As usual I will open up the mid season presser with a statement and the state of the franchise and then open it up to questions. This year has been just about what we expected. We are 6-1-1 and right where we need to be to get back to the postseason and try to bring home our 1st championship. Our 2nd half schedule is very challenging, so it will not be easy and the division seems to be much better this year as well. Our defense is once again leading the way, and it has done exactly what we expected. We knew that moving from proven veterans to more young playmakers on D, that we would allow more yards and points after our historic CLAMPS season. But we also were hoping for more impact plays and turnovers and our young studs on D have not disappointed. On offense, we made the big moves to bring in a star QB and RB. And after the changes, our offense is right where it usually is. Running the ball excellent and not turning the ball over, but once again having a dissapointing year passing in every aspect. I will now open it up to question.
Can you expand on what you were saying about the offense. How have the new pieces fit in?
OKO- Ill start with Chris Johnson, or CJ3K. The man is a beast and has been even better than we could have imagined. Until his recent injury he was over 200 yards per game and leading the top run game in the USSML. He was getting almost 30 touches a game and runs inside, outside, and can take a short pass all the way. Jay Cutler was our other major trade, has not had the same impact. Teams are once again daring us to throw and Cutler has been wildly inconsistent. He has missed a ton of deep balls, game changing type throws, and he continues to take major hits as the pass blocking has been anywhere from bad to terrible. The pass game has failed in all 3 aspects. Protection, targets getting open and making catches, and when the protection holds up and we get seperation, we often see Cutler miss the target. This has to change, and Jay is on notice, his job is not guaranteed, and he will be re-evaluated in the offseason.
How about the defense? Last years historic 11.3 ppg season is long gone, and the points and yards are way up, are you satisfied?
OKO- I have liked how the defense has played for the most part. We knew when we traded some vets that we would lose some stability on D. But we made a conscious effort to bring in exciting young players with potential to force more turnovers and make impact plays. We are 2nd in the league in ppg, 1st in FF, and 2nd in Ints, and 1st in turnover differential. We are not close to our 11.3 ppg allowed of last season, but those are some impressive stats to say the least. This is still a top 3 defense everywhere you look, ppg, rushing D, pass rating, Ints, FF, yards per play, rush TDs, and on and on.
How about some players on D? You mentioned all the young exciting talent, can you go into that and also some areas that you arent happy with?
Well dont get me wrong, we still have alot of veteran stars. Willis, Justin Smith, Justin Tuck, Champ Bailey and Deangelo Hall still lead the way. Focusing on the young players we have 1st round pick DT Carter Stone, who has been impressive. He leads all DTs in sacks and FF. Linebackers Moch and Simmons are not high overall guys, but have elite speed and play way above their ratings. Then in the secondary we have 1st year starters Lockett, Lira and Smith, who have combined for 9 turnovers, far exceeding expectations. So we have a handful of guys with great talent, but low overall. And of course this leads to some mistakes, and like the question asked, we arent always happy with the mistakes and big plays. Our secondary has been out of position and missed alot of tackles this year and the staff and fans are not used to see so many long scoring strikes. We are working to fix this.
What are you expecting moving forward?
We expect more of the same. We need to keep CJ healthy and we need to see Cutler and the pass game take a major step forward to have any chance to win it all. We were a final 4 team last year, and we brought in Cutler for 1 reason, to give us a chance to go even further. On defense, we hope to limit the big plays a little bit and continue to force turnovers. When the season ends we should have several defenders in awards discussions if they continue to perform. And of course, this season is championship or bust. Assuming we can get to the postseason, our fans and coaching staff will judge this season entirely on our postseason success. Thanks for coming
Subject: SF Midseason Report 
Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:58 pm
