Tim Burke discusses his defense

Great article by HERB....

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Explains why he chose mainly a zone against Calgary. Can't argue with his reasonning...

One of the things Im trying to understand about the poor play of the Als defense is why it takes Burke & Co. a full game to figure things out and address matters. You give up one or two long plays early in the game, coaches should be kicking ass on the sidelines if its lack of effort and relaying corrected stategy to the different postion groups if it`s schematics.

He's correct about the lack of effort and fortitude displayed by his players. Proux was absolutely brutal until he was finaly pulled. These guys were not prepared to pay the price to compete with an equal opponent. Most big plays were all done on YAC or missed tackles.

But his zone defense is brutal and i am not big on his excuse that the players missed their keys. They either were not prepared (he shares blame) or he gave them the wrong game plan (he shares the blame).

He kind of answers his own question when he says he didn't want his guys to play man because he was afftraid to get burned. In other words he does not trust his players and that is the problem right there. Overcoaching... You don't play zone against guys of the calibre of Burris, Ray or Calvillo unless you can overwhelm their offensive line at will. Once Huffnagel figured out Burke was not going to play man he picked the Als defense appart.

Expect Burris to scramble a lot more in Montreal...

Tim Burke is an idiot.

The way to defeat a quarterback like Burris is Pressure, Pressure. PRESSURE
Wasn't it Smiling Hank himself who confessed that when teams got a lot of pressure on him it was like standing in the middle of a freeway with cars coming right at him? What does Burke need...a freakin' road-map? If you get beat at least you get beat playing hard and aggressive...ah Don Matthews where are you when we need you?

Blitz hard and often...depend on your guys to pick their teammates up...that's what we do.
Tell them they're pussies and can't stop Calgary one on one...great way to instill confidence.
Especially on a team that's played man all year...and bad coaching or not, have proven they're not in the zone.

I don't know...I tell you for true
The Alouettes defense was just starting to get it together
Timely blitzing and a solidified line was making a statement...picking up the secondary after a rough start.
Then this kind of bone-headed garbage sends the whole D back to square-one...
It happens again this week and you can guess who's job it is...

:thdn: :thdn: :thdn:

Un des points où les Stampeders sont dangereux, c’est qu’ils peuvent jouer la passe voilée ou l’option (QB drah) avec beaucoup d’efficacité. C’est entre autres ce pourquoi les équipes hésitent à blitzer Burris continuellement. Je pense que les gars de la défensive ont compris, mais est-ce qu’ils rebondiront?

Une chose, cependant. Malgré toute l’admiration que j’ai pour Mathieu Proulx, je crois que c’est Boulay qui devrait jouer contre les Stampeders. Il est plus petit, mais il est plus physique. Il est très rare de voir Proulx faire payer le receveur pour son attrapé. C’est moins le cas avec Boulay, et ça finit par faire perdre une fraction de seconde aux receveurs qui sont dans son coin. On a besoin de ça contre les Stampeders.

Less and less confident that Burke is the right man for the job. This article confirms my impression that he's too passive, too afraid of making mistakes. He's not inspiring his defense to go out and play ball. Yes, the defense itself is to blame for the big plays given up -- nobody wanted to make a tackle once the play had started -- but he has them playing like bitches instead of football players.

Your note along with Senor's comments are similar. THe team can play a passive defensive or play an aggressive defense. Anwar Stewart's play has plunged in effectiveness this year as compared to recent seasons and, I wonder if it is possible to look for a replacement this year or, wait for training camp to sort this out? Bowman has replaced AS as the prime qb sacker on a team that is one of the tops in that position. THe defense is great one week and super the next- we lack consistency which is the requirement for success.

The tool we’ve been using in such circumstances is the omnipresent Chip Cox.
He’s managed to contain Jyles and intercepted Durant twice in one game.
He’s got oodles of closing speed and is as sure a tackler as the Alouettes could want.
Blitzing Cox and Ferri has been a lot less reckless than blitzing usually entails
And has gone a long way to bringing the swagger back to the defense.

Why Tim Burke would suddenly decide to go “granny” against the Stamps is mystifying.
Now I can understand the devotion Montreal owes a former Expos pitcher
And especially one with such a sweet curveball… :lol:
But it might be time to start making some tough decisions
Send a message for the playoffs

Wow, now there’s something we don’t see posted here too often !!

LOL. . . gee Senior, why don’t you tell us how you really feel ? :smiley:

Je crois qu'une différence importante dans notre défensive cette année est que McElveen, bien qu'il fasse un très bon travail, n'est pas aussi accompli que Williams pour la poursuite du quart (remarquez que Williams en arrache un peu à BC, cette année). Ça devrait venir avec l'expérience, mais aussi, il n'est pas aussi rapide que Williams.

Également, on a aussi perdu Sanchez et Dix ne l'a pas remplacé. Je crois qu'on va voir de nouveaux visages dans le champ arrière l'an prochain.

