Bresnahan looking for answers

[BengalszoneBilly]

By GEOFF HOBSON

As always, defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan stood up to the media after Wednesday's practice and took all the questions about the Cleveland debacle.

"When they win, the credit goes to them because they executed the game plan," Bresnahan said. "I didn't have them ready to play. Somehow we missed very simple adjustments we've made the entire offseason. There was nothing special in the game plan and I take (the mental mistakes) personally."

Bresnahan said the game was lost in a 12-play sequence, roughly from Braylon Edwards' 34-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter that made it 34-24, to Edwards' 37-yard catch with 9:59 left in the game that made it 48-38.

The last was the safety blitz by Dexter Jackson that got picked up and Bresnahan said rookie cornerback Leon Hall didn't drop far enough and free safety Madieu Williams stayed in the middle of the field, leaving Edwards wide open.

"And we've run this all year," he said.

"There's just no excuse," Bresnahan said. "It's very easily corrected, but until we do it consistently, we're going to have problems." This week "we're making it a point to be disciplined in everything you do. From the meeting room to walkthroughs to practice to getting it right."

You're right about one thing Chuck. There IS no excuse!

[Stripes]

Not much else he can say, really.

"We sucked, we're trying to fix it."

Better have them ready to play this week, Chuck, or Shaun Alexander is going to break records.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Not much else he can say, really.

"We sucked, we're trying to fix it."

Better have them ready to play this week, Chuck, or Shaun Alexander is going to break records.

Honestly TDB it's better the game is in Seattle. Shaun is from a northern Kentucky high school, (Boone County) and would really be looking to impress in front of friends and family.

[HoosierCat]

Bresnahan looking for answers

Has he looked in the mirror?

[SkinneymulleT]

That is bs. Time and again Leon Hall was burned so badly he should be at the shriners right now. That is Breshs' excuse to not break the rook. It happened all game, it happened to him in college. He can tackle and run well but I think his coverage skills suck. He is no jj.

[agreen_112]

That is bs. Time and again Leon Hall was burned so badly he should be at the shriners right now. That is Breshs' excuse to not break the rook. It happened all game, it happened to him in college. He can tackle and run well but I think his coverage skills suck. He is no jj.

To me, it sounds like he's blaming Madieu. Hall is in his rookie year, surely Bres knows that he's going to make a mistake here and there but for Madeiu to continue to hang his corners out to dry.... "There is NO excuse for that." Williams is disapointing in coverage!

[agreen_112]

That is bs. Time and again Leon Hall was burned so badly he should be at the shriners right now. That is Breshs' excuse to not break the rook. It happened all game, it happened to him in college. He can tackle and run well but I think his coverage skills suck. He is no jj.

How many full games have you watched L. Hall play in? Give it time, anythings better than Ratliff.

To me, it sounds like he's blaming Madieu. Hall is in his rookie year, surely Bres knows that he's going to make a mistake here and there but for Madeiu to continue to hang his corners out to dry.... "There is NO excuse for that." Williams is disapointing in coverage!

^^^

I don't know what happened there... Oh well.

[skyline]

That is bs. Time and again Leon Hall was burned so badly he should be at the shriners right now. That is Breshs' excuse to not break the rook. It happened all game, it happened to him in college. He can tackle and run well but I think his coverage skills suck. He is no jj.

To me, it sounds like he's blaming Madieu. Hall is in his rookie year, surely Bres knows that he's going to make a mistake here and there but for Madeiu to continue to hang his corners out to dry.... "There is NO excuse for that." Williams is disapointing in coverage!

It sounded to me like he was blaming pretty much everybody.

It was a good article, I thought. It's nice to at least get some insight, even if it doesn't do anything to fix the awful result from last week.

[GapControl]

That was a nice article. He addressed and explained the failures on two defensive plays. You usually dont get that break down. So, I am now off the Madieu bandwagon... I think all of our secondary issues are there. IF he doesnt rotate over and provide over the top zone coverage, well there is your reason for big pass play after big pass play. Also, IF madieu cant adjust enough to a rookie NBs mistakes and make a tackle at 10 yards instead of letting it go 50 plus yards, maybe he shouldnt be starting....

