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+---- Thread: *The Myrtle Beach Defence (/showthread.php?tid=18008)
*The Myrtle Beach Defence - MSombrero - 01-25-2020
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The Myrtle Beach Defence: Is it really that special?
Self-belief is good for a team, delusion is not. The Myrtle Beach Buccaneers defence admiration for themselves is arrogant, and whilst a 2-0 start to the season is a strong sign for the future, there are worrisome cracks to think about as well.
Their first 2 games came at home against (sorry guys) the worst 2 teams in the league, KCC & NOR, who between them went 4-20 last year. Against Norfolk they had a fantastic showing, registering 4 sacks & 4 turnovers, and holding the Seawolves to 7 points. Altogether, a great team performance. Then Kansas City came to town. The defence was admirable again, 7 points being all they gave up. But the turnovers dried up, they only had 1 sack and it was a much more mundane performance by the defence. Still, 2-0, fairly impressive.
Unfortunately, 2 games against the worst folk in the league doesn’t really represent what will happen the rest of the season. To get a better idea, we need to look at their pre-season as well.
And boy, what a preseason. They went 1-3 and played poorly throughout. Teething problems are expected with a new QB, but the offence were actually pretty average, not awful, not great. Chris Ramos, their new QB, was top of the league in completion percentage and the only QB not to throw an INT.
The problem the Buccaneers had was on the defensive side of the ball. They did not turn up, perhaps thinking that it was still the holiday season. They were the worst unit out of any team, trailing the league in some of the most important stats;
Most Touchdowns allowed per game (2.5)
Fewest sacks/game (2.0) (joint with POR)
Worst 3rd down defence rate (41.7% of 3rd downs completed against them, league average 35.3)
2nd most point against (19.5/game) (POR 1st)
Fewest turnovers (0!)
Those don’t look like the stats of a top defence. Most concerning to me is the numbers of turnovers and sacks. Last year, Kacey Dream led the league in interceptions and led this defence in being one that hunted for turnovers. I believed that Dax Frost would come in this season and be a like-for-like replacement, but he’s regressed since coming in last year off of waivers. Jeffrey LaVert has similarly regressed, not making any significant plays all preseason (he recovered 2 fumbles during the Norfolk game though to help recover his stat line). The secondary in particular have been quite loud with their self-praise but I for one can’t see what it is that makes them so confident. They’ll point to the Norfolk game, where they got 3 interceptions and recovered 2 fumbles, but to me that is the outlier. They didn't have turnovers in any other game.
It might be the D-line that’s the bigger problem though. Everyone knows if the DL can get pressure on the QB it creates errant throws and INTs for the defence. But as I mentioned above, they were unable to do much over pre-season. Again this unit turned it around for the game against Norfolk with 4 sacks, before immediately going back to only 1 sack against Kansas.
The Norfolk game seems to have papered over some of the cracks that this team were showing, but I’m concerned that against competitive opposition they’ll again show their soft side. The fact is that the DL isn’t good enough to pressure QB’s into turning the ball over, and the secondary isn’t good enough to force coverage sacks.
I’ll end on a positive note for the Buccaneers. Since game 4 in the pre-season, they’ve allowed only 17 points. The defences main job is to stop the offence scoring, and they’ve done that (recently). They’ll face Tijuana again, on the road, in week 3, and will have tough games against Minnesota and Tijuana weeks 5 and 6. If they keep it together until then, maybe the hype they’re generating will be justified, but for now I’m not buying. Defence wins championships, and I'm not sure Myrtle Beach will walk away with the Ultimini this year.
~~~MSombrero~~~
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*The Myrtle Beach Defence - RotticusScott - 01-25-2020
Can you tell me what team you play for so I can write an article too?
*The Myrtle Beach Defence - MSombrero - 01-25-2020
(01-26-2020, 12:38 AM)RotticusScott Wrote:Can you tell me what team you play for so I can write an article too?
The Grey Ducks. Go wild
If you need a start I can tell you so far in the regular season we allowed the best comp % for QB's and the most yards/attempt on throws
*The Myrtle Beach Defence - Frostbite - 01-25-2020
what the heck, "regression". The less stats I get, the better I am, thats how being a CB works.
*The Myrtle Beach Defence - MSombrero - 01-25-2020
(01-26-2020, 02:11 AM)Frostbite Wrote:what the heck, "regression". The less stats I get, the better I am, thats how being a CB works.
Let's take a look at some key stats to judge that;
S20: 6 games played, 92.2 snaps/game, 3.43% of snaps ending with tackle, 19 Tackles total, 4 Missed tackles, 2 PD, 0 INT, 0 DefTD
S19: 5 games played, 62.0 snaps/game, 5.16% of snaps ending with tackle, 16 tackles total, 1 missed tackle, 7 PD, 2 INT, 1 DefTD
You're playing more and a lower number of your snaps are ending with you making a tackle (which I agree is in general a good thing for a CB). 5.16% -> 3.43% is pretty good improvement as well. However, you've missed more tackles and made far fewer plays on the ball. It might only be because your last year stats were so good but I'd call that regression.
*The Myrtle Beach Defence - jeffie43 - 01-25-2020
"Regression"
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media0.giphy.com/media/G4ZNYMQVMH6us/giphy.gif)