Verner Makes HM on PFF MID AP Team, KW/DM Earn Spot On TOW

ThatTitansFan · Joined: 02 May 2012 Posts: 175

Verner deserves it. He's one of the best corners in the NFL in breaking on the ball and making plays in tight spaces. His only weakness is deep routes, because he doesn't have top end speed. He's the epitome of a zone corner- give him a piece of land to call his own, and he shuts it down.

I agree totally on Morgan and Wimbley- we had our best time of possession all year, and it gave them the chance to pin their ears back and really go to work. Luck was making plays by the barest of margins (the fact he succeeded so often is a testament to his abilities).

And yeah, Martin and the interior Oline were just getting dominated in the second half, unfortunately. They clearly weren't ready for the Colts to start running so many traps and pulls. Just bad game prep that we didn't expect that or switch up what we were doing (that's kind of on Gray tbh).

KingTitan · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 9449 Location: Nashville,TN

ThatTitansFan · Joined: 02 May 2012 Posts: 175

[quote="KingTitan"][quote="ThatTitansFan"]Verner deserves it. He's one of the best corners in the NFL in breaking on the ball and making plays in tight spaces. His only weakness is deep routes, because he doesn't have top end speed. He's the epitome of a zone corner- give him a piece of land to call his own, and he shuts it down. [/quote]

This is what kinda frustrates me....

If we are going to play to our strengths let's be Tampa 2 hybrid....with some blitzing here and there draft accordingly.

Verner is a good zone CB.
McCourty can be a good zone CB.
We have a FS that could be a decent guy with the right people around him.

We just don't have an identity.[/quote]

We tried to by taking out Babs and putting in Rob Johnson. TBH MLB is the key to a tampa two- you have to have a guy that can stuff the run, but can also drop and play his zone perfectly. When McCarthy was healthy in the preseason, he could clearly do that. When he was injured, Spoon clearly couldn't. McCarthy's back and he was definitely an improvement in the run game, but he's slowed by his ankle and lack of conditioning from having to rest so long, so his coverage is pretty weak.

Wait until the bye week- I really think the defense will come together then. McCarthy back at full strength is the biggest piece of the puzzle for us to put it all together.

PS- this is why I won't be surprised if we take an MLB in the second to fourth round. McCarthy is the linchpin of our defense, which is great when he's healthy, because he's a beast. But without him, the whole system kind of falls apart. Defensive End depth, a backup MLB (if someone goes down on the outside, that would help a lot too), and a ballhawking safety are out needs.
NOT CORNER DAMNIT

TitanLegend · Joined: 18 Jun 2012 Posts: 1443

I've been really happy with Derrick Morgan this year. He hasn't been a dominant pass rusher, but he's been incredible in playing the run and his pass rush has gotten better each week. He's finally starting to turn in to the guy we thought we'd get when we drafted him in the 1st round.