I get that the dude is an athlete but if he cannot overcompensate for 1 rookie's mistake and he cant even hold up his basic zone coverage reads then what have we there?

it is time to sign a veteran safety who can make reads and make adjustments to others bad reads.

DOWN WITH MADIEU

[DesperateDerelict]

DOWN WITH MADIEU

Hey - I thought he played a tremendous 1st quarter !!!

[HairOnFire]

The last was the safety blitz by Dexter Jackson that got picked up and Bresnahan said rookie cornerback Leon Hall didn't drop far enough and free safety Madieu Williams stayed in the middle of the field, leaving Edwards wide open.

Plenty of blame to go around on that one. Jackson seemed to telegraph the blitz, and then compounded the mistake by not really commiting to it fully....unless running directly into the blocker qualifies. Meanwhile, Leon Hall planted himself firmly in no-mans land, letting Edwards blow right by him even though there was no other receiver in the area for Hall to cover. A deeper drop might have delayed the throw. And Williams breaks so late towards the play that he wasn't even able to get into the action despite Edwards needing to gather himself after tha catch before crawling the final yards.

As for Hall, Deion Sanders broke down his technique and noted on an earlier play that after backpedaling Hall squares off his turn perfectly, but when looking back for the ball nearly squares up again, negating too much of his speed. Sanders further claimed it's a common mistake made by corners paying too much attention defending the run, and is easily correctable. (We'll see.)

[HairOnFire]

More plainspeak from Bres as he explains in suprising detail the finer points of the "Cover-None" scheme.....

Bresnahan: 'I put it on me'

Coordinator says defense's failure matter of coaching

BY MARK CURNUTTE | MCURNUTTE@ENQUIRER.COM

Bengals defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan watched his defense give up 51 points and 554 yards Sunday in the loss at Cleveland.

The Bengals scored 45 points and lost.

The Browns had 19 of their 63 plays go for at least 10 yards.

On Wednesday, Bresnahan discussed the Browns game with reporters and looked ahead to what he and his players plan to do Sunday at Seattle:

Question: How tough was it to endure that game?

Answer: Until we play with a level of consistency on this defensive unit, we’re going to continue to be very, very average. And (the players) know that. I’m not saying anything I haven’t said to them. When you look at the 12-play sequence from about

Play 40 to 52 of the game, more mental mistakes, more things … and this is stuff we’ve done the entire offseason. There’s no excuse for it. … So to me is it close to being corrected? It’s very easily correctable. But until we do it with consistency, we’ve got problems. The emphasis point this week is discipline in everything you do from the meeting room to the walkthroughs to practice to executing (in games).

“To give up a 66-yard run (to Cleveland’s Jamal Lewis) on a wrap lead that we’ve seen 300 times in the offseason, there’s no excuse for it. And they know that. They’re not going to make excuses.

Q: On that play, did defensive end Justin Smith move in, and linebacker Lemar Marshall run out, making the hole even bigger?

A: “Lemar actually went underneath, but there was such a wide gap that the guy went inside of Lemar. Lemar is supposed to what we call splatter, and the ball is supposed to go outside. (Linebacker) Caleb (Miller) is supposed to come back. But between (No.) 58 (Miller) and (No.) 29, (cornerback Leon Hall), if you look at the film, 29, Leon, comes flying like he’s supposed to but for some reason turns and runs back outside. The safety’s read – and everybody wants to blame Madieu (Williams) for having a bad read – Madieu reads the corner. The corner goes here, and he replaces him off the edge. So Madieu comes down expecting the ball to splatter outside. And now Leon jumps back outside and you have a huge cavity inside. It’s a breakdown, but we haven’t done that all year. It’s trusting and doing the things we’re asking you to do and nothing more – and trusting the guy next to you to do (his) job.”

Q: Defensive tackle John Thornton said it wasn’t like a pissburgh game in 2004, when you get physically man-handled?

A: “It’s the kind of thing where you sit on the sideline – and I don’t know if you guys watch me on the sideline – you can’t lose your poise in those situations. When you have a breakdown here and breakdown there – go to the pass ones – we play a zero pressure, we’re supposed to keep inside leverage and (cornerback) Johnathan (Joseph) gives up inside leverage. The pressure’s there. The ball’s out in less than 2 seconds. If he just holds his inside leverage there’s no play. (Instead, Braylon Edwards scores on a 17-yard touchdown.)

