of his role way too large.

Delayed blitzes are definitely being used. I've also seen him use more loops and stunts up front, but when you're missing probably your most feared defender, extra attention gets placed elsewhere. By the way, delayed blitzes are going to happen every single game because of the fact that if the running back stays into block, the linebacker will go into blitz if he was in man. That's just how it works.

But as far as disguise goes, it's up to the players to a large degree. If Pees calls a corner blitz, do you think he tells the corner to run up the edge? Hell no. That corner makes the decision that he can't cover all of that ground and that if he's on the edge and overloading that side, it's more advantageous for him to get into the backfield.

It also doesn't help that Suggs going down meant the Ravens had to get far more creative with his players. We've seen Orr and Mosley playing OLB to rush off the edge. You really think those two are comfortable in that role? Z'Darius has been dabbling at DT. If the players don't feel comfortable, they'll align themselves accordingly. Understand that.

Again, Pees won't tell every single player how to align themselves in coverage. That's crazy. He won't go, "Jimmy on this particular play, you press, Lardarius, play five off, Will, you're new, so play eight off." The players play to their comfort level in coverage and to the particular call. They'll align themselves based on safety help, blitz, whether they think they'll have inside or outside leverage, etc.

I won't argue that fourth quarter leads being blown aren't an issue, but it's more than just Pees.

So, by this logic, Joe Flacco is the issue this year, not Trestman. Afterall, the offense is faltering and he's the constant at the most important offensive position. Wrong.

Positional coaches teach their players technique, how to read the play, and help them to understand their comfort levels in particular situations. When you've got four different coaches telling you four different things in five years, there are bound to be lapses.

The above is exactly what I mean by people are not understanding his role and giving him way too much blame.