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Why did our defense look like a dumpster fire weeks 1-8?


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Last off season we were so excited about Dan Quinn being our defensive coordinator. We thought our defense was going to be awesome. Then weeks 1-8 happened. Our defense looked worse than I've ever seen in all my 27 years of being a Falcons fan. I don't think that Dan Quinn forgot how to coordinate. He took over play calling in 2016 and did well. 

What do you think caused our defense to look like trash weeks 1-8? Do you think there was something going on behind the scenes or in the locker room? Do you think it's because Dan Quinn change things up? Do you think the players weren't getting along?

 

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He was a HC with issues.  As much as I loved Mohammed Sanu as a player, I suspect he was a locker room distraction.  DQ was shaken by Vic Beasley.  After announcing he was going to work closely with Beasley, the DE shunned him and only showed up when required claiming he was working out elsewhere.  DQ was embarrassed and did not know quite what to do.  Tak Mckinley was showing more of his idiosyncrasies which was a little disturbing.  Then, HCs around the league were voicing opinions that one man could not fulfill the responsibilities of HC and DC.  Blank had previously announced that essentially everyone was under scrutiny.  Several starting defenders were returning from injury which presented many unanswered questions.  DQ was suddenly in a pressure cooker.  It was more than he could handle.  JMHO.

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5 minutes ago, OrthoPTSD said:

-Didn't Baldinger say that the whole league knew what Quinn was running and he did not adjust, like since 2016?

-Neal injury was brutal literally and figuratively

-Jones rendered invisible

-Worst DE s in the league

Young, In- experienced corners

Brutal

 

I dont think running cover 3 is what killed us but agree with most of the rest. The scheme was more of the issue that made Oliver look bad. That was on coaching. 

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10 hours ago, ATLskinjob said:

From what I understand, (I'm not a real X's and O's guy) it's because we ran a whole bunch of different looks that were more on the 3-4 side of things and we didn't have the personnel and we didn't seem to fully grasp assignments. Everything looked better once we switched back.

A lot of  truth in this. Frankly, the DC got too cute with over-complicated looks which (As you said) didn’t fit the personnel.
 

DQ over-complicated things in secondary as well. Turnaround occurred when coaches simplified the play calling, which allowed players not overthinking responsibilities but instead play with instincts.

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We all know what it looked like but, what they heck were they trying to do?

I'd love to hear from @PeytonMannings Forehead or @TheFatboi on what they saw. 

My guess is the scheme was sound but DQ got away from his keep it simple philosophy and much of the defense got confused. He stuck with it thinking time would allow them to learn and it just didn't work. 

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4 hours ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

Last off season we were so excited about Dan Quinn being our defensive coordinator.

Speak for yourself! I've despised Clueless Cowardly Quinn for a couple of years now. I NEVER thought he was a good DC, because he was lapping up Pete Carrol's credit in Seattle. I believed he was no more competent than the continuously-confused uy who left Seattle for a HC gig in Jax.

 

4 hours ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

I don't think that Dan Quinn forgot how to coordinate. He took over play calling in 2016 and did well. 

Look at the defensive numbers from that year. Look at the first half vs the final scores that year. A lot of huge leads built by Kyle Shanahan's offense in the first three quarters, then furious opponent near-comebacks (or defensive near-collapses) that led to fairly close final scores. No. Just NO. The defense did NOT do well; the defense did just-barely well enough with a historically potent offense carrying their sorry butts.

 

4 hours ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

What do you think caused our defense to look like trash weeks 1-8?

There were several reasons.

  1. Clueless Cowardly Quinn's incompetence.
  2. Clueless Cowardly Quinn's ego.
  3. Clueless Cowardly Quinn's lack of leadership.
  4. Clueless Cowardly Quinn's complete lack of anything other than empty slogans.

I'm sure there is more that will be brought to light eventually, but all in the same vein.

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1 hour ago, The O.D.B said:

We all know what it looked like but, what they heck were they trying to do?

I'd love to hear from @PeytonMannings Forehead or @TheFatboi on what they saw. 

My guess is the scheme was sound but DQ got away from his keep it simple philosophy and much of the defense got confused. He stuck with it thinking time would allow them to learn and it just didn't work. 

From what I saw DQ definitely got away from what the team was accustomed to. He experimented with different fronts and I actually liked what he was doing in camp with it. I thought it would play to Takk and Beasleys strengths in 2 point stances but the first thing I noticed was takk was so aggressive up field that he would lose setting the edge against the run and leave Campbell out to dry. Lots a ppl were blaming Campbell but it was Takk’s job  not to let the back break it outside. 
 

Another problem was the back end was in disarray. I felt that was the transition of Manuel to the other coach that for some reason wasn’t communicating to the secondary what was to be done. They looked lost. The linebackers were ok but with the front and back playing bad they took a lot of the brunt of blame. Debo was looking out if sorts. 
 

I think Quinn went under the hood and messed his own engine up at the beginning. Partly because we played so many running qb’s last year he was trying to work around that. Disaster. When he turned the car over things changed. Morris going to coach the secondary was the best thing that could’ve happened. They immediately responded to his coaching and hands on approach of how to play the techniques. And the coordinating between Morris and Ulbrich was brilliant and smart. They ACTUALLY started playing fast and physical knocking of both NO and SF who were fighting for seeding so they didn’t relax on the falcons. 
 

In closing a combination of terrible scheme decisions by changing what they were already good at, lack of communication and creativity in play calling and terrible on field play. 

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I feel the primary cause was the secondary. They were playing fast and physical, running hard, but were running to the wrong spot. Although Oliver turned things around, and I feel he's going to be a good player in the league, he wasn't quite ready yet. As a result, the ball was usually coming out on the QB's first read, leaving no time for our pass rush to be effective. If one part breaks down, you get a result like 1 -  8.

GO FALCONS!!!!

Edited by MarkMc44
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