“The other one, the 33-yard one that Leon squats and we have nobody over the top, that’s Shoe 2-Z. We run this all the time here. We’ve got over the top help from Madieu. Madieu’s in the middle of the field. Leon is supposed to sink with no second receiver. We don’t do either one. It looks like they’ve got no clue what they’re doing.”

Q: So it was both of them?

A: “Absolutely. Again, it’s never one person. It’s going to be a conglomeration of mental mistakes, and you can’t do that. The one thing we’ve made a commitment to is staying as simple and basic as we can. When you see a game like that you better get yourself right. That’s from coaches right on down. Make sure you know what you’re doing and carry it with confidence. So the guy next to you trusts that you’re going to do it right. Because as soon as you start compensating for somebody else, it opens up another lane. … I’m not panicking. I’m telling you that right now. We have to pay attention to detail. Go out and play the way we did in the first game, with energy. The first game wasn’t perfect; I told (media) that. But because of the energy and the turnovers we turned potentially bad situations into good situations. You have to do that every week. You can’t play like this.”

Q: How do you keep from banging head against wall?

A: “I keep the back of my head to you. You don’t see the stitches back there. It is a frustrating deal. But I put it on me. When they win, and I told you guys last week the credit goes to them for executing the gameplan, I didn’t have them ready to play. For some reason we blew very simple adjustments that we did the entire offseason. There was nothing special in this gameplan. To not execute, I take that personally. Because I really believe the way you play is a direct reflection of the way you’re coached. I take that personally. We’ll have them ready to play.”

Q: Did Leon Hall finally look like a rookie?

A: “He is a rookie. He is going to have some good and he’s going to have some bad. But if we can play with a level of consistency, I don’t worry about an individual. I worry about the unit. If we have an individual problem we’ll get it corrected with that person or we’ll get another person in there. He’s going to have some trouble at times. You lose (linebacker) Ahmad (Brooks) on the second play of the game and now you’ve got to switch people around that haven’t really played those positions, and then you lose Lemar to the same thing in the third quarter, a groin pull. Now you’ve got Andre (Frazier) on the field playing (strong-side linebacker), which he’s gotten very limited reps during the week. You’ve got to do it. Everybody in the league’s got to do this.”

Q: With Brooks injured, do you keep Caleb Miller at middle linebacker?

A: “Yeah, you have to. Let him do what he’s supposed to do. Remember he’s been playing (middle) and (weak-side linebacker) because, as a backup linebacker in this league, you have to play both positions. Now he gets focused as a one-position player at (middle linebacker) and then he plays in our sub package, and he’ll do better. He’ll do fine. I’ve got confidence in him. He had some things (he) will do better. I’m not pointing the finger at any one person. I’m pointing it right here. I didn’t have him ready to go well enough as a backup in that position and I’ll take full responsibility for it.”

Q: Are you embarrassed?

A: “It’s Week 2. Am I embarrassed to put up 51? I thought I was going through San Diego (2006) again, but this was different because it went the whole game. We had interception opportunities – Caleb dropped one, and we had one on the tipped ball that Braylon catches on the ground. That should have been a pick. We practiced that route all week long. We had the perfect coverage for it and it should be a pick. Then there was the one – I think it was in the second quarter – when they hit Kellen (Winslow) over the middle. That was actually supposed to be going to (wide receiver Joe) Jurevicius but Jurevicius short-armed it because Landon (Johnson) was going to knock him out. Well, if Ahmad is healthy Ahmad picks that ball off but he tries to plant and he pops the groin again. You’ve got opportunities but we’ve got to make them. We have to make them.”

Q: Again, it wasn’t a matter of getting blown off the ball?

A: “We did not. I challenge you to go look. We did not get blown off the ball. We had missed fits on the runs. Absolute missed fits. Caleb splattered it to no one on the one down their sideline; I think it was about a 30-yard run. We had missed tackles. We didn’t do that against Baltimore. Dexter (Jackson) had some outstanding tackles against Baltimore. Madieu had some outstanding tackles in the Baltimore game. We missed tackles with Johnathan twice in a row, on the little X-facemask and then the run the next play, and then Dexter on the next play.

