This Week Will Be The Most Exciting Week Since Before Week 1

[Dharma Initiative]

We can at least look forward to some coaching changes. At minimum it'll be along the lines of Hamilton and Hill. Could potentially go all the way up to Dimitroff and Smith.

At least there's something to get a little excited about again

[youngbloodz]

I think TD and Smitty are safe. Hamilton better be fired or I will lose all respect for this organization. It is obvious he isn't working out

[Falconsfan567]

I think TD and Smitty are safe. Hamilton better be fired or I will lose all respect for this organization. It is obvious he isn't working out

Exactly.

[FalconinPA]

I think TD and Smitty are safe. Hamilton better be fired or I will lose all respect for this organization. It is obvious he isn't working out

Unfortunately I think you are right on the bolded. I agree Hamilton can be shown the door, but I would love to see Smith or and TD both booted.

[Dharma Initiative]

I've warmed up to Smith's return a little more. He's shown that fire and passion he had years ago again.

I really want Koetter and Dimitroff gone though

[Falconsfan567]

Unfortunately I think you are right on the bolded. I agree Hamilton can be shown the door, but I would love to see Smith or and TD both booted.

Same.

[muskokas finest ©]

I've warmed up to Smith's return a little more. He's shown that fire and passion he had years ago again.

I really want Koetter and Dimitroff gone though

No further comment required.

[FalconinPA]

I've warmed up to Smith's return a little more. He's shown that fire and passion he had years ago again.

I really want Koetter and Dimitroff gone though

Oh yeah, Koetter too. How could I forget.

[jazzyburrell]

I have no problem with Koetter at all, I don't understand why you guys keep giving Nolan a pass. A decent defense has us in the playoffs. Can you believe we allowed game winning drives to Geno Smith and Matt Flynn? Our DL coach is not good at development!

[RS91]

I've warmed up to Smith's return a little more. He's shown that fire and passion he had years ago again.

I really want Koetter and Dimitroff gone though

I'd rather see a willingness to take chances or a little creativity than fire and passion. I don't want either of them back, but if only one of them goes it has to be Dimitroff. I just don't think we can afford to let him handle this offseason. Smitty has at least shown an ability to win games. Dimitroff has never shown an ability to hit on several picks in one draft, or any picks on the OL or DL, which is what we need next April if we want to see this thing get turned around in a year or two.

[Hustle Up]

I think TD and Smitty are safe. Hamilton better be fired or I will lose all respect for this organization. It is obvious he isn't working out

Unfortunately, this is true.

We can at least look forward to some coaching changes. At minimum it'll be along the lines of Hamilton and Hill. Could potentially go all the way up to Dimitroff and Smith.

At least there's something to get a little excited about again

It should go all the way up to Dimitroff and Smith.

[BirdonaWire88]

I have no problem with Koetter at all, I don't understand why you guys keep giving Nolan a pass. A decent defense has us in the playoffs. Can you believe we allowed game winning drives to Geno Smith and Matt Flynn? Our DL coach is not good at development!

The offense has sputtered and smoked all year in the second half. Defense actually had us in position to win several games had we only been able to generate 7-10 second half points. D was left out to dry quite a bit by the O. Sadly we are still the absolute worst 3rd quarter team in history.

[Falconsfan567]

I have no problem with Koetter at all, I don't understand why you guys keep giving Nolan a pass. A decent defense has us in the playoffs. Can you believe we allowed game winning drives to Geno Smith and Matt Flynn? Our DL coach is not good at development!

Dirk Koetter's offense is overly simplistic which leads to overly predictable play-calling. The reason Mike Nolan is getting a "pass" as you call it is because of his track record. Go and look at all the places Nolan has been a DC. Koetter's track record isn't so good.

[jazzyburrell]

Dirk Koetter's offense is overly simplistic which leads to overly predictable play-calling. The reason Mike Nolan is getting a "pass" as you call it is because of his track record. Go and look at all the places Nolan has been a DC. Koetter's track record isn't so good.

EVERY defense that Nolan has left has improved....please explain that!

[Falconsfan567]

EVERY defense that Nolan has left has improved....please explain that!

It's because Nolan builts up a defense and then takes another job and does it all over again. All the new guy has to do is not screw up what Nolan built. Look at all the defenses Nolan turned around. His track record speaks for it's self.

[etherdome]

Koetter's schemes are stymied because we have a lousy OL. Adding extra blockers, to help the tackles, has become a major part of our play book. Come on guys. Koetter is not the problem. The root cause is our wretched OL.

The defense is also suffering from lousy line play. Babs is good, but he and Peters have not done a good enough job of shutting down the interior run. For that reason, our MLB has to stay close to the LOS. And, when the MLB moves forward, we get gashed by the TE's crossing behind him. Wouldn't we have better success if we had one NT shutting down the middle? We would have two athletes behind him interchangeably rushing the passer and covering the crossing routes.

If you want to see some firings, look to Hill and Hamilton. However, I have to admit that firing the coaches is not the answer. We need better line players.

[BirdonaWire88]

Koetter's schemes are stymied because we have a lousy OL. Adding extra blockers, to help the tackles, has become a major part of our play book. Come on guys. Koetter is not the problem. The root cause is our wretched OL.

