How do you not fire your damn coordinator after our defensive playoff performances vs. the Colts, Steelers and Titans?
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What did he do wrong against the Steelers besides the Houston on Brown play? Kept them out of the end zone.
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Because so many CP members said their wasn’t a problem with our defense when the defense carried the team through the Alex years.

Bob wasn’t the problem then. So why is he now?
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If Hitchens doesn't take 2 false steps on a half-assed jab step, the 'gimpiness' is fine.

If Hitchens can't cover Jared Cook, WTF good is he? And as for the gimpiness, you have to ask who's behind him and just how gimpy is he? I never saw a noticeable hitch apart from him just looking his usual self. Contrast that to Hill who I absolutely saw a noticable limp from who simply dialed it, pushed through it and took care of business when he had to.

Everyone has dings and Hitchens didn't look obviously different than he has all year. Moreover, he wasn't outrun by Cook - he got faked out of his jock by a shitty route. I just don't see how you criticize Sutton there for not realizing his ILB couldn't give him a puncher's chance vs. a mediocre TE.
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All I'm saying is that it's Week 14 in the NFL. These young guys aren't going to suddenly get it right before the season ends. It isn't going to change this season. It simply doesn't matter what they do - they suck and it can't be fixed until the offseason.
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This.

Part of me thinks that Hitchen's problem is surrounding talent.
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Nothing is going to be fixed this offseason. We're fucked on defense for the foreseeable future.
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They dont need to be a top 5 defense, they just need to not suck and that would go a long ways, they can accomplish that during an offseason.
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The issue with the defense is that a defense doesn't have a quarterback.

You can't just swap Alex Smith for Pat Mahomes and paper over a dozen problems. Aaron Donald is a horse and the Rams defense is still suspect.

Folks got upset when Veach said this was year 1 of a 2 year rebuild on the defense and frankly I wasn't sure why. Honestly, I'd be content if it only takes 2 years. That defense needed to be gutted from the ground up and you just cannot do that worth a damn in 1 season. Defense is too easy to find one hole and exploit it.

If you're going to rebuild a D, it takes 2-3 seasons and a lot of really good picks. It took the Jags 3-4 years and all it took was one little stumble for that to fall apart. You just have to be sound EVERYWHERE.

That's a hell of a lot harder to do than it is on offense. I mean seriously - take Patrick Mahomes out of the equation and look at the O vs. the D; it's not as hysterically lopsided as you think it is.

The offense, sans Mahomes, has 3 'blue chip' players right now in Kelce, Hill and probably Schwartz. The it has a good player in Watkins, a couple of above average players in Fisher and Morse, then some JAGs. The D has 3 blue chippers in Jones, Ford and probably Houston. It has a good player in Fuller and then a couple of average to slightly above in Bailey and Nelson. Then there are JAGs.

Well when you have a JAG out there on offense you can scheme around that guy and cover for him. It's just a lot harder to do that on D - the offense will find your weakness and it's easier for them because they're proactive. Defenses are reactive so they have a harder time focusing on a weakness and exploiting it.

And unlike offense, you can't just roll Aaron Donald out there and have him save the day every other play.

Rebuilding a defense is hard and every misstep is a tough hole to dig out of. Hitchens is a miss that's gonna hurt for awhile. The shit sandwich of K-Pass and Speaks is something we're gonna feel for a bit.

The problem isn't the timeline Veach gave; 2 years is a reasonable period. The problem is that I don't think we got any closer in year 1 - the imports just aren't very good. So we may well be 2 years away still and that's the part that sucks.
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They moved the ball at will the entire game except inside the 10, including the last drive when we had to have a stop.

Does anyone even think if we tied it w/o Fisher's hold - that they wouldn't have marched down and got a FG to end the game?
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I don't want this POS rebuilding anything. Move him to the basement near the boiler.
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My buddy that's an eagles fan is constantly telling me "no matter what you all think or say" Fat Andy will not fire Sutton... Andy lost his job in Philly because he refused to get rid of his DC."....You guys are just repeating history
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So far that seems to be true.
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If Hitchens is that reliant on needing a Jaylen Smith/Sean Lee type next to him to play well then they overpaid massively for a complimentary piece and not a stud. They are paying top 5 at the position. He's getting Bobby Wagner money.
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I watched a lot of old Dallas games with Hitchens making great attacks on RBs blowing up plays. I was very excited when the signed him. I know he's capable. But he just hasn't been nearly as explosive here. He just doesn't seem to fit for some reason, I don't know..
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