“We did the tackling circuits today. … We’re not panicking one bit. We’re going to step up and get ourselves back to where we walk with a swagger and play with some confidence and do the things that we know we can do.”

Q: Justin Smith said you dummied down the defense against the Browns, true?

A: “We’d done that at training camp. If you remember, we did that at training camp. It’s a commitment and it ain’t changing. To me, if you come out of a game like that and you say ‘We have to remix everything’ then you’re starting from ground zero. That’s crazy. Go back to what you know you do well and do it. Make sure you execute it and hold them accountable for it.”

[The PatternMaster]

Has anyone seen this, pure comedic genius..

Chuck B's Blog

[SkinneymulleT]

The last was the safety blitz by Dexter Jackson that got picked up and Bresnahan said rookie cornerback Leon Hall didn't drop far enough and free safety Madieu Williams stayed in the middle of the field, leaving Edwards wide open.

Plenty of blame to go around on that one. Jackson seemed to telegraph the blitz, and then compounded the mistake by not really commiting to it fully....unless running directly into the blocker qualifies. Meanwhile, Leon Hall planted himself firmly in no-mans land, letting Edwards blow right by him even though there was no other receiver in the area for Hall to cover. A deeper drop might have delayed the throw. And Williams breaks so late towards the play that he wasn't even able to get into the action despite Edwards needing to gather himself after tha catch before crawling the final yards.

As for Hall, Deion Sanders broke down his technique and noted on an earlier play that after backpedaling Hall squares off his turn perfectly, but when looking back for the ball nearly squares up again, negating too much of his speed. Sanders further claimed it's a common mistake made by corners paying too much attention defending the run, and is easily correctable. (We'll see.)

When you blitz a safety you go deep thirds with the center fielder coming over to take away a skinny post. Leon did not even cover his deep third and the ball was thrown way outside the hashmarks. Hardly the center fielders job to cover that close to the sideline. I didnt see if it was a double move or if leon was just gawking into the back field but he was like 20 yards away from the goal line. No matter how athletic madeiu is, he cant get over that far unless he gives up the opposite side. And on the other plays leon was running with the receivers but man it looked just like in college with ted ginn and dwayne jarret. Has the speed to keep up but trails straight behind rather than cutting the angle and allows a throw over the top. Hopefully they can fix that technique issue or he is another kiewine.

[membengal]

Has anyone seen this, pure comedic genius..

Chuck B's Blog

Oh sweet jeebus. That's 100% genius. I am pissed that I didn't think of that.

My favorite part (among so many)?

"Thirdish, we don't have Chris Henry on the team yet, he comes back week 8! I'm not sure how that affects what we did on Sunday, defensively, but that is what Keiwan Ratliff told me and he is always right."

[HairOnFire]

When you blitz a safety you go deep thirds with the center fielder coming over to take away a skinny post. Leon did not even cover his deep third and the ball was thrown way outside the hashmarks. Hardly the center fielders job to cover that close to the sideline. I didnt see if it was a double move or if leon was just gawking into the back field but he was like 20 yards away from the goal line. No matter how athletic madeiu is, he cant get over that far unless he gives up the opposite side.

My take? Jackson's blitz dictated Williams do exactly what you're describing...give up the opposite side. He does so, but late....a mistake compounded by Hall's failure to take a deeper drop. And Bresnihan confirmed all of this in the "I put it on me" article that I just posted. He actually addresses the failure(s) in some detail:

"The other one, the 33-yard one that Leon squats and we have nobody over the top, that’s Shoe 2-Z. We run this all the time here. We’ve got over the top help from Madieu. Madieu’s in the middle of the field. Leon is supposed to sink with no second receiver. We don’t do either one. It looks like they’ve got no clue what they’re doing.”

[HairOnFire]

And on the other plays leon was running with the receivers but man it looked just like in college with ted ginn and dwayne jarret. Has the speed to keep up but trails straight behind rather than cutting the angle and allows a throw over the top. Hopefully they can fix that technique issue or he is another kiewine.

