Originally Posted by
jap1
Back to the point of the thread.
If I were Pioli or Hunt, here are the radical change(s) I would make:
1. Trade Bowe for a 1st round pick. This isnt because I think Bowe isnt good enough. It is more because I think Baldwin can play nearly as well as he can. Having another 1st round pick will give us a lot of room to play in this years draft, no matter how well (or poorly) we do. This change BTW, is something I have been thinking about for awhile, even before our poor showings. I think having Baldwin and Breaston with McCluster as 3rd WR OR the two TEs in gives you some dangerous receiving options with JC and/or Hillis in the backfield.
2. Give Romeo Crennel an ultimatum. Fix the defense this week, or you lose one of your jobs, if not both. Tell him if he doesnt fix it you will make Emmit Smith (or someone else the D. Coordinator ... or maybe even HC).
3. Stop abandoning the run if the other team is up by less than 14 points. We keep giving up on the run after the other team has its first score. We are a team designed around JC/Hillis. Use them! We are down by 7 or 10, so what. Keep the clock moving and dont let the defense just sit there and drop back into coverage. The Bills watched us abandon the run quickly last week, so when they were up by 7, their D went into pass rush/pass defense. The OL got beat too early for the downfield routes to develop, or the receivers were covered and no one was open.
Long Term Changes:
It is way too soon to know what we are really deficient in/what we need to replace/fix long term. Right now we know that the D "sucks" and the O cant come from behind. That tells me nothing about what to do long term (plus I have not watched much game film).
However, if we continue to not be competitive by the BYE week, and I were Hunt, I would tell Pioli his job is on the line.