thebandit27

No offense intended here... - Byrd is a safety - Norman and Revis had horrible games as well (Norman got embarrassed by Julio more than once, and who could forget the lessons Stevie Johnson taught Revis) Not much of what you're saying here makes sense.

Without treading on the de facto X's and O's, his defense was tailored to LB coverage from guys like Davis/Kuechly/Thompson, all of whom are very athletic and excellent in coverage. Prior to having those 3, he played a LOT of Cover 3. After he got those 3 and could mix and match them in nickel sets, he moved to using more Cover-1.

My top 2 from memory would be the Week 1 game vs. Denver--simply because of how well they hid Kuechly from Denver's blocking scheme that was so overtly designed to reach him--and the 2nd NO game in which they held Brees & Co. to 20 points.

I have my own ideas, but would definitely like to hear what you think.

I agree, but my point was more along the lines of how noticeable the difference was in on-field communication and the number of blown assignments. I would say it's overrated a bit, but not extremely.

Specifically the short drag, seam-flat, and middle hook, but yes, you're correct on a fundamental level.

His point is that the idea of "if you remove this one successful game" or "if you remove this one successful play" is flawed logic. It happened, and it should be included in any analysis. Should it be taken in context? Absolutely. Should it be discarded completely? Absolutely not.

Yes, they had all of one bad game with Aaron in the lineup. They came back the following week and held the Cardinals' offense (9th in yards, 6th in points), to 16 points. If you didn't notice the enormous difference in the defense's ability to communicate and handle assignments once Aaron went out, then I'll be very surprised--you normally are more astute than that. And as I said, it is unacceptable that the defense is that reliant upon one guy (or even one position) to be effective.

They weren't good overall. What was dramatic was the massive drop in production when Aaron Williams went out (which is unacceptable). FWIW, I had them at 20th in defensive points per game allowed, and when I factor in weighted scoring for yards per play allowed, first downs surrendered, and takeaways produced, I had them at 19th overall. If I were to factor in strength of schedule I could see them dropping a few spots.

There's a lot of variability with checks etc. I was talking more to base calls. Honestly though, and I'm not being snarky here, take a look for yourself when you have time, because it's a picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words scenario. Trying to explain Rex's playbook is like trying to teach Swahili to a dog.

Mostly zone, but some man. http://www.footballxos.com/download/defense/pro-defense/2010-NY-Jets-Defense-Rex-Ryan.pdf By my count, about 50% of Rex's defensive calls are Cover-6. Another 25% are either Cover-2, Cover-3, or Cover-4, and another 25% are zero (man).

Carpenter was absolutely part of the problem...can't miss the easy ones (although I do recognize that not every kicker can be Dan Bailey). I certainly won