I remember expressing my deep-seated worries about both those losses last year.
Although it might have been at “The Snap”, I was once again shot down and told in no uncertain terms that I was wrong: Sanchez (despite being an allstar player) and Keron Williams were replaceable. I pointed out that the few games that Sanchez missed last year were disasters…and that the combination of Williams and Eric Wilson inside was just the chemistry that made our D-Line so impressive. Eric Wilson, despite chronic lead-footedness is a beast inside…a run stopper and is often doing all that while double-teamed. This left Bowman and Stewart the opportunity to run stunts with Keron Williams, who is as much a natural end as tackle.

In the past week or so I’ve read several posts referring to Dix as “much improved”. Yep…he was carp most of last season…and it mystifies me that Woldu still hasn’t stepped in as a replacement.
Parker and Brown have had a lot of trouble “switching off” in zone coverage on those crossing patterns. That’s coaching…plain and simple. But it’s in “man” that Dix is killing us. He makes bad decisions…and despite great speed, he’s one small player who “plays small”. To give an example of someone small who plays big…would it surprise anyone that Chip Cox is 5’9" 185lbs?

I’ve been thinking all year about how damned big The Stampeders are. They’re almost bucking the trend towards smaller linebackers and DB’s…small and speedy. So a small Allouette is going to be roadkill like the little bird he is…law of Nature. That’s why I was kinda hoping they’d give OJ Santiago a look. With Carr’s dominance for Winnipeg, and just perusing the pituitary cases that lumber through the NFL…it becomes obvious CFL teams have gone in another, and somewhat questionable direction.

Hufnagel et al seem to have realized this and exploited it. It won’t be long before the rest of the league follows suit…and (un)mighty-mites like Dix will be but a bad souvenir. Ah…not to belabor the point, but former Alouette Chad Owens is a pretty good example of playing BIG. Too bad he’s doing it in TO.

:thdn: :thdn: :thdn:

Speaking of Davis Sanchez
Anyone remember that crossing pattern Edwards ran against the Alouettes last year?
Emry clocked him (illegally) and Winnipeg was without their star receiver for a few weeks.
Just watch Edwards running an inside pattern nowadays...half the time he drops the ball...most of the time he's got his head on a swivel

Sanchez is that kind of player...when he hits you...you know you've been hit.
Give me a few more Davis Sanchez's and Etienne Boulay's and Gerold Brown's
That'll turn the D around

According to Burke , the reason the Als are struggling is because they are not playing with enough emotion ÌE: Heart.

Message to Burke, when the fish smells the head smells too. He picked the players, he chooses the formations, the schemes.

This is not going to get fixed with denial...

IMO Burke is on his way out.

Trestman put the blame for the loss squarely on his own shoulders. Whether it’s true or not, in a team game it’s absolutely the thing to do. Not only does it shame those players who’ve shirked their responsibilities…and shows a team spirit that resonates through the whole city…but it forces them to step up and prove that their coach wasn’t the one responsible and that he never again will need to make such an admission.

Suggesting in an way that the players are being anything but professional and motivated athletes (at least in public) is a loser’s game…tapping into a pack mentality where the weak are attacked and the strong survive. It may be one thing for us fans to rag on this or that team member, but it is simply not cool for anyone in the organization to even hint at it.

If the Alouettes come up with the same kind of effort on Labour Day (and with that kind of attitude it’s even more likely) Tim Burke will be on his way out.

:thdn: :thdn: :thdn:

Interesting. I do agree that McElveen isn’t quite as explosive as Williams, but he’s been good enough that our struggles on defense shouldn’t be attributable solely to Williams’s absence.

Également, on a aussi perdu Sanchez et Dix ne l'a pas remplacé. Je crois qu'on va voir de nouveaux visages dans le champ arrière l'an prochain.
Frankly, I think the impact of Sanchez's departure has been vastly overstated. He's lost a step and frequently got beaten badly last season for big gains. It's our halfbacks (Parker and Brown) who have really struggled.

IMO this season is exposing Burke as a coordinator more than the defensive personnel. I hope Popp takes a long, hard look at Burke in the offseason.

You know how you remove the swagger from a defense? Make them checking-off machines at the snap of the ball, make them reactive rather than aggressive, take away their ability to make plays by turning them into calculating machines.

Tim Burke’s defensive philosophy is weak IMO. You have ballers? LET THEM BALL.

X2

Big receiver out of NFL?
Change has begun?
The only change I see is more screwups on the roster(s).
If we can sign a "big receiver" out of the NFL, why not get some defence backup WITH EXPERIENCE??????? Championships are won with experience, not practice.
Is Burke the only one taking blame for this???
Tough decisions might need to be made indeed - like getting rid of INEXPERIENCE!!!!!! duh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure whether it was Burke changing his game plan or Trestman finally getting fed up with all the checking off and reactive play, but kudos to the defense for playing like men, not like scared little boys. They were aggressive and physical, they broke on the ball to make plays, and they put pressure on Burris all game long. Too bad it took Burke one lopsided loss to figure out that the best way to defend Burris is to pressure him relentlessly.