What the Faulk
You'll know when you go
Pretty much this. Shula isn't the best, but he's been successful as the OC since Chudzinski left. They've consistently been among the better scoring teams since 2013 and through 2015 (where they led the league in scoring) won more games than everyone not named the Broncos, Patriots, Cardinals, or Seahawks. They didn't exactly come out of nowhere last year.
But that team clearly had flaws. Cam took a beating against tough defenses (check out Seattle tape), and the offense went to **** when Remmers and Oher struggled. That was not addressed at all, and now they're working with depth guys who have no business starting on a team like this. They lack a true slot guy who can get you those 5-15 yard crossing routes to beat a blitz (Philly Brown isn't that guy).
Defensively, Norman helped, but so did the experience of Charles Tillman and Roman Harper. It allowed Benwikere to largely play nickel, where he fared better with less responsibility. He had his moments where he was beaten for big plays (Randall Cobb caught an 80 yarder in Week 6 or something) but those were far and few in between. In 2016 he'd been asked to be the guy with inexperienced safeties like Tre Boston and Colin Jones back there, and with two rookies looking up to him. That was predictably a disaster. Kurt Coleman is the only other returning member of the secondary (Robert McClain doesn't count), and he's not a guy you build around. He's a player you add to a strong unit, like in 2015.
But, as you said, all of that would be fine if they were getting pressure. Which, they aren't.
EDIT:
They weren't doing much in the way of that from the outside last year either (Jared Allen was just okay), but it was better than this. Short has struggled in a contract year and is useless against the run. Their first round DT is now hurt, and he was only a rotational player anyway. Ealy and Johnson have largely been invisible, and they banked heavily on both of them having great years. Davis has been banged up recently, but he and Kuechly haven't played that great. Thompson has come along nicely, but he's splitting time covering the slot and just cannot matchup with speedy guys.
I have faith in the offense continuing to score as long as Cam gets healthy, but defensively, this feels like the 2014 team. Some good to great players, but a young and inexperienced secondary. They really need one or more of Butler/Worley/Sanchez/Bradberry to step forward, and to figure out what the hell is going on at DE, because this isn't the defense this team is capable of playing.
Last edited:
