BR: The Vick/Haslett Dynamic

[Om]

Stumbled on this piece written by a fan on BR. Can't vouche for the research or factual accuracy, but I thought it was a pretty even-handed and interesting piece.

Still hoping against hope the gut instinct I've had about Haslett since he was hired is wrong. Not sure this is a great week to expect it though.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-examing-the-michael-vick-jim-haslett-dynamic

It may have been a while ago, but there was a time in Atlanta when an up-and-coming superstar would revolutionize the game forever and take the league by storm. It was known as the Michael Vick experience.

Jim Haslett knows about this all too well. Although, he wouldn’t call it the Michael Vick experience. In his case, it would be the Michael Vick nightmare.

Due to injuries, Vick only played five games against the Saints in the five years that Haslett was coaching the New Orleans Saints, from the time Vick entered the league as a rookie. The Saints would lose all five games.

Haslett got his first taste of Vick in the young sensation’s second year in the pros. Boasting a 6-1 record at home, Haslett’s Saints were riding high. Meanwhile, Vick took an inexperienced 3-3 Falcons team into the Superdome and pulled off a surprising upset, leading the Falcons to a 37-35 victory.

The Falcons would go on to sweep the Saints in 2002, Vick’s sophomore season. From there on, Vick would continue to have Haslett’s number...

CLICK HERE to read more

 

[riggins44]

Not trying to pile on, but think I may have had the same gut instinct. Like you hope I am wrong. Hope it was just gas.

 

[Om]

Something about Haslett made me iffy on him from day one.

The research I did didn't help.

Prove me wrong, Jim.

 

[Jimbo]

Something about Haslett made me iffy on him from day one.

The research I did didn't help.

Prove me wrong, Jim.

You and I have always been on the same page ever since Haslett was hired. While I love his "aggressive" approach, it served us well against Dallas, it seems that the Texans and Rams have already figured out his Defense and have been successful at exploiting its weaknesses.

London Fletcher can talk about players and sub-packages all he wants. The fact is, most of the time the players are not in a position to make plays because the Offense knows they WON'T be there.

Haslett needs to revamp his scheme so the Offense doesn't know where the Defense is going to be on every play. Right now, they seem to know exactly what we're doing. Also, just once I'd like to see Haslett take the containment approach with Vick. Keep him IN the pocket and force him to beat you with his arm. Granted, Vick has better receivers than when he was with Atlanta but he's still not all that accurate when throwing from the pocket. If you're aggressive to the point of allowing him to get outside the tackle box and run towards the line of scrimmage, he'll beat you 9 times out of 10.

 

[Om]

I'm not ready to blow Haslett up quite yet, despite the uneasiness. The change from 4-3 to 3-4 is simply not something that happens smoothly or overnight. If the players are still thinking their way through their assignments on the run, it can be the difference between being six inches better positioned in the hole and lead to a stop at the line instead of a dragged tackler and a 5 yard gain.

I need to see this same unit, doing the same things they are now, only doing them instinctively and aggressively instead of reactionary and cautious. I won't know if it's the schemes or just the learning curve until then.

 

[China]

Yeah, I remain unimpressed with Haslett. Let's hope he's due against Vick and gets one.


BTW, there's an error in the link in your original post.

 

[servumtuum]

Philly might be an opportunity to check Haslett when he has a good opportunity to demonstrate his DC chops.

The Eagles lead the NFL in the number of sacks allowed with 14-Vick has been sacked 11 times, 3 by Green Bay, 5 by Detroit, and 3 by Jacksonville.

Detroit's total might seem high but they're 3rd in the league with 11 sacks so far (!)

Jacksonville has the same total number of sacks as the Skins with 7 and, as noted, 3 of those came against Vick and the Eagles.

In other words-it looks like Haslett has a fairly vulnerable target for his blitz "magic".

I'll be interested in seeing how he does.

Oh, BTW, Om, you said;

The change from 4-3 to 3-4 is simply not something that happens smoothly or overnight. .

Dom Capers did a fairly creditable job of doing just that in Green Bay last season. It still seems to be working-the Packers are currently ranked #3 in pass D. Their rushing D kinda sucks-they're ranked #18 there.

They also have garnered 13 sacks, mostly due to Clay Matthews, but the Bears stumbled across the idea of double-teaming the guy, so that sack rate may be dropping.

 

[Jimbo]

Anytime you take a Defense ranked in the Top 10 and switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4, you are probably doing something wrong as a coach if your Defense is ranked last after just three games. It's clear adjustments need to be made and NOT just by the players.

 

[Om]

Fixed the link ... thanks.

I know the Pack switched last year. I think I remember hearing some pretty unhappy things out of GB in the early stages of last year though. Am I misremembering?

 

[servumtuum]

Fixed the link ... thanks.

I know the Pack switched last year. I think I remember hearing some pretty unhappy things out of GB in the early stages of last year though. Am I misremembering?

Your memory's not that bad from what I remember-they struggled in the first part of the season being 4-4 at one point and there were some complaints about the switch to a 3-4 but got it together later-admittedly mostly due to improving Roger's chances of not being on the ground 6 times a game-but they did finish the season with a pretty high defensive rating. But there was an adjustment period as players used to a 4-3 learned the new system so I have to give maybe 4-6 more games before I can even begin to draw any solid conclusions about our switch.

Something that I've been watching is Green Bay's ILBs which although similar to ours aren't quite as good, I don't think. Their run D is weak but their pass D is excellent-and as I noted they've accumulated 13 sacks. Capers is creative to the point of almost being bizarre in his defensive sets-one down lineman?!?

Granted, it helps to have someone like Charles Woodson around-and an up and coming OLB like Matthews (of course we have Rak so that's kind of an equalizer there)-and this season the up-and-comer is NT B.J. Raji whose athleticism is going to give Rabach headaches when we play them.


My point here is that I think it may take the rest of the season for the 3-4 to really "sink in" here although, like yourself I'm looking for progress.

 

[stevenaa]

I think it will take a season as well for the D. And the addition of more appropriate personnel.