Townsend

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

As I have stated on numerous occasions..I am NOT a fan of Townsend....anyone who owns the playoff/superbowl DVD's..can go back and see that Deshea was beat on a regualar basis..and that we had to bring in Carter to "pad" Deshea's side. He almost cost us the Cincy game in the playoffs with a (luckily) non-call on a pass interference in the endzone...and when left by himself against even a semi-talented WR..he was consistanly two steps behind.

In my opinion the reason that some teams seem to give us problems is because of Desheas inability to stay with GOOD 2nd recievers....he is exploited by heads up QB's who know that if they can hit the WR in short to intemediate patterns (before the safety can come up)...Deshea will be out of position.

This not only helps explain 1) why we get beat on those type of pass patterns...but also 2) why Taylor is given the #1 reciever and not usually Townsend....3) why Carter is brought in to jam the reciever and then play the flat....and 4) Why our safeties (especially Troy) are used to disguise coverage.

Hopefully...a Taylor/McFadden combo will allow us to see less tackles after competions....and more break-ups/interceptions before completions!!

Lets leave it to the Safeties to missile in on the WR's after the catch and get the CB's back to what they should be doing....Run Support and Pass Defense!!!

[tony hipchest]

good breakdown, LLT. the unfortunate thing is that even in the nickel, if townsend is covering a 3rd receiver, last year showed that he was getting outleaped by tall wr's like chris henry or that 6'5" dude from the chargers even when he was plastered to their backs.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by Stlrs4Life

Either do I especialy before #58!

Great point brother... If they aint gonna retire numbers like that one or #82 or 32 then they definitely shouldnt retire #26. Not to take anything away from Rod of course because he was one of the greatest DB's of alltime in my opinion if not the best. He was a great cover corner and was a willing run stopper and a great blitzer as well..

[nwksteeler]

Deshea has linebacker speed at corner, Bryant is going to have to step up if we are truly going to stop people this year. If our corners cover a little longer we might get to the Qb.

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

good breakdown, LLT. the unfortunate thing is that even in the nickel, if townsend is covering a 3rd receiver, last year showed that he was getting outleaped by tall wr's like chris henry or that 6'5" dude from the chargers even when he was plastered to their backs.

Exactly...slow to react..slow-footed...and short, are not good combinations.

[rbryan]

It's amazing to me that Townsend is going into his 10th year. Hopefully that translates into experience making up for athletic ability. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see the field much this season. What about the kid we drafted from Louisville?? anybody think he can make a contribution this year???

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Originally Posted by rbryan

It's amazing to me that Townsend is going into his 10th year. Hopefully that translates into experience making up for athletic ability. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see the field much this season. What about the kid we drafted from Louisville?? anybody think he can make a contribution this year???

He may be a sleeper like Colon was last year and be better than any of us realize....if not..hopefully someone can light a fire under Ricardo.

[rbryan]

I almost forgot about RC. Didn't he get hurt last year??

I agree with you on Colon and even Kemoeatu. I think we are gonna be better off than everyone thinks if Faneca is either gone altogether or just not really here in heart.

I just realized his name is spelled Kemo eat u. Thats pretty funny, lets hope it's true.