![[DEV] ISFL Forums](http://dev.sim-football.com/forums/images/emerald/logo.png "[DEV] ISFL Forums"){kind=logo}
+- [DEV] ISFL Forums (http://dev.sim-football.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Community (http://dev.sim-football.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Media (http://dev.sim-football.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+---- Forum: Graded Articles (http://dev.sim-football.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=38)
+---- Thread: *Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense (/showthread.php?tid=18124)
*Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense - mrmouseman - 02-05-2020
After the first 2 games of the season, I wrote an article with a pretty bold prediction- implying that the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers would be the league’s best defense this season. The way I worded it rubbed some people the wrong way, and I can see why- from stating that the defense is “special” and using the phrase “defense wins championships” . I’ll admit, the tone of the article might not have been just optimistic, but possibly a little bit hubristic.
My article prompted a response article posted only a few short hours after mine was made public. This article called Myrtle Beach “arrogant” and “delusional”, and claimed that multiple members of the defense had actually regressed. It used stats from last season to claim that the competition that we faced in the first 2 weeks would be bottom feeders this season. It leaned heavily on the first 3 games of the preseason to say that we were actually the worst defense of the preseason, and implied that these first 2 regular season games were flukes against bad competition.
I was tempted to throw together my own response article that same day, but then read the last paragraph of that article, which stated that if Myrtle Beach can keep it up until week 6 on the road and against harder competition, maybe the hype would be justified. After week 6, the Buccaneers’ defense was still pretty comfortably 1st in points allowed, but had given up 20+ points in back to back games, so I continued to hold my tongue.
Well, weeks 7 and 8 just finished. Myrtle Beach held Portland to 10 points on the road, which at this point is about an average game for the Buccaneers. I won’t go too in depth on this one, as Portland is 1-7 on the season, but week 8 is a different story. Myrtle Beach would face Minnesota, by far the league’s best offense, averaging a touch under 28 PPG through the first 7 weeks. The Grey Ducks put up 27 on the MB defense when they were the home team, which is the only time the Buccaneers allowed over 20 points this season so far.
But again, week 8 was a different story. This time, the Grey Ducks would have to come to the beach, where Myrtle Beach was 3-0 allowing just 5.7 PPG. This would still be a big test for this defense, as the Grey Ducks had only scored less than 21 points once, in a 24-12 loss against the Kansas City Coyotes in week 3, a team that has seemingly improved from a 4-10 season last year.
Since this article is being written, you probably can assume what the outcome of this game was. I won’t go as into detail on every drive as I did in my first article, but I will be touching on some key moments.
After a Myrtle Beach fumble midway through the first quarter, the Grey Ducks would start their drive on their own 45, looking to put the first points of the game on the board. They would try running the ball on their first 2 downs, gaining only 1 total yard. On the 3rd and 9 drop back, Nkiah would get the huge sack for a loss of 11 and force the punt.
Another Myrtle Beach turnover at the end of the first, this time a pick, would once again put Minnesota in a short field situation looking to put up the first points of the game. This time, a few penalties did hurt the Grey Ducks, but on 3rd and 18, Cheer would come in for the sack, backing up Minnesota 6 more yards and forcing another punt.
A 3 and out from Myrtle Beach would again give Minnesota great field position, starting on their own 49. The Grey Ducks would finally put some points on the board, as the MB defense would bend but not break, and a crucial 3rd and 3 red zone stop by Mouseman would hold the Grey Ducks to a field goal. Spoiler alert- this is the only time they would score.
Myrtle Beach would answer back with a TD on their next drive, and Minnesota would have a chance to take the lead on the final drive of the first half. 2 rushes for 4 total yards, then a sack for a loss of 10 from Boucher would force a 3 and out.
The 3rd quarter was mostly uneventful as neither team scored, but something of note would be that the Buccaneers did not allow the Grey Ducks to drive into Myrtle Beach territory for the entire quarter.
Myrtle Beach would score another TD to begin the 4th quarter, and Minnesota would be down 14-3, desperately needing to put together a drive. 2 rushes for 2 total yards and an incomplete pass would force a 3 and out.
