OK I like JJ, so I am biased. But he has flaws. Here goes my analysis.
First, one weakness of JJ is he's so good. Follow me on this. He knows all the protections, and all the tendencies. He builds his gameplans around the tendencies of the other O. Most NFL coordinators would do this, but he goes to the extreme IMO. JJ will take away your best player first, then attack your protections and try to limit big plays.
Other teams know this, and like Payton who faced him many times before, they react as follows. First, they go max pro and maybe set up the protections and "rules" a little different on the first drive or 2. Thats why we see so few sacks early, IMO. The D is schooled how to break down a protection that the other O changed. Second, teams that do well against us break tendencies. The Saints did that. On O, they went spread much more than they did before, and threw less to Bush on 3rd down than they had earlier. On D, they blitzed more, and more exotically vs. Andy--who also like JJ goes off the tape.
Now JJ and Big Red will say, hey, if teams beat us with new stuff, thats making them play left handed and we'll take that. We will then adjust. JJ inevitably does adjust well in game, and will adapt pressure packages on the fly to counter the "new wrinkles" for the game.
My beef--thats reactionary D. Why always be at the mercy of another coaches change ups from what they do off tape? I'd like them to just stay in character, play to the identity of this D--attack no matter what!!
Another thing JJ does that makes it easier for other teams is he doesn't flop his cormers. Sheldon and Lito play their sides, no matter what. So a team could put a TE on one side with Bush out side, and the 2 WR's to the other. Lito won't match up with say Horn on the other side, he'll take the TE or more likely Bush. So Payton can dictate by formation to get Hanson on Horn.
JJ also is very predictable about rarely blitzing on first down, or on his side of the 50. Teams can spread out and run without fear of a run blitz on first down, or pass underneath for 7, 8 a pop first down. They do this with McCoy and Trot on the field--not our best cover LB's.
This D has been very poor on 1st down all year IMO. JJ has been reluctant to put 8 in the box, for fear of the deep ball. I say crowd the box, bring the beat and hve the CB's bump and run and disrupt the timing of a guy like Brees, and stuff the running lanes. Force the issue to get to 3rd and long, where we usually excel.
We are losing 1st down, and JJ also waits until a team crosses the 50 to get serious with the pressure. Too predictable.
I also think with Considine in there, he could call some Cat blitzes (corners off the edge) and drop all the LB's into short zones. This is a great pressure to beat short dinkers and dunkers. It gets a clear shot on the QB, particularly if its done from the slot CB.
First, one weakness of JJ is he's so good. Follow me on this. He knows all the protections, and all the tendencies. He builds his gameplans around the tendencies of the other O. Most NFL coordinators would do this, but he goes to the extreme IMO. JJ will take away your best player first, then attack your protections and try to limit big plays.
Other teams know this, and like Payton who faced him many times before, they react as follows. First, they go max pro and maybe set up the protections and "rules" a little different on the first drive or 2. Thats why we see so few sacks early, IMO. The D is schooled how to break down a protection that the other O changed. Second, teams that do well against us break tendencies. The Saints did that. On O, they went spread much more than they did before, and threw less to Bush on 3rd down than they had earlier. On D, they blitzed more, and more exotically vs. Andy--who also like JJ goes off the tape.
Now JJ and Big Red will say, hey, if teams beat us with new stuff, thats making them play left handed and we'll take that. We will then adjust. JJ inevitably does adjust well in game, and will adapt pressure packages on the fly to counter the "new wrinkles" for the game.
My beef--thats reactionary D. Why always be at the mercy of another coaches change ups from what they do off tape? I'd like them to just stay in character, play to the identity of this D--attack no matter what!!
Another thing JJ does that makes it easier for other teams is he doesn't flop his cormers. Sheldon and Lito play their sides, no matter what. So a team could put a TE on one side with Bush out side, and the 2 WR's to the other. Lito won't match up with say Horn on the other side, he'll take the TE or more likely Bush. So Payton can dictate by formation to get Hanson on Horn.
JJ also is very predictable about rarely blitzing on first down, or on his side of the 50. Teams can spread out and run without fear of a run blitz on first down, or pass underneath for 7, 8 a pop first down. They do this with McCoy and Trot on the field--not our best cover LB's.
This D has been very poor on 1st down all year IMO. JJ has been reluctant to put 8 in the box, for fear of the deep ball. I say crowd the box, bring the beat and hve the CB's bump and run and disrupt the timing of a guy like Brees, and stuff the running lanes. Force the issue to get to 3rd and long, where we usually excel.
We are losing 1st down, and JJ also waits until a team crosses the 50 to get serious with the pressure. Too predictable.
I also think with Considine in there, he could call some Cat blitzes (corners off the edge) and drop all the LB's into short zones. This is a great pressure to beat short dinkers and dunkers. It gets a clear shot on the QB, particularly if its done from the slot CB.
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