Gregg Williams has been fired

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by Starkiller, Jan 26, 2008.

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  1. Soxcat

    Soxcat Pro Bowler

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    I don't completely disagree with what you are saying Jeff but I have a hard time believing if the Colts lost their best defensive lineman they would fall off a cliff like our D did. Wait, they did lose their best guy, Freeney. In fact Indy seems to lose quality guys to FA every year and they don't miss a beat. In fact the Colts finished 3rd on defense in total yards given up last year despite losing both CBs from last year as well as a pro-bowl LB.

    The bottom line IMO is Schwartz isn't able to make adjustments like he should. Against the Jags during our streak of failure we played against the Jags second string QB but still allowed the Jags to run all over us. In the Denver game our offense won the TOP by almost 10 minutes and VY had his only 300 yard passing game yet Denver had their way with us most of the game. In the Cincy game we were totally dominated by a team that wasn't close to making the playoffs. Cincy held the ball for over 38 minutes that game. There is a reason Schwartz is getting passed up for all these HC jobs.
     
  2. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    And the Titans finished fifth this year losing their best player for three games, having him play less than his normal snap count for many others, their #1 CB from last season, their safety and MLB for a number of games, and having a rookie at free safety.

    Who did the Jags not run over? The Jags generated only 262 yards of offense that day. The Titans generated more offense but couldn't put it into the endzone and turned over the football.

    Three more turnovers by the offense. A big run by Hall. Two big pass receptions. That was the difference in that game. The Titans tackled poorly. That has nothing to do with scheme.

    The Titans made five trips into the red zone to score to two FGs.

    The Bengals also converted 14 of 18 third downs. The defense didn't make plays when they needed to make the stop. But those blown opportunties are all on Schwartz?

    So is Williams. So are a lot of other top DCs in the league.

    Are we now ashamed our DC is considered a strong candidate for a head coaching position yet didn't actually get one of the three jobs he interviewed for? Do you realize how crazy that sounds? That's like saying Haynesworth is trash because he was only a candidate for DPOY and didn't actually get the award.

    No one is saying Schwartz is perfect. But many here tend to give him all the blame for failures and the players all the glory for finishing fifth. Many want to point to only three games in a 16-game season to be critical when it was the defense who led the Titans to the playoffs this season.

    I'm done.

    :dead2:
     
  3. Alex1939

    Alex1939 Space Invaders Champion

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    If we are going to accept failure without AH playing, then why not change the playcalling on defense? If we went more chaotic, we might give up big plays, but we would have more chances of confusing the offense and creating turnovers.

    Schwartz is just too vanilla and incapable of change in the face of continuing defeat in a game.
     
  4. ROCKYMTNTITAN

    ROCKYMTNTITAN Camp Fodder

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    My biggest problem with Schwartz is going to the prevent too early in the game. Was it just me or did it seem like EVERY time we had any kind of a lead this season and the defense had been dominating up to that point (i.e. @ San Diego or @ Houston, etc?) we went into a prevent type play to not give up the big play? (and give up yards in 8 to 10 yard chunks)? Was it a change in scheme or did our players seem to just let down a bit? Maybe a combo of both? I cannot for the life of me understand how we gave up 29 points to the Texans in the 4th quarter. I'm still scratching my head on that one.
     
  5. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    Do you think Schwartz/Fisher actually go into a game not scheming based on the talent on the field?

    As I mentioned earlier, for ANY scheme to be effective, the DL has to win some battles, one-on-one, on the line of scrimmage. In those three games, the starting DL with LaBoy coming in on third down recorded two sacks.

    This is a group who averaged nearly two sacks a game between them.

    EVERYONE on the Titans D this season benefited from AH. DBs didn't have to cover as long. LBs didn't have opposing OL tying them up as often. The DEs were rarely double-teamed.

    If you can't occasionally win the one-on-one matchups, no scheme is going to be able to overcome that.

    Our last-place defense in '06 had more turnovers and scored more points than the fifth-place defense.

    But I think you point out what bothers most who don't like Schwartz -- they don't like his style regardless of how successful it was this season.

    Back in his time, Williams would blitz like crazy. He was very aggressive. It was entertaining to watch. But he also had a lot more experience at corner who could man up and cover one-on-one. He also had a very experienced free safety. Even then, I remember Williams taking heat when a Titans CB got burned because "he didn't give the corner any help".

    As far as style, Williams is preferred over Schwartz just as Dinger was over Steckel. But for Williams' scheme to work, he needed Steckel's ball-control, grind it out, offense to keep his D off the field as much as possible.
     
  6. Fry

    Fry Welcome to the land of tomorrow!

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    let it be known i didn't write what was in the post, that was a direct quote from the website.

    i should have put quotes in my original post.
     
  7. Psychop1

    Psychop1 Big Tee

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    I support Schwartz, but he does have his faults, and I hadn't heard his biggest one put out there so eloquently until now. I applaud you.
     
  8. Vince10

    Vince10 Camp Fodder

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    I think Schwartz is OK, but he does not add much. Our defense accomplished everything they did on the strength of the DL. When AH was in, teams could not drive the field, and often went 3-and-out, because we could stuff the run and get a sack with 6-7 in the box. Our DBs could keep things in front of them and make teams drive the field without a running game or time to throw. Any DC with an understanding of how to attack the formations and blocking schemes an opponent employs (which JS seemed to have) can win like that.

    But in the 4th quarter our big guys up front wore down, and we had no answers. That is where JS needed to earn his money. He needed to find a strategy that could work without a killer 4-man pass rush.

    Belichick's defense has succeeded on largely the same premise as ours did, but he was able to find a way, over the course of the game, to take away what his opponent wanted to do in the 4th quarter, when his defense was tired. Of course, his team was awesome without that ability, but it was the difference between 14-2 and 16-0.

    I think a great defensive mind maybe could have helped us pull of the SD game (regular season) and saved some heartburn against Houston. Not a huge difference (maybe spared us some injuries - AH vs the Bolts and VY vs the Colts come to mind), but you never know when it will count bigtime.
     
  9. Vince10

    Vince10 Camp Fodder

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    P.S. Without AH our DL was very very poor, and no one could field a top defense with it, unless the secondary was full of probowlers so you can blitz the LBs all the time. But with him, we still had 4th quarter issues in games where we failed to actually murder the QB during the first 3 quarters. As the season wore on, nagging injuries made the situation worse - they always do. That is where depth and great coaching become crucial.
     
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