Myrtle beach would again score, making it 21-3 and really putting the pressure on the Grey Ducks offense. After making it 3rd and 8, newly acquired CB PickSix would get the interception, effectively putting the nail in the coffin (more on this later).
The Minnesota Grey Ducks would be held to only 3 points, and they came on a <40 yard drive after starting at midfield. They would be held to just 247 total yards, by far their lowest mark on the season. This article is not meant as a hit piece on the Grey Ducks, as they are still far and away the best offense in terms of PPG even after this 3 point performance, averaging just under 25 PPG.
Let’s look at a few individual performances:
11th round, 64th overall pick Trevor Mouseman would lead Myrtle Beach in tackles with 13, flying all over the field after working on his speed in practice. Mouseman is currently 4th in the league in total tackles, and dare I say, is exceeding expectations after the draft.
Stephens, a LBOTY candidate so far in the season, would finish with 6 tackles, 1 TFL, and a pass defended.
Nkiak, Cheer, and Boucher would each finish with 1 sack each, all coming at the perfect time.
Vega would be held to 9/22 on passing attempts, throwing 1 pick and only gaining 118 yards through the air. The Buccaneers secondary, led by LaVert, Frost, Nkiah, Scott, and now PickSix played a great game.
The final player I’d like to highlight is HeHateMe PickSix. PickSix was recently acquired by the Buccaneers after trading away Jack Marnette, who was having a solid season for Myrtle Beach. This trade drew criticism, ironically from the same writer who wrote the response article to my original one. PickSix is looking to silence the haters, with 7 passes defended and an interception in his first 2 games with his new team.
When asked for a quote, PickSix replied “Results speak for themselves. I was a victim of being under utilized in a scheme that didn’t work. I change my team, still have the same bad attitude, and my stats improve. There’s only one difference, and that's the location of PickSix.”
I am optimistic about PickSix continuing to play at a high level in his new role on the Buccaneers, and PickSix seems to believe that this improvement is not a fluke.
To end this article, I would like to look at some season stats. Of course, there is still a lot of time left in the season, and anything can happen, but after more than half the games have been played, here is a look at how Myrtle Beach compares to their opponents:
1st in points allowed with 83 (next best being Norfolk with 123 PA). Of course, this also means 1st in PPG with 10.4, which is 5 PPG better than Norfolk who is sitting at 15.4 PPG.
1st in rushing yards allowed per game and 3rd in passing yards allowed per game.
1st in total yards allowed per game with 282.9, with 2nd being Tijuana at 310.1 yards per game (a 27.2 YPG difference).
Home field advantage could be huge for the Buccaneers, as their PPG allowed drops to an even more ludicrous 5 PPG when they play in front of their own fans. This helped them go 4-0 at home so far, and they are currently sitting at the top of the SFC and tied for the best record in the league at 6-2.
I could go on, but I think I can leave it at that. I know first hand the amount of work that almost every member of the Myrtle Beach defense is putting in every week, and I’m hopefully optimistic about the rest of the season. I won’t make any super bold predictions, nor any championship guarantees, but the Buccaneers have, in my opinion, proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with on defense, and it shows in the stats. I’d say that the hype that they have generated is justified, and maybe it wasn’t so delusional or arrogant to claim that the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers might have something special on defense.
*Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense - jeffie43 - 02-05-2020
You tell em
*Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense - MSombrero - 02-05-2020
I was the writer who wrote the response article last time, I’ll keep my response in this thread this time.
MrMouseman has admitted that his tone might come across as hubristic, I’ll admit this was my interpretation, but looking back now it was neither hubris nor optimism in his article. It was simply the truth. Myrtle Beach have a great defence which I must now agree is special. They do have small blips; weeks 4-5 (on the road against the other 2 teams in the league with a winning record ) they conceded more points than their other 6 games combined. Even so their defence dominates in the following areas;
1st Points against (10.4/G)
1st First Downs allowed (14.5)
1st 3rd Down efficiency allowed (30.3%)
1st TD’s allowed (1.0/G)
1st Total yards allowed (282.9/G)
1st Rush yards allowed (145.3/G)
1st Rush yard/carry allowed (4.2 YPC) – Actually crazy how good this is compared to the next best (4.8 YPC) considering this is a rushing league
It’s not that they force a ton of turnovers either, (T-1st with 3 other teams, 1.3/G) or cause a huge number of sacks (4th - 3.0/G), it’s just that they’re so good at being a wall on every single drive. They barely miss tackles; they never lose concentration and they never take a play off.
I won’t go into the same detail on individual games as MrMouseman has in the article above, instead I’ll focus on some of the players and respond to criticism of my criticisms. I’ll start with the obvious and most recent criticism made in my recent S21 class rankings;
HeHateMe PickSix, CB:
PickSix had 7 passes defended and 1 INT, and 6 tackles (1 of which was on a RB who I assume wasn’t his coverage assignment) in his first 2 games. This is one of the best 2-game stretches from a CB we’ve seen this season, and it clearly shows PickSix is coming in hot. I still believe that on paper, at that time, trading Marnette away was not a great decision; he’s been a top 3 Cornerback in the league this season. However, PickSix is showing he is worth it. The management for Myrtle Beach has really designed a scheme that allows their CB2 to play their best game. This trade looks like it could have a happy outcome for both teams; PickSix obviously has been great, but with Marnette on their team QB’s playing Portland have gone from 60.5% Cmp, 6.63 Yds/Attempt to 35.1% Cmp, 4.32 Yds/Attempt (small sample size obviously), a big improvement.
Dax Frost, CB:
In the response article MrMouseman mentioned, I singled out Dax Frost and Jeffrey LaVert (below) as having regressed from great S19 end-of-season form. The truth is Frost hasn’t been as good this year;
S19: 4 games, 13 tkl, 7 PD, 2 INT, 1 DefTD
S20: 8 games, 26 tkl, 7 PD, 1 INT
It’s taken him double the games and he still hasn’t quite matched his production. We could have endless arguments about what stats are good for a CB, but I find it tough to see an argument in which those from S20 are better than S19. But stats aren’t everything. Earlier in the season I drew comparisons between Grey Duck CB Speedo Meter and Frost. Watching their games, one thing I noticed was Meter was getting beaten, a lot, for big gains and a couple of touchdowns as well. He required safety help a lot of the time. I’m not sure I’ve seen Frost get beaten for more than 20 yards or a touchdown, nor does he need safety help. His presence on one side of the field might actually be why Mrytle Beach’s CB2 is so good, because they can rely on safety help and make plays.
Jeffrey LaVert, S:
It was probably harsh to say LaVert had regressed at all. He was kind of average in pre-season but obviously this season leads all safeties in tackles and is clearly a lynchpin in the centre of that defence.
I made other criticisms in my article, most notably about the Dline not getting pressure, which has also been addressed (I’m most impressed by the recent play of their DT, Rapid Eagle). I believe these criticisms were a valid cause for concern at the time. Now with over half the season played and after dominating the Minnesota Grey Duck offence, I can admit Myrtle Beach have addressed all of these and their defence is worthy of the hype.
~~MSombrero~~
P.S – Now you just need to fix the offence and you’ll be golden
*Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense - scorycory - 02-05-2020
We don't talk about the offense lol
*Revisiting the Myrtle Beach Defense - Frostbite - 02-05-2020
Quote:Dax Frost, CB:
In the response article MrMouseman mentioned, I singled out Dax Frost and Jeffrey LaVert (below) as having regressed from great S19 end-of-season form. The truth is Frost hasn’t been as good this year;
S19: 4 games, 13 tkl, 7 PD, 2 INT, 1 DefTD
S20: 8 games, 26 tkl, 7 PD, 1 INT
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]
![[Image: 5f80f04e6ee97feebdd00feff92ced82.png]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/630708840689827862/674770993931092026/5f80f04e6ee97feebdd00feff92ced82.png)
[/div]