Over the past few years, there have been several games where one of our players on D makes a very nice play on the ball, but cant secure the interception.
The sense I get is that our staff is happy that the player broke up the play, and while they may be upset that the player didnt make the INT, it's not the end of the world (of course I cant 'prove' this...just reacting to the lack of frustration/comments from the staff around these plays)...
I believe that if we want to raise our overall level of play on D, we HAVE to expect more in these situations. It's not enough for Cioffi to make that play at the end of the game. He has to come up with the ball there. Same with Jacobs (much more obvious example). Same with Austin when he stepped in front of the WR. we need our guys to start taking the ball away when it hits them in the hands.
Look at the MSU game last night...their DB makes an amazing play, but comes up with the ball.
this makes a HUGE difference
of course I realize we cant snap our fingers and wish this to happen...I just wonder if we dont the bar high enough...and if we didnt expect this more, would we see a bit more of this happening?
just a thought as I reflect on last night and on the past few years and how we can improve the D performance.
The sense I get is that our staff is happy that the player broke up the play, and while they may be upset that the player didnt make the INT, it's not the end of the world (of course I cant 'prove' this...just reacting to the lack of frustration/comments from the staff around these plays)...
I believe that if we want to raise our overall level of play on D, we HAVE to expect more in these situations. It's not enough for Cioffi to make that play at the end of the game. He has to come up with the ball there. Same with Jacobs (much more obvious example). Same with Austin when he stepped in front of the WR. we need our guys to start taking the ball away when it hits them in the hands.
Look at the MSU game last night...their DB makes an amazing play, but comes up with the ball.
this makes a HUGE difference
of course I realize we cant snap our fingers and wish this to happen...I just wonder if we dont the bar high enough...and if we didnt expect this more, would we see a bit more of this happening?
just a thought as I reflect on last night and on the past few years and how we can improve the D performance.
