I am sure everyone here agrees that in football its not just black and white. Motivation, intimidation, confidence etc. all can be big factors of whether a team wins and losses each sunday. To make a long story short i feel this team needs a fierce hitter on defense. It may sound silly but we need someone that can lay the lumber once in a while to fire this team up. Big hits are very contagious in that it gives a defensive unit a feeling of dominance and confidence. Many of you wont agree with this theory but look at all the successful defensive teams...they all have big hitters on defense. Chargers-Merriman Dolphins-Zach Thomas Ravens-Ray Lewis (pretty much everyone) Bears-Urlacher Bills-Spikes Patriots-Rodney Harrison Last years Steelers-Porter and Polamaleu
What you're really saying is that this defense needs somebody who inspires the opponent to worry about their physical health. I agree with you that at the moment we are a bit short in that category. I do have a couple of names to throw out though: Eric Barton and Kimo Von Ohlhoffen. Barton is a very hard hitter who takes impulsive personal fouls now and then, usually by doing something pretty nasty. KVO took out Carson Palmer's knee in the first round of the playoffs last year with a low hit. That's probably as good as we have in terms of the danger factor, that is unless Justin Miller's general play picks up enough that we can take a chance on him out there for his smackedness...
Anybody here remember Nicky Fotiu? Miller is the Fotiu of NFL CB's at the moment. And the Rangers gave up a lot of goals to get Fotiu's general nastyness on the ice when they needed it.
Chargers-Merriman---ROID RAGE Dolphins-Zach Thomas---DIRTY PLAYER Ravens-Ray Lewis (pretty much everyone)---MURDERER Bears-Urlacher Bills-Spikes Patriots-Rodney Harrison---CHEAPSHOT ARTIST Last years Steelers-Porter and Polamaleu
I'm satisfied with the fact that our team actually can TACKLE. There's been so many Jets teams incapable of tackling in the past. Proof of this is that our Punt coverage team hasn't aloud a punt return of over 15 yards, that is simply just great tackling
Not the biggest hits, but they consistently make physical tackles. I like that aspect of our secondary and LBs. I would like to have a more fearsome front but when you run the 3-4 i think the LBs and DBs need to be more faster and physical. My buddy called me from NY to say that the Miami game was probably one of the hardest hitting games he's seen in a while. I would have to agree that besides the Pitt-Jacksonville slugfest in september this was an extrememly hard hitting game.
I actually am a huge fan of eric smith, he reminds me a lot of Rodney Harrison in that hes not super athletic but has a nose for the ball and plays within the system.
Agreed, there were times over the past few years when we couldn't tackle anybody. Our punt coverage team has been outstanding this year too.
Our kickoff coverage has been good as well. They actually gave us credit for this Monday Night, saying that we had one of the best in the league. Westhoff is a special teams genious. He turned Graham into the punter he is today, since he was a longshot to even make the team, let alone be good.
How much he continues to develop remains to be seen..but totally agree. The guy can flat out hit. Good thread and excellent points. A couple guys who can flatten people would be a nice touch to the defense.
He's not gonna be that guy as long as his primary role is to cover the backside of the formation. What he's been doing this year is rotating to whichever is the weak side of the formation and making sure nothing bad happens there. That makes most of his hits containment tackles in which if he goes for broke and misses on a hard hit he gives up 15 yards. He spoke about this about a week ago in an interview. Said it was a different role being essentially a cover guy and not being able to read and react in the way a middle linebacker can.
Yeah there's a fine line between hard hitter and dirty player but it's there nonetheless. Zach Thomas hits like a Mack truck but I've never seen him do anything I'd construe as dirty. The NFL is a nasty place to make a living and Thomas does it about as good as anybody right now.
This defense relies on great tackling tecnique. Do you remember 3 or 4 years ago where there were missed tackles left and right, it was almost aggrivating to watch because all you saw was green flying around but not getting anything done. This defense does a great job of tackling and hitting quickly. We also have a few pounders (Rhodes, Thomas, Miller)
