If the defense shows poorly in the preseason they should fire him and get a new DC, to save the season. We know we'll be alright at corners and at pass rush. This is a function of good players at those positions. But run stopping and pass D over the middle has been a problem. That is a function of his scheme and inability to utilize players. For that reason, if things do not improve, they need to cut the losses and move on from Coyle, asap.
Don't click on it, don't do it.....thats what i was thinking maybe its time to get you out of here, since you are clearly trolling /delete thread
We had the same problem last year. We'll see if he can fix it. Since Mike Nolan we've had bend-but-don't-break defense, and that's good. It's no different with Coyle, and that is good. This is to say, we play a little deeper, drop into coverage with more men, rarely if ever give up big plays like we used to before Nolan, and we are solid in the redzone. But the trade off is poor short area coverage for run and pass. This is no secret, Coyle has been unable to tighten that up.
This is extremely silly and knee jerk. With the way these guys practice im not surprised about all the missed tackles in the first game. Settle down things will improve.
Is it trolling, or is it performance art? I'd be a little bit disturbed if TooGoodForDez is a serious person posting genuine ideas but his posts valuable, albeit maybe in a non-traditional way.
I think coaches will be coming once the season is completed, but I don't see any changes being made prior to that time. I expect the offense to be a little better this year, but I think the defense will will continue to decline. I think another 500 or below season is a real possibility again. If they do end up with their 6th season in a row without a winning season, that should be the end of Philbin and Coyle, along with most of the coaching staff. I think with a quality HC , this could be a good team in the next two or three years. I just don't have any faith in Philbin's ability as an NFL head coach and the longer he is in charge, the longer it will take to get this team headed in the right direction, IMO.
Firing Coyle is ridiculous but I do think he's been getting a free pass while most of the attention has been on the OL, offense, and GM. We've been running a 4-3 with 3-4 personnel for the past two seasons, I'll wait till the real games start to talk 2014 but on paper we seem to have more players suited to the 3-4 again this year. Misi at MLB is a toss of the dice, for example. On talent alone we should be could be a top 10 D, though IMO top 5 would be a realistic possibility if the players we have are used to their strengths.
Wow TGfD, way to trump pumpdog's thread for silliest thread of the preseason so far. Since the defense shut out the Bucs in the first quarter, kind of a moot and stupid thread
The D looked much better today in my view. They generated good pressure and front 7 played well as a unit. Of course, they faced McCown and Tampa's passing game looks really poor. Nonetheless, it was a step in the right direction.
Better performance tonight. However, tackling continues to be issue, that falls on the defensive coaching.
I didn't think tackling was that big of an issue. Other than Jerry Wilson making a stupid mistake of going for the hit instead wrapping up.
Okay, but how would firing Coyle TODAY improve our defense for 2014? It's too late to put a new scheme in place, and it's almost too late to try to restructure a roster with free agent talent that doesn't hold a job elsewhere. So I don't see how firing anyone 2 weeks before the opening kickoff would be a benefit for our team.
I did not say to fire him today. I am saying that he should be under the microscope for front 7 play going back to last season. If the front 7 do not show improvement, it's either Coyle's philosophy (types of players, what he emphasises) or his scheme (positioning, plays, roster). He's had 2 offseasons, 1 season and now he is having a preseason. If things keep going the same way, there is no reason to keep him, and there is a benefit to getting someone who will focus on that, finally. There is no benefit to keeping a coach who does not show improvement over such period of time in spite of glaring reminders game after game. Today they showed improvement, and that's good, and that was needed, and now it needs to become a common affair.
I think Coyle is underrated here. Last year we had the #8 scoring defense (335 points). The thing that makes this even more remarkable is that ( maybe in compensating for a Mike Sherman offense?) we had 1106 defensive snaps (not including penalties) which was 5th most in the NFL. Our 0.3/points-per-play was one of the best in the NFL. (Plus, our 32 FGs against were second most in the league, so we did a lot of forcing field goals instead of giving up TDs.) How did he do it? You'd think it was because our highly paid, vaunted DLine that gets all the publicity. However, our Rushing Def gave up 114 first downs (5th most in the league), and the 8th most yards. That sounds pretty bad, but our 484 rush attempts against was the SECOND most in the NFL, and our 4.1 y/a was actually better than the league average. Instead he did what he was good at, turning a ragtag secondary into one of the league's best. Our opponents' QBR was 77.3, which was 5th best in the NFL. (And we played a lot of good QBs!) We were one of only three teams to get more INTs than pass TDs we gave up. Even better, we only gave up a passing TD 2.9%, which was the second best in the league. So it's understandable to look at our linebackers, and our tackling issues and want to jump off a bridge with a wad of Coyle's hair in your hand, but step away from the ledge. We had arguably a top ten defense last year, and you could make the case we had a top five secondary with an absolute clusterf*ck at the CB position. However, so far this preseason, our rush def is holding opponents to 2.9 y/a (87.5 y/g), and our pass def is still only giving up TD 2.9% (even with that garbage TD tonight), a 51.5% completion (FYI the NFL best last year was BUF 55.3%), and a 82.1 QBR (or a familiar 77.2 w/o that last TD.) But, I'm a homer.
You said ASAP in the original post, so I clearly misunderstood you. And I do agree on all your other points, he does belong on the hot seat since we had 4-5 defensive positions essentially locked with great talent. The only thing I'd add is that he inherited Ellerbe and Wheeler, and on paper that looked like a great move. So I think he deserved a pass for LAST YEAR, but 2014 is completely different.
Honestly, I don't understand the problem. So far this preseason, our passing defense is playing EQUALLY EXCELLENT to last year, our rushing defense is performing BETTER than last year, and our scoring defense is giving up 5+ points LESS than last year. If we kept this pace up last year, we would've had the #2 scoring defense, #1 rush y/a & #3 rush y/g defense, and one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.
Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson will be terror for opposing defenses all year, there is a much bigger room for error with throws to them with their size, look at vincent jackson´s numbers last year without a reliable 2nd guy, i think you underrate that Tampa Bay O
I wasn't on the Coyle bandwagon last year, but thank you for pointing this out. Makes our performance last year much more palatable.
Negative and No. Teams that make the playoffs generally don't do any house cleaning, and this team will make the playoffs.
Definitely underrated. Our scoring defense under Coyle is 5th behind defensive juggernauts San Fran, Seattle, Carolina and Cincinatti. And those teams all protect the defense somewhat with good running games on offense. For us to be in that conversation with no running game to speak of and a pretty crappy offense overall is borderline miraculous. And also consider the CB situation he was dealt in 2012, Sean Smith was his top CB.... And you are selling him a little short, his opponents passer rating was actually 4th in the league last season.
