Pettine's defense

[Gravedigger]

Let's be realistic,

There's some talent to work with on the defensive side of the ball, but it needs to be developed and we need a lot of luck on the injury front. We have zero depth at LB... unless Gilbert continues to improve. Fackrell will likely be cut, I don't think Burks can contribute much of anything this year, and I don't expect much out of Beigel. The DB's are going to be a work in progress - to be sure there will be growing pains.

Best case scenario is that the defense can gel by mid-season, and the young guys can step up by seasons end and be counted on to perform at a higher than average level. That's asking a lot I think. Give Gute another year to shore things up and I expect a ton in year 2.

 

[ski]

Let's be realistic,

There's some talent to work with on the defensive side of the ball, but it needs to be developed and we need a lot of luck on the injury front. We have zero depth at LB... unless Gilbert continues to improve. Fackrell will likely be cut, I don't think Burks can contribute much of anything this year, and I don't expect much out of Beigel. The DB's are going to be a work in progress - to be sure there will be growing pains.

Best case scenario is that the defense can gel by mid-season, and the young guys can step up by seasons end and be counted on to perform at a higher than average level. That's asking a lot I think. Give Gute another year to shore things up and I expect a ton in year 2.

 

[Frozen Tundra]

There seems to be a ton of assumptions about Pettine's defense out there, the man hasn't coordinated a defense since 2013. I think we need to see a lot more before assuming what he is or isn't going to do. Remember he's working with most of the same personnel as last year.

No miracles in year 1 in my humble opinion. Let's see what he's all about.

It's more than fair to take a wait and see approach. I certainly understand the excitement with Capers gone but can sure see why your cautious as well. I think there will always be growing pains with any new system being installed. I could see us having a real stinker game early on.

 

[Terranimal]

Just listened to Woodson with Wilde. Was a great interview he talked about past of Favre and with Rogers and his career in Green Bay and when it ended and all that stuff was pretty cool.

Anyways what he was saying versus Capers versus Petine was that Capers defense is very very complicated and that Petine is more about allowing the guys just play and use their abilities. So we will see.

 

[rpiotr01]

This is no knock on Woodson, but "Capers defense is complicated; Pettine is more about allowing guys to play and use their abilities" is just another football platitude like "west coast offense" or "RPO." It's all vague enough to be meaningless until given proper context, and no one is really talking. That means that either they're all just going to be tight lipped about specifics until they get on the field and can't hide it, or there are no real meaningful changes to take place and it's all coach speak to keep we the plebes content.

But take heart! The good news is that by this time next week, we will have already started to see what Pettine's plan is.

 

[VoiceOfReason]

I am not sure we can judge Pettine defense at all. His last time as a true DC was in Buffalo 4-5 years ago. Different personal and different circumstances . I prefer to wait until 4-5 games into the season before speculating at all. I would be shocked if we see anything outside of plain base in preseason.

 

[57packer]

They have to practice it at some point. I think we see some stuff in practices and preseason. I agree you can't judge much though. Teams don't prepare like they do in the regular season, so what looks good in preseason may not look good in the regular season. Plus you may just get some bits and pieces during preseason but I don't think you see how he uses the scheme to set up things or how he adjusts to what the offense is doing. I agree that game 5 will be a good point to see if he's getting it done.

 

[realitybytes]

We have zero depth at LB...

i know i'm probably alone on this, but i think both gilbert and biegel will be much improved this year, and quite possible worthy of starting for many teams at some point. i think we're going to be okay on the outside. on the inside, i think we're going to be better than okay. i think you may be wrong about burks, and i would not be shocked to see him lead all rookies on the team in total snaps by the end of the season. of course i'm basing all of this on nothing more than a hunch since we haven't seen anything yet.