The defense is also suffering from lousy line play. Babs is good, but he and Peters have not done a good enough job of shutting down the interior run. For that reason, our MLB has to stay close to the LOS. And, when the MLB moves forward, we get gashed by the TE's crossing behind him. Wouldn't we have better success if we had one NT shutting down the middle? We would have two athletes behind him interchangeably rushing the passer and covering the crossing routes.

If you want to see some firings, look to Hill and Hamilton. However, I have to admit that firing the coaches is not the answer. We need better line players.

I agree with a lot of this, he has never been able to implement the 4 vert/downfield offense he talked about because he is trying to protect a sub par line. It is not his scheme that I question, I just don't like his play calling a lot of the time. I think we would be better off to let Ryan call ALL the plays.

[FalconinPA]

The offense has sputtered and smoked all year in the second half. Defense actually had us in position to win several games had we only been able to generate 7-10 second half points. D was left out to dry quite a bit by the O. Sadly we are still the absolute worst 3rd quarter team in history.

This is truth

[Dharma Initiative]

I have no problem with Koetter at all, I don't understand why you guys keep giving Nolan a pass. A decent defense has us in the playoffs. Can you believe we allowed game winning drives to Geno Smith and Matt Flynn? Our DL coach is not good at development!

70% of our payroll is on offense and we're the 21st offense as far as scoring points go. That's inexcuseable and Koetter's offense is the exact same as Mularky's except with screens that never work throw in

Nolan has a track record, this year wasn't good, but his history shows he usually is.

Koetter is the exact opposite. Last year was his exception

[Dharma Initiative]

The offense has sputtered and smoked all year in the second half. Defense actually had us in position to win several games had we only been able to generate 7-10 second half points. D was left out to dry quite a bit by the O. Sadly we are still the absolute worst 3rd quarter team in history.

And this! I've preached it all year. Most of the time the defense does well the start games but gets winded because the offense keeps sputtering off of the field and they get worn down.

Defense isn't as bad as the numbers look

[maxatlanta]

Blank has stated explicitly that Smith's job is safe. When has he ever made a statement like that and lied?

Is he going to fire the best FO this franchise has ever had? Two time GM of the year? This team has been the #1 seed twice under Dimitroff. He is not going anywhere.

Blaming our offensive woes on scheme or playcalling is rediculous. Our offense has struggled primarily because our OL gets pushed back every play, doesn't open holes for the RBs, and doesn't give our QB a pocket or time on passing plays.

I think Nolan is a bit more complicated. He runs a variable, aggressive, blitzing scheme. When you have the lead, Nolan gets to confuse and terrorize the opponent. When your offense struggles and you play from behind, his scheme is significantly less effective. Ironicaly, the best way to fix our defense is to fix our offense(and obviously the DL needs help).

[Dharma Initiative]

Blank has stated explicitly that Smith's job is safe. When has he ever made a statement like that and lied?

Is he going to fire the best FO this franchise has ever had? Two time GM of the year? This team has been the #1 seed twice under Dimitroff. He is not going anywhere.

Blaming our offensive woes on scheme or playcalling is rediculous. Our offense has struggled primarily because our OL gets pushed back every play, doesn't open holes for the RBs, and doesn't give our QB a pocket or time on passing plays.

I think Nolan is a bit more complicated. He runs a variable, aggressive, blitzing scheme. When you have the lead, Nolan gets to confuse and terrorize the opponent. When your offense struggles and you play from behind, his scheme is significantly less effective. Ironicaly, the best way to fix our defense is to fix our offense(and obviously the DL needs help).

And that o-line is a product of Dimitroff, two time executive of the year...

[maxatlanta]

And that o-line is a product of Dimitroff, two time executive of the year...

Yes. If we were basing whether or not to keep Dimitroff on his failure to provide a competent Oline this season then he would be fired. Just like Tom Coughlin would have been fired by the Giants before winning thier last Superbowl.

Evaluate him on his body of work and you see a top GM in this league. Those Executive of the Year honors were not one person's opinion. They were voted on by dozens of proffessionals who get paid to follow the game and who have access to more information than we do.

[RS91]

And that o-line is a product of Dimitroff, two time executive of the year...

Yep. Every single guy not named Justin Blalock who has played a single down on our OL this year was drafted or signed by Thomas Dimitroff. Shockingly, Blalock also happens to be the cream of the crap.

[PokerSteve]

The offense has sputtered and smoked all year in the second half. Defense actually had us in position to win several games had we only been able to generate 7-10 second half points. D was left out to dry quite a bit by the O. Sadly we are still the absolute worst 3rd quarter team in history.

This team needs to bring in an offensive guru. They aren't going to convert the key 3rd down and red zone plays they need to convert, they aren't going to score the points they will need to score to go deep in the play-offs playing Smittyball. It's too self-limiting a scheme to have any chance against top-tier teams. If Koetter actually has some talent and creativity, Smith needs to let the man take the effing training wheels off this offense, mix in a massive dose of creativity, unpredictability and aggression, then turn it loose.