I read that Mangini named his players of the Packers game yesterday. Offense : Cedric Houston (105 yards, 2 TDs, good choice but it could've went to Pennington or Cotch as well). Special Teams : Cody Spencer (5 tackles and was all over the place, no brainer in my book) Defense : Jonathan Vilma. I was a bit surprised about this seeing Hobson had a great game with 13 tackles and a batted pass and was all over the place. Even Bryan Thomas looked good in both run support and his 1 1/2 sacks. In my mind Vilma had a pedestrian 5 tackles and seemed very quiet throughout the game. Not looking to bash Vilma here but do you think this is just Mangini trying to stroke him a bit and trying to keep his spirits up. Or do you agree that he was definitely the star of the defense in the Packers game. Maybe you saw some things I didn't. Just curious what people think....
Yeah I see it as Mangini stroking Vilma to some degree. In my eyes, the standouts of last week's game were definitely Hobson and Thomas.
I was thinking about vilma's performance thus far this year, and although he may not be making as many plays..I think he is playing a big part in the improved coverage. It is worth noting that despite him being a good blitzer, mainly the players blitzing for us have been Hobson, barton and BT. I think this is b/c Vilma is very valuable w/ his downfield coverage. Pass coverage was very good this past Sunday and Vilma may have been a big part of it which resulted in the recognition from Mangini
Just something I noticed during the game(I was there). On Bryan Thomas's strip sack, him and Vilma blitzed from the same side, 2 people picked up Vilma on the blitz, allowing Thomas to get the glory. SOmething that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but definitely impacted the game.
Since he's out there assigning coverages and making sure people are positioned right, maybe Mangini felt that his performance was more important to the defense as a whole than Thomas or Hobson's?
Sometimes we don't see the things that do not count as stats. The defence is playing great as a whole. MVP on defence: Kerry Rhodes
THe reason Vilma isnt making as big of an impact this year is because he is in PERFECT position. If you rewatch the GB game, youll see that favre consistantly looks away from the guy that Vilma is covering and throws to his second or third option. Vilma is so smart and watches so much film that he is GREAT in coverage, so while he isnt getting the accolades, he is completely neutralizing his receiver. Huge reason we are so good on 3rd down.
Though true, you still have to acknowledge the fact that Vilma hasn't fully grasped ILB in the 3-4 just yet, others have came along quicker, Vilma is getting there...
I don't think so. That'd be pretty Herm of him. I think its just recognition that he's making the right calls, being in the right position and consequently the D is playing much better.
Mangini always emphasized over the small things that Vilma does that does not show up on the stat sheet. Most especially the responsibility of lining up of the defense. He stated that Vilma was the "Chad Pennington" on defense and makes sure everyone was on the right position and such. It was on an article weeks back.
Vilma did deserve the POG award because of all the time he puts in during the week, also he was there on some big stops on sunday, when he NEEDED to be there, something that he hasnt done lately. Vilma is doing fine.
vilma is the leader of our defense. if anyone on the field needs some help, vilma is going to help him out. he's our general out there and thats VERY important to have a guy like that on your defense. also he lines up everywhere...he played MLB against the packers, some ILB, some OLB, some safety and some cornerback etc
mangini tends to pump up players in the press every week and give his POW award to guys for other reasons than just their play. He is doing a masterful job of keeping players from geting down on themselvs. Last week alot of negative Vilma press came out and now he names him POW- it wasn't a coincidence.
Vilma is the quarterback of the defense...he made some of the calls that allowed Hobson to knock down balls and for Bryan Thomas to blitz and get a sack.
Vilma has been filling holes a lot better the last two weeks, and still makes all the defensive calls. He takes away the middle of the field in coverage, and I don't think he always gets enough credit for that.
Simply shows there is more to this game than #.. Tackles have to be the worst stat to ever look at. Vilma called ALL THE DEFENSES and put them in the right spots ALL DAY. I couldn't care less how many tackles people have..
I tend to agree, although there are some good arguements in here about his pass coverage and such. It's easier to watch this stuff when it is a home game and you can watch certain players closely, I'm going to key on him more this weekend...
