A criticism of Bohl?

[Yabadabadoo]

For those who believe I have developed a seemingly blind faith to Craig Bohl (I have not - I do believe he is the one to turn this thing around) I believe you might find this post to your liking.

Let me say before I get to the criticism that I am struck by this season from the Cowboys and Bohl (which I consider to be his truly 1st season as the coach for reasons I have previously stated) to be one of almost a mirror image to the one Jimmy Johnson had in Dallas during his first year with those other Cowboys back in 1989.

Stroll with me back to that year and it was the bottoming out of the Dallas Cowboys franchise with a club that finished the season 1-15. You couldn't tell it right at that moment, but a dynasty was being forged amid the smoldering rubble that the cosmetic record showed. You think after 1-15 a long time Dallas Cowboys fan wasn't telling everyone he ran into that it was over, that the Cowboys franchise needed a total re-evaluation, that this Jimmy Johnson may have earned his bones in that college game on Saturday's, but this is the NFL and he's clearly in over his head? Think overreaction wasn't the calling card of the day in Big D during those days? If a Dallas Cowboys fan back then had stated following that 1-15 season that they'd win the Super Bowl in only 3 short seasons after that, that fan would have been institutionalized I'm sure.

Now I'm not claiming that our Cowboys will run along parallel tracks to the Dallas Cowboys so far as their rebuild was concerned back then, no, I'm simply calling out again, YELLING actually, and reminding many of you that things take time to come together.

Okay now for the criticism.

No matter what players we have on defense, here in 2015, next year, or the year when I expect the contention window to open up for a championship in 2018, I HATE, HATE, HATE, the Tampa-2 defense that we run and that Bohl favors.

I despise the zone, I despise giving away any yards, I detest laying back and keeping things in front of you.

We lack the requisite talent to play any defense consistently right now - but a soft zone - is something that I really disagree with.

Thus a reevaluation of our defensive philosophy is something I am hoping occurs...give me a bulldog defense with varying looks to confuse an offense, give me blitzing linebackers and safties, give me a defense in attack mode that concedes not a square inch of turf, as opposed to this philosophy of a bend but don't break defense that Bohl favors.

Look at that, I just questioned Craig Bohl's decision making.

Lastly, in Craig Bohl I trust.

Go Pokes!

 

[WyoBrandX]

We should have hired Jimmy Johnson! Haha.

Seriously, some good points in there. However, I think a good mix of man and zone defense are good. It keeps the quarterbacks honest when the defense isn't clicking. If you have fast guys, and they can keep up, man to man is good, but your always suceptible to a deeper pass. That takes some serious discipline. On the flip side, the zone makes you succeptible to inside routes.

A combination of the two is great - but getting pressure on the QB is almost as important.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

We should have hired Jimmy Johnson! Haha.

Seriously, some good points in there. However, I think a good mix of man and zone defense are good. It keeps the quarterbacks honest when the defense isn't clicking. If you have fast guys, and they can keep up, man to man is good, but your always suceptible to a deeper pass. That takes some serious discipline. On the flip side, the zone makes you succeptible to inside routes.

A combination of the two is great - but getting pressure on the QB is almost as important.

Your counter is good as well...lets face it WBX, right now, outside of Yarbrough on the line, we have nothing on defense. We don't have a single LB who would start for even an average CFB team...which we are a long ways from being right now. In fact on most plays today it looked like we were playing without any linebackers on the field, so undistinguished is that group currently.

We have some battlers on the back end and some players who I think have the ability to develop eventually into really good players, Pownell Jr, Priester, Wingard, and Makransky, but right now they're very much hit and miss from play to play.

Our defense is truly bad right now, an understatement if ever.

 

[WyoBrandX]

Certainly interesting points. Disclaimer: I'm an idiot - and I didn't see the first game. I listened to it on the radio. It was not fun.

I had heard our lines were very very rough in the first game. Today, I saw our O-line be fairly resilient. I've seen many worse in the DC era. Despite it looking resilient, it was against a team that I thought was FCS. At least the rushing yards backed up up on this one. Passing yards - well, we didn't have a qb that could throw 90% of the game - If smith had hit his recievers, it could have been a different game.

D-line - these guys can't get the quarterback to throw the ball early, make mistakes, or cough up the ball. The linebackers can. In fact, the front 4 didn't seem to stop the run. It was the linebackers. The defensive line has to get in there and stop the run and "fuck up" the quarterback a bit. The linebackers did a good job helping them out though - until the pass came.

The linebackers/secondary are just in bad shape when it comes to stopping the pass. They are all young - so they should learn. I hope our defensive staff can teach them to do something more than stand out there like a chess pawn.

It takes time - I know. I'm no expert - I'm just a fan. And as far as I'm concerned, its ok to be critical, but its not ok to call individual players out - god knows they busted their asses off as best as they knew how today. I just hope our coaching staff can give them the knowlege this next week to take on Washington State and win it.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

I hate th soft zone we play. Giving up 7-10 yards to the receivers before we even engage them is insane to me... No wonder we get picked apart constantly...

