At this point, the only reasoning I can come up with for why our secondary plays so bad is that it's part of the defensive gameplan. (This is basically just me trying to make it make sense, so bear with me.) In general, we have our DBs play man coverage and indirectly allow WRs to get a step and look open on downs that aren't necessarily passing downs. On these downs, we are relying on pressure up front to get to the QB just in time to affect the throw or get a sack. This makes the opposing offense call more deep shots, thinking they have the DBs beat, but just need to get them out before out pressure gets to the QB. Then, on an expected passing down, we go to a deep zone coverage that makes the deep throws much more unclear, causing bad reads and negative plays for the opposing offense. At this point, we've been playing with this idea in mind, but our DL/pressure is not getting the job done, which leaves the DBs exposed.
Again, this is the only way I can make our defensive performances make sense in my mind, but it's probably just that we don't coach well or communicate/pass off receivers well. I saw Tariq talking to Swilling after BC's first long TD pass using the motion for safety rotation (fists apart going to one above the other) making me think someone didn't know the plan. We're long past the point where we should be trying to outsmart the opposing offense. We should be calling straight ahead defensive calls and at least covering something.