On one of the plays Deion Sanders highlited Edwards doesn't really use a double move, more like a hitch, but it's enough because Hall doesn't just peek into the backfield....he practically stops and stares. Granted, that a gross exaggeration, but it's fair to say that Hall's tendency to look into the backfield too often results in him failing to continue running with the receiver. Making matters harder to take was prior to the hitch Hall was properly positioned using very tight trailing technique and could have defended any pass that wasn't absolutely perfect.

[SkinneymulleT]

When you blitz a safety you go deep thirds with the center fielder coming over to take away a skinny post. Leon did not even cover his deep third and the ball was thrown way outside the hashmarks. Hardly the center fielders job to cover that close to the sideline. I didnt see if it was a double move or if leon was just gawking into the back field but he was like 20 yards away from the goal line. No matter how athletic madeiu is, he cant get over that far unless he gives up the opposite side.

My take? Jackson's blitz dictated Williams do exactly what you're describing...give up the opposite side. He does so, but late....a mistake compounded by Hall's failure to take a deeper drop. And Bresnihan confirmed all of this in the "I put it on me" article that I just posted. He actually addresses the failure(s) in some detail:

"The other one, the 33-yard one that Leon squats and we have nobody over the top, that’s Shoe 2-Z. We run this all the time here. We’ve got over the top help from Madieu. Madieu’s in the middle of the field. Leon is supposed to sink with no second receiver. We don’t do either one. It looks like they’ve got no clue what they’re doing.”

Well if that is the scheme, it needs to be changed. I didnt see the backside reciever. Did he go deep? That is what usually happens, makes the safety make a choice. But anyway you look at it leon was the primary cover guy in his deep third, and he was only about 25 yards deep. Most highschoolers can make up more ground then that. I just hope he can adjust. MW has some blame but the ball was over the shoulder and outside which would have been a difficult play for any safety.

[Kazkal]

That is bs. Time and again Leon Hall was burned so badly he should be at the shriners right now. That is Breshs' excuse to not break the rook. It happened all game, it happened to him in college. He can tackle and run well but I think his coverage skills suck. He is no jj.

He got burned 2 games in college he's also starting week 1 when Jjoe was eased in to it,

[GregCook]

If so many players screwed the pooch, doesn't that mean the coaching sucks?

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Has anyone seen this, pure comedic genius..

Chuck B's Blog

Oh sweet jeebus. That's 100% genius. I am pissed that I didn't think of that.

My favorite part (among so many)?

"Thirdish, we don't have Chris Henry on the team yet, he comes back week 8! I'm not sure how that affects what we did on Sunday, defensively, but that is what Keiwan Ratliff told me and he is always right."

Absolutely beautiful. I'm going with:

Well, geniuses, In case you don't remember, Jamal Lewis does cocaine. You may know that drug by it's street name, MARIJUANA. When you smoke cocaine it makes you run insanely fast.

That's fantastic. It's *gold*, Jerry, *gold*!

[membengal]

No doubt. Whole thing, pure gold, jerry, pure gold.

Like this:

"Some people have asked me why Derek Anderson was able to throw for 328 and 5 TDs against our defense. Well first of all, Derek Anderson is an elite QB. It's not like we were going against some scrub out there. This is the guy that beat BRADY FREAKING QUINN out for a starting job. Secondly, We were simply out on the field too much. Marvin needs to teach his offense a little fundamental that we call "slowing down". Really, is there any reason to throw long bombs to the endzone just to score? The game is an hour long for christ's sake. Slow down, take your time. No reason to showboat and try to embarrass their defense."

[rwalling]

Bresnahan looking for answers

Has he looked in the mirror?

Pulling your head out of your @ss can help you do that!

[HoTbOy]

The answer is NO! the question is should he still be here...I guess the secondary getting burned all PS was MWilliams fault too...

[Ickey44]

"There's just no excuse," Bresnahan said. "It's very easily corrected, but until we do it consistently, we're going to have problems." This week "we're making it a point to be disciplined in everything you do. From the meeting room to walkthroughs to practice to getting it right."

Shouldn't it already be a point to be disciplined in everything you do, Chuck? No wonder people are always out of their gaps....