 

[BeaverPoke]

If you don't count the 4-8 season last year as his first year, then he is even worse than I thought.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

If you don't count the 4-8 season last year as his first year, then he is even worse than I thought.

2018.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

If you have a great d line that generates pressure, the T2 is much more effective. The problem is that I'm not sure we ever get those type of linemen and the T2 was designed to stop west coast, I think. How many college teams run west coast? The spread in college eats the T2 alive.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

If you have a great d line that generates pressure, the T2 is much more effective. The problem is that I'm not sure we ever get those type of linemen and the T2 was designed to stop west coast, I think. How many college teams run west coast? The spread in college eats the T2 alive.

We agree!

 

[BJC]

Didn't USC drop the Tampa 2 because it didn't work against the new offenses? Pretty sure they could get the dl.....this is just based on what I've read.

If our dline can't get pressure....how are they being coached? Weren't they better last year? Wasn't there a change this year.......

Again these are legit questions I have.

 

[BackHarlowRoad]

Doesn't really matter what defense we run when we have 198 pound linebackers.

Honestly. We have cornerbacks playing linebacker, linebackers playing d-line, and we expect to plug holes, make tackles, and pressure the QB.

 

[Adv8RU12]

I hate the soft zone we play. Giving up 7-10 yards to the receivers before we even engage them is insane to me... No wonder we get picked apart constantly...

I you hate it now, your head will explode when the Pokes go against a very good passing team like Washington State. I expect the time-of-possession ratio to be 3 to one in favor of the Pokes because when WSU gets the ball it will have a TD in 5 or 6 plays - all passing.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

If you have a great d line that generates pressure, the T2 is much more effective. The problem is that I'm not sure we ever get those type of linemen and the T2 was designed to stop west coast, I think. How many college teams run west coast? The spread in college eats the T2 alive.

We agree!

I can now cross one more thing off of my bucket list. It has been one of my life goals to find something we can agree on, DINO.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

If you have a great d line that generates pressure, the T2 is much more effective. The problem is that I'm not sure we ever get those type of linemen and the T2 was designed to stop west coast, I think. How many college teams run west coast? The spread in college eats the T2 alive.

We agree!

I can now cross one more thing off of my bucket list. It has been one of my life goals to find something we can agree on, DINO.

I was concerned that this was going to be a less than satisfying Sunday for me what with us not ever seeming to find any common ground, in addition to watching a now very limited Peyton Manning struggling to play the kind of quarterback the Broncos will need to make big things happen this year. But after I saw that we see eye-to-eye on this my Sunday has been wrapped up perfectly. I pray your Sunday is now as good as my own. Godspeed to you, sir.

 

[joshvanklomp]

The defense is by far my biggest concern of this team moving forward. I'm not worried about a run-based offense working at the FBS level.

I don't know if it's the scheme itself or simply the execution of the scheme, but something isn't working. And it needs to be fixed quickly. I think we're seeing some pieces, like Andrew Wingard. However, he needs more help.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

I hate the soft zone we play. Giving up 7-10 yards to the receivers before we even engage them is insane to me... No wonder we get picked apart constantly...

I you hate it now, your head will explode when the Pokes go against a very good passing team like Washington State. I expect the time-of-possession ratio to be 3 to one in favor of the Pokes because when WSU gets the ball it will have a TD in 5 or 6 plays - all passing.

3 to 1 time of possession in favor of the Pokes and 3 to 1 score differential in favor of the Cougars? Is that what we have to look forward to?

 

[Slow Hand]

I hate the soft zone we play. Giving up 7-10 yards to the receivers before we even engage them is insane to me... No wonder we get picked apart constantly...

I you hate it now, your head will explode when the Pokes go against a very good passing team like Washington State. I expect the time-of-possession ratio to be 3 to one in favor of the Pokes because when WSU gets the ball it will have a TD in 5 or 6 plays - all passing.

3 to 1 time of possession in favor of the Pokes and 3 to 1 score differential in favor of the Cougars? Is that what we have to look forward to?

I remember back a ways someone was trying to tell me that T.O.P. is an important stat! LOL, doesn't mean shit! It is how you execute when you do have the ball that matters!

 

[BeaverPoke]

I hate the soft zone we play. Giving up 7-10 yards to the receivers before we even engage them is insane to me... No wonder we get picked apart constantly...

I you hate it now, your head will explode when the Pokes go against a very good passing team like Washington State. I expect the time-of-possession ratio to be 3 to one in favor of the Pokes because when WSU gets the ball it will have a TD in 5 or 6 plays - all passing.

3 to 1 time of possession in favor of the Pokes and 3 to 1 score differential in favor of the Cougars? Is that what we have to look forward to?

I remember back a ways someone was trying to tell me that T.O.P. is an important stat! LOL, doesn't mean shit! It is how you execute when you do have the ball that matters!

Those same people that were so hell bent about TOP are the ones that think Bohl is the savior!