KSIXI

NFL Offenses aren't the only innovators and have copycats. NFL Defenses are right there! The meta, it appears, is more and more teams blitzing less and less. And, a lot of the time, it WORKS. The Rams, Seahawks, Texans, Packers & Eagles were amongst the bottom ten in blitz rate, and yet were in the TOP 10 in pressure rate in 2025. They were getting home despite not bringing extra rushers. Why? Simulated pressures & coverage disguises. This is not new. Fangio-inspired, and now perfected by Jeff Hafley (big reason he's a HC now) and Mike MacDonald. And guess what? The Titans blitzed 5th least last year and were 12th in no blitz pressure rate. Dennard Wilson is bringing similar concepts to the Giants. It's also why having excellent press corners are also important (hence drafting Colton Hood - the best press corner in the draft). If you can force the QB to hold on just a second and have them second guess where pressure is coming from, you have a successful defense. It's why they were so excited with Arvell Reese & why some (not all, they are different prospects) overlap with Abdul Carter is so perfect. Both are alpha rushers that can play at a high enough level as stack linebackers to legitimately disguise where the pressure is going to come from. Matt Patricia did an excellent job at OSU of disguising pressure. Two such examples seen below vs Texas where Reese is threatening over the A gap. In one, he backs off and ends up as a spy on Arch, who is forced to dump off to the safety valve and the other is Arch getting confused and yields to the DB coming off the edge. Can you imagine Abdul & Arvell double mugging the A gap and you have no clue who's coming and who isn't? Dennard Wilson must be giddy.

Feels like that should be a TD (I know it isn't but im biased)

Miami is cooked, huh :(

One thing I will say about Joe Schoen is that since he's been here, I'd challenge anyone to find a trade he's made that was panned at that time. He's quite good at making trades. The worst two would probably be giving up a future 4th to get Malachi Fields. The Darren Waller trade looks bad in hindsight, but not at that time. And for those that might bring up Dexter Lawrence and compare to Jeffery Simmons, think about where in the 1st that Chicago is likely drafting and look at the trade value chart for both. It's why I have some level of confidence that the Giants won't egregiously overpay for Jonathan Taylor