No it's not, Michael Stipe.
That said, it is pretty bad and if there are not some serious changes made it's going to get ugly in hurry on both sides of the ball. Some are correctable, some are not, and some can be patched up enough to get you them home. I see these problems broken down into three major categories.
1) They have a high school offense and teams have figured it out. Think about it. Their best players are between the hashes and no one is going to back the safeties off. I've been concerned for a while about the lack out outside receivers and we're beginning to see this turn from a concern to a legitimate problem. The ambiguity and matchup problems of the two TE set are caused only when there is a legitimate outside presence. Why? Because without one the defense has no need to defend the deeper part of the field nor the areas outside the hashes with the safeties. The safeties are then allowed to drop down and provide not only a better TE matchup but robust run support . Further, the less of the demand placed on the exterior, the more it enables the defenses to beat the current bread and butter of Welker and Hernandez. Simply place an I/O bracket or get physical and pass to chase zones. Not only does this work to hurt the passing routes, but it keeps players in tight where they can better disguise pressures and defend the run. Without an outside option (they currently don't have one at either the x or z) the entire design of the offense won't work.
Solution: Pray that Price can play or Ocho wakes up one morning and says "oooooohhh. Wow, it's all so simple now."
Problem 2) Bill, let them play. So much of the talk lately has been about the GM practices. Alright, there's some valid points there and I'd sure like to have James Sanders back there to stabilize things, but ultimately all that stuff is irrelevant. There's nothing that can be done to change it, your roster is your roster, and goddamnit they are football players. This continued reliance upon this passive, weak, sickening two high safety look is poisoning the defense. I understand that it's risk mitigation and ultimately field goals aren't going to kill you, but it's removing one of your best defensive assets from contributing. The dual high safety crap is keeping Chung 20 yards from the action instead of letting him loose in the intermediate areas his skillset is so clearly geared towards. Ihedigbo? Sure, great, stick his ass 40 yards away from anything so he won't get in the way, but you have to start utilizing Chung. They also don't have linebackers getting sufficient depth and spread in their cover-2 and 4. Why do you think Heath Miller had such a huge game? He was getting behind the linebackers level. Once they began to move Guyton into that area it helped things (ie the INT) but it's been a glaring weakness all season.
Solution: The zones were spread and exposed by the Steelers in a perfect reversal of what normally happens in that game. Your players are in the NFL for a reason. You don't have Cooper Manning at corner. Bring your playmakers into positions that will enable them to make plays. Trust McCourty to right the ship. He will. Let your long-armed, strong corners leverage their skill sets. Don't ask a linebacker who runs a 5.2 40 to be your Mike in a Tampa-2 where he has to get safety depth. Stop confusing first time starters by trying to execute cute morphing coverages that replace exchange zones. You cut Sanders and are now confusing everyone else. They're football players. Let them play football. Execute good, sound fundamental coverages and at least let your players just fly around. You've got a fast team. UTILIZE IT. Mix in some blitzing and if you get burnt on occasion you get burnt. At least your players will be able to play. Otherwise you'll continue to play prevent right until you're kicked out in the first round for the third consecutive year. I love the x's and o's but sometimes the smartest move is to simplify.
Problem 3) They're soft. Mankins, Gronk, Spikes, and Welker are the only guys that standout as badasses. Seven years ago that whole damn team was 22 badasses. They're unemotional and most importantly playing not to get beat. This team has paralysis by analysis and that's very scary.
Solution: Type how soft they are on messageboards in hopes it gives the coaching staff sufficient motivational collateral. Again, dedicate yourself to an aggressive scheme and let your players play fast and emotional. This team has been over-intellectualized and it shows.
