When I heard the Chiefs hired Pendergast, I was slightly surprised, but when they named him defensive coordinator, I was shocked. Shocked because the way the Cardinals played defense last year was not in any way like the Patriots have played in the past. Yes, I know the Patriots are very creative on third down, but they can play down after down of the same front and coverage. Their versatility lies in their ability to shift fronts and change their look, but their fundamentals stay the same.
This is not a knock on Pendergast; the shock lies in the fact that two diametrically different philosophies have come together.
over 2 years ago
Joel Thorman
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Nice one, Prime.
We (I) have been talking about how the scheme is going to fit the players, with a couple notable projects in progress. Spot on about how Cunningham would make mincemeat of the scheme in order to compensate for talent shortfalls (gimmickry). Article said that Pendergast mixed it up in much the same way. Nice little bit about how Landry installed the scheme and then spent a couple years getting the right players.
The article highlights the biggest concern I have, which is the cover-2 corners in press coverage. There was rarely much contact at the line last season, which explains why the short pass was so devastating to the KC D last season (imo). Everyone here seems to love KC’s corners, but we haven’t seen what they can really do. Gunther schemed to protect them in coverage (and hoped for pressure from 4 down linemen).
This is why I’m so intrigued by inverted coverages, with Pollard and Page coming up to jam and play in tight, while the cover-2 corners stay back and make plays on the ball. Carr might be physical enough to jam and run with WRs, but Flowers is a big question-mark to me. Whatever is said about last year’s defense, the biggest problem I saw was the passive scheming in the secondary, and the expectations of LBs in zone coverage. To my eye, that was a big part of the easy short passes AND the apparent confusion on the part of the LBs AND why the LBs typically didn’t close on the RB until after a sizeable gain.
Stolen post from Kane on NFP
They grabbed the highest ranked 3-4 DE in the draft with the 3rd pick. Word is they tried to trade down and couldn’t….not really surprising. Some reports say that BJ is not an reliable NT, maybe KC evaluated the same way-I don’t know, I hope BJ has a great career, but I’m good with KC’s pick. Could be that NT becomes a priority next year. Drafting/obtaining OLB talent is an area I am watching closely. There simply weren’t a lot of good choices this year in either category (provided you believe the profile of a Patriot OLB is legit and that it is a profile Pioli retains). I don’t see Vrabel/Thomas as "desperation" moves so much as best moves available.
I agree totally on his insight on what will happen.
Let's Kick some ASS in 09 or Die trying
Yeah, that was what I was thinkin' about BJ.
I also heard that he would’ve been behind Dorsey in the draft, if they’d come out in the same draft year. Seemed like more flash than mash in his game. I think the job description for NT in KC will be to clog up the middle and let the D do all its fighting on the offense’s side of the line of scrimmage.
I don’t think this was a weak class in terms of 3-4 OLBs, so much as the league is still figuring out what to look for in ’tweeners to make the transition to OLB from DE.
One overlooked aspect of the new craze in 3-4 is that a contrary team is going to have a real shot at having a traditional 4-3 look that’s pretty dominant. But with the specialization and gigantism of o-linemen these days, the 5-man front on D that you see so much in the 3-4 might have real staying power. 4 guys big enough to hold down the front 4 position in a traditional 4-3 against o-line behemoths are also up against more teams with QBs who are fast enough to frustrate them in space. We might just be beyond the tipping point on that score.
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