Is Diaz crazy like a fox?

[Crazy Cotton]

Shared the frustration last night watching Auburn gash us regularly for 5-8 yards a carry. Frustrating because in the second half, really the last three quarters of the LSU game, their running game was shut down as much as it will be all year, and that means their offense was more or less shut down. Sitting there thinking what happened to that defense?

But when I went back and watched a bit of the Auburn game this morning, it was obvious Diaz was most concerned about the long pass; our safeties were keeping everything in front of them all night, so they weren't available for run support in the same way they were against LSU. Auburn's longest pass play was 22 yards (with the RAC), they averaged less than 10 yards a catch. Doesn't excuse getting blown off the line at times or sloppy tackling, but with a 14 point lead and the offense looking good, he was giving them the run pretty much thinking they can't outscore us with 6 minute drives when we can move the ball like it appeared we could.

The offense had two crucial drops and a fumble in the second half that almost cost us (and no running game to eat clock), so they didn't exactly hold up their end, but when it tightened up in the late stages of the game and Auburn's run game wasn't an option for them because of time, Manny threw some nasty blitzes at them (that weaving linebacker from the left side was a thing of beauty) that took away the pass and sealed the deal. I'm wondering what we're gonna see at aTm - blitz happy Manny perhaps?

 

[Original48]

I think Manny is crazy like a raccoon. You really can't tell that he's coming through the doggy door and eating the dog food until he ends up trapping himself in the outside garbage can. Yes it's frustrating..but you can't get mad at him cause he's so darn cute!

 

[Dawgology]

That...

I think Manny is crazy like a raccoon. You really can't tell that he's coming through the doggy door and eating the dog food until he ends up trapping himself in the outside garbage can. Yes it's frustrating..but you can't get mad at him cause he's so darn cute!

Is a brilliant analogy

 

[MaroonNation]

He broke his 17'ing headset at some point during during the 2Q.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

Thin line between down-home-folksy and bat **** crazy.

 

[codeDawg]

We got gashed early brining heat and getting caught out of position. Once they had to start throwing the ball, it was all pass rush and we faired a lot better.

I tell you what. If you want 5 yards, run it at Beni Brown. That guy get blocked out and just plain loafs around on every play his way.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

No but he's curious like a cat. That's why his friends call him whiskers.

 

[Fritz!]

Saw that, wondered if it was on purpose. Then he had a new one after the half.

 

[Sutterkane]

I think Diaz is brilliant. Nothing against Collins but the types of guys he likes and who Diaz likes are very different. Diaz gets "his type" of guys in there, we're gonna be a beast on defense. Not that we're awful right now but you can tell he wants more out of the talent level we have. Not sure if it's a culture thing from Collins or what, but while our defense is more talented than it was when he was here, the swagger level is WAY down.

 

[LilSebastian]

I think in two years we've gotten a pretty good window into what our flaw is on defense, and two ways defensive coordinators look to mitigate that flaw.

Last year, Collins basically had two sets of defenders, which he swapped in and out over the course of a drive, all but platooning position groups to keep guys fresh. As we have learned, freshness matters, but only to a degree. He also played pretty conservative D, picking his spots. It was pretty vanilla until it suddenly wasn't. If it worked, we were able to essentially tell the other team what offense they could run, and they could get their 2 TDs, but we'd get more and go home happy. At it's worst, our outside DB would get embarrassed or our safety would fail to bring down a tight end or take a bad angle -- good offensive players can make this happen against lesser defenders. A good QB can recognize the bad guy in the lineup, and more often than not its 6.

This year, Diaz has basically the same approach, but I think a better set of DBs, and maybe a just serviceable LB corps. On first down, he'll design penetration from one side of the front seven/six, and just try and get lucky with a sack or stop behind the line. If it works, he'll get all his best guys on the field and let them play tight, his playcalling may get a bit more aggressive. If it doesn't, he'll give up a short pass and try again on the next set of downs. As long as our LBs can tackle, we won't give up the long TD run. He figures he can only get beat by a great pass within the red zone, because a safety will never be too far away. This allows him to blitz both sides, or sell out with a corner blitz, knowing the other team can only get some separation by the time the DBs get to the QB. This allows him to play two or three second string guys a play so long as they can tackle, then put in a fresh set of guys in the red zone. Forget what announcers always say about fat guys breathing hard with hands on their hips, that's just what people do when they need air.

Both guys give up yards. Heaps of yards. You could start a parks and rec department with the amount of field they give up -- even against meh competition. But in 2015, you need to have an offense capable of putting up 21+ against a good defense in order to say that you have any kind of offense. I'm really not sure why people seem to think we're playing poorly when we're basically on schedule. We're playing poorly when they are scoring from outside the red zone or beating us inside the 10.

 

[Junction John]

This deserves a

I think Manny is crazy like a raccoon. You really can't tell that he's coming through the doggy door and eating the dog food until he ends up trapping himself in the outside garbage can. Yes it's frustrating..but you can't get mad at him cause he's so darn cute!

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