Does he have the right personnel? I don’t like his system, so do I want personnel to fit what I think isn’t a great system?
Larry did make due on his promise to get the defense off the field more on third down. In 2008, teams converted 47% of their third down attempts. In 2009, that number dropped to 45%. In fact, even though the defense ranked 20th in the league in 2010, teams only converted 39% of third down their attempts. Given all of the injuries, that’s a pretty impressive stat.
However, despite the improvement on third down, Coyer’s scheme isn’t producing the results in Indy that a lot of people were expecting. The reason is that Larry often calls plays that the players he has can’t execute. For example, during the playoff game against the Jets this year, did he think he had Champ Bailey matched up against Braylon Edwards on a critical third down play that would end up deciding the outcome of the game? There is no way you leave Jacob Lacey matched up one-on-one with the much taller, more athletic, Edwards. Where was the safety help over the top? It’s amazing that so many people are calling for Caldwell’s head because of that play, yet nary a criticism has been leveled at Coyer for leaving Lacey on an island with Edwards.
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