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Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19
Was thinking last night about how fortunate we are to have a functional Jones amid his calf issue. Freak deal, was worried he may never be right for this postseason.
He’s such a gamewrecker with Clark. I used to be on the fence but I think I wanna keep him for sure. Mathieu talked about how Arizona’s defense was so good cause they kept their core together for so long, and as soon as they didn’t, it fell apart. Jones has bought in and is a piece of that core which could mean dynasty if things click.
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And Pennel's influence can't be overstated. What he does is allow Ragland to overplay the flow a bit. He knows that when Pennel is in there, he's going to occupy space and blockers so the odds of a backside run blowing open are just awfully damn remote.
So now Ragland can be coming downhill at the playside B gap and really close that off, forcing the RB to bounce. And like I said, I do see some vulnerability there so it's not like it's a perfect scenario, but when you can limit the RBs options, then everyone in the second level can hone in on the target and attack. Especially if guys like Pennel and Nnadi have occupied those IOL and kept them from getting hands on Hitchens.
You don't need to hold them to 2 yards every time. Just keep them from knocking off 5-6 and you'll get enough short runs in there as well to force the 9ers into situations where Grapes will have to come through on 3rd down.
And if you routinely struggle to prevent Jimmy Garappolo from converting on 3rd downs, well you just don't deserve to win a Super Bowl. At some point you gotta earn the damn thing and that's just the way it is. If you can earn it by forcing Jimmy Garappolo to beat you,I think you're in nice shape.