Alright, fix the defense. (In-season version.)
 

This is an in season exercise. So no, you cannot solve our defense by drafting better players in 2022.

How would you go about fixing what we're doing right now?

It’s a combo of everyone’s ideas put together.

1. Make your base defense the nickel.
2. Simplify the defense.
3. Move Jones back to DT except for obvious passing downs.
4. Sign Taco Charlton off of the Steelers PS.
5. Get Gay back and bench Niemann.
6. Bench Sorenson and start Thornhill.

What does making the base defense the nickel do for them?

Make substitutions easier. Teams are getting them in their base right now and then running hurry up when the Chiefs are trying to sub in different players. DJsLeftNut talked about it in another thread.

That seems to make them even easier to run on, is what I'd think.

Getting Willie Gay back theoretically reduces some of the strain here. If he can legit cover backs and tight ends you shift less.

My thought process is shift to a heavy nickel as your base.

That puts Sorensen down in the box and Thornhill in at FS. It then frees Mathieu up to play rover (as he's been playing about 50% of his snaps as a true FS this season).

It takes Nieman off the field, who's no better than Sorensen in run support, so you're about even there. Meanwhile you've now given Mathieu a little more run to go out there in support and maybe funnel things back to the middle where you at least have a couple of large bodies in Nnadi and Reed/Saunders.

Additionally, with Mathieu out there with a little more freedom, you don't have to sell out quite as badly to defend the flats. He's more capable of reading/reacting than Sorensen is. At that point he doesn't have to commit quite as quickly to still be involved in the play, so you're less prone to misdirection and backs breaking into the pattern late.

And most of all, it's a package you're going to stay in most of the time so they can't catch you mid-change and/or confuse your subs as they're trying to set up.

Essentially what you're doing is converting to a 4-2-5 base defense by swapping Niemann out for Sorensen and thus allowing Mathieu a bit more of a robber role. Is your run defense going to be better? Eh...maybe not...but I think it will be different. I think it will be less confused and I think it will be less susceptible to big plays. I don't think it will be appreciably worse between the tackles.

1) Find a player like Javon Hargrave and put him in the middle.
2) Profit

Before pointing to a solution, I want to understand the problem. What's the biggest difference this year from last year?

I'm confused why there is *such* a drop-off in performance when we didn't have a mass exodus of personnel. Were there schematic changes? Is it failure to adapt/evolve? Our first four opponents' offensive talent?

The only major *new* thing I can easily point to is Jones' move to DE, and Sorenson's yips when it comes to tackling. Nieman was shitty in coverage last year, too, so that's not new.

Is Mathieu doing anything different? Hitch playing worse?

We have one of those.

He's playing DE.

Yeah you need your big money defensive end to actually play

Maybe throw a late round pick to someone team that sucks and decides to blow it up at the deadline. Never have too many pass rushers

Find 2 of 'em.

Eagles still looking to move Derek Barnett? Probably couldn't get the Bills to deal with us, but Addison and Obada could all be useful - maybe even Butler.

Go sign Aldon Smith if you need to. And PLEASE get Olivier Vernon signed before someone else does. What's Trent Murphy up to? Do Ezekiel Ansah or Vic Beasley have anything left at all? ****ing find out.

We really need to stop pretending like the answers are on this roster.

Barnett interests me.

Honestly, Frank is gone next year and hitchens too. They’ll free up some money so if there were a dude out there that might even need a deal next year, do it.

There’s gotta be someone somewhere

Yeah - but you remember the Patrick Peterson debacle.

If teams sense weakness they'll look to put you over a barrel.

Nobody's looking to make things easier for KC and if they do, they're going to want it to hurt.

Break out the defensive schemes we used the remainder of the season and playoffs after losing to the Tits in '19 that put us at 6-4

Get our walking wounded back on the field so their backups don't have to play every down

Nab Taco back from the Stealers, and learn to live with Kaindoh and his growing pains

For the love of all things holy, admit Jones at end was a mistake and put him back where he made his fame and fortune