Rammer wrote:I don't care for the 3 man rush, it seems to be counter productive for most 2nd and long plays, and even more of problem with the new rules of no contact. It allows the receivers a huge advantage of not being touched to find space and more time for the refs to call a PI on a defender.
New rules means that a DC has to adapt, and my way of thinking is to force that QB to make a throw sooner than later. Pressure D allows the D to dictate the game and not the O or reffing crew.
To me, Washington is a convert of the defensive philosophy of Wally Buono and Mike Benevedes. Benevedes also benefited from having both Cameron Wake and Brent Johnson at defensive ends. They both favor or favored a four man rush with the occasional 3 man rush or five man rush and play a lot of zone. The philosophy is not to give up the big play, play conservatively, and play vanilla zone defense, forcing the offence to execute a number of plays successfully and force long drives.The only difference between a Buono defense is that we use a 6 man rotation. Benevedes went to a five man defensive line rotation and finally a six man defensive line rotation as we approached the playoffs in his final season as our defensive coordinator
Dave Ritchie was a multi-formational defensive coordinator. He used the entire book. He would bring six and seven defenders on a blitz. On a rare occasion even eight. He would rush also rush two or three defenders at times. You never knew what he was going to do. He used a lot of zone blitzes but he would also change up and play man defence. He loved to send defensive backs on blitzes and used corner, halfback, and safety blitzes. He would drop off a defensive tackle or a defensive end into coverage at times on a zone blitz.
That aggression and innovation led to a lot of sacks and turnovers in Ritchie's 3 seasons as our DC, leading to many more offensive opportuniites. Still. Ritchie had to deal with pressure from Wally to play a more conservative style.
2005 24 interceptions 19 forced fumbles 6 turnovers on downs Total 49 takeaways, Total 45 quarterback sacks (Combined 94)
2006 36 interceptions 20 forced fumbles 5 tunrovers on downs Total 61 takeaways, Total 59 quarterback sacks (Combined 110)
2007 24 interceptions 17 forced fumbles 16 turnovers on downs Total 57 takeaways Total 61 quarterback sacks (Combined 108)
Rich Stubler used a different style than Ritchie. Stubler was a chameleon who loved to line up his defense a certain way but at the snap of the football they were in a different defense. He was a master at disguising different zone coverages and using combination coverages and was even better at restricting passing yards than Ritchie while Ritchie's defenses were more aggressive in going for interceptions. Stubler waa also good at getting pressure on the quarterback, even though he was not known for that aspect of his defensive style. Stubler's defense set a number of Lions defensive category records in 2012, making it statistically the best Leo defense of all time.
2012 18 interceptions, 7 forced fumbles, 7 turnovers on downs, Total 32 takeaways, Total 47 quarterback sacks (Combined 79)
2013 21 interceptions 16 forced fumbles 9 turnovers on downs, Total 46 takeaways, Total 45 quarterback sacks (Combined 91)
Stuber was dumped by Wally after the 2013 season, making him responsible for the loss to the playoff loss to the Riders, as Durrant took off up the middle in the 4th quarter while our defense was missing Sol E. for that playoff game. Stubler was hired by Hufnagel and Stubler's defense would play an integral part of the 2014 Stamps Grey Cup victory.
Mark Washington took over as our DC in 2014. He said his defense would be more aggressive than Stubler's defenses. Didn't happen. Stubler's defense in Calgary finished 1st in the CFL in takeaways while Washington's defense finished 5th. Washington's 2014 stats are below.
2014 14 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, 10 turnovers on downs, Total 35 takeaways, Total quarterback sacks 46 (Combined 81)
It was the lowest number of interceptions our Leos team has had in eons. We also finished 6th against the run, which had a significant impact on our 2014 season. We actually were not that bad last season at sacking the quarterback and Bazzie and Smith were up there amongst the leaders in sacks. Considering how rarely we blitz our quarterback sack numbers were decent.
A lot of focus has been on our defensive line. But like our defensive backs our defensive line is also hamstrung by a vanilla scheme. We mostly rush four in a 6 man rotation while restricting our defensive lineman to their lanes. We rarely stunt, cross, or loop as WCJ points out. Defensive lineman only have so many individual moves. Other CFL defensive lines benefit a lot more from stunts, blitzes, and formation, as well as end-tackle, tackle/linebacker, and end/linebacker games. Their blitzes often serve as run blitzes as well as pass blitzes.
Washington said again in the off-season that he would be more aggressive in 2015 than he was in 2014. So far we are waiting.
I really don`t belive the major issue is our defensive line. I believe the bigger issue is our defensive philosophy. I believe we are not getting the most out of our talent because our defense is too vanilla, too predictable, and does not provide enough opportunities for players as Bighill to showcase all their talents.