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Meh. I'm fairly indifferent to whether they fire Ken Norton.
Norton was hired to be a glorified motivational speaker. We aren't going to get a high quality DC here while Pete is the head coach because he runs the defense.
We've had, what, 4 DCs in Pete's era? Has the defense changed one ounce, other than the talent?
WHAT?
You don't like seeing opposing teams WR being open will 10 yards of separation in every direction.
Seattle D-Coach
Let's not guard the WR, by playing zone
play- Team X, QB throws to WIDE open WR. 2o yard gain.
me- please don't play zone you do NOT have the pass rush to get to the QB, It's going to be pitch and catch, please...
Seattle D coach- Well I bet they wouldn't do that again
next play
play- Team X QB throws to WIDE open WR. 20 yard gain.
Me-
That was Seattle D all season
When we lost Quinn our defense took a big step backwards under Richards, Pete doesn’t run the D, he lets his coordinators call the shots, he’s big on letting coaches do what they do... We can’t ignore this, under Norton the defense has been near the bottom of the league, when he was with the Raiders same thing... Getting a new DC should be at the top of the list, along with resigning Clowney ...
I see no evidence that Pete let's either of his coordinators call their own shots. He gives them pretty clear constraints. In 8 years we have essentially played the same defense every year. If anything this defense tried to do new things this year. But our unwillingness to blitz, which was true under Bradley, Quinn, Richard and Norton, was a clear problem this year.
Richard's last year as DC was the year we lost Sherman and Avril for the year and Thomas for most of the year.
The defense was No. 1 in Richard's 1st year and dropped down to 13th in his last year. The decline continued under Norton.
My point isn't that we should keep Norton. Like I said, I'm fairly indifferent to whether he stays or goes. Unless Pete hires someone that is allowed to put their own defense in there, it is going to be the same thing warmed over.
Some guy's just aren't good at playing chess, the X's and O's of attacking an offense, putting players in the best position to succeed... Richards was bad at it and so is Norton... Pete is known for letting coordinators be themselves, call the shots, he's known for that, has even talked about it... You could see it right away when Richards took over, confusion in the secondary, mistakes that were uncharacteristic of how this team was playing prior... Good coaching makes a HUGE difference... Even with less talented players a good coach can have a defense playing disciplined and at least in the top 15 in the league...
I guess. We had a No. 1 D the first year he was DC though.
I guess I just don't see playcalling being that big a factor on D. IMO, individual talent is the biggest predictor of defensive effectiveness. Scheme after that. Playcalling is a distant 3.
Hell the Seahawks ran 2 defenses, Cover 3 and outside Man-Zone, pretty much exclusively for the last 10 years. When we had 3 Hall of Famers at the peak of their abilities, we were an elite defense. Now we have 1 Hall of Famer at the end of his career.
You gotta have talent that's a given, but you also need to call a good game and put players in good positions to succeed ... It's unacceptable to be near the bottom of the league defensively, that's 2 years in a row now our D has just sucked, and it's not like we have no talent... Our D has been utterly gashed by scrub QB's the last 2 years...
Well I agree that our defense has been poor these past 2 years. I just don't think it is because of Ken Norton. I think it's because we haven't had any pass rush to speak of for the past few years. IMO, it is just ridiculous that a team that is bottom 3 in pass pressure rate is also bottom 3 in blitz frequency. IMO, that is just Pete being stuck in his ways.
Now this should be the first offseason in a long time where the Hawks should have some cash to make some moves. I'd like to see what JS/PC does this offseason to get that pass rush to adequate.
You gotta admit though, dropping Clowney your best pass rusher into coverage with the season on the line 3rd and long is not playing good chess ... lol ... But yeah, pass rush needs to improve, that starts by resigning Clowney, and definitely not bringing Ansah back..he was a disappointment...
On its own, it sounds like a bad idea. But, honestly, the Packers were 8-13 on 3rd prior to that play. Clowney was clearly not 100%. If the Hawks defense had been stout all game and they did that, it would be far less defensible.
Is he bringing the Niners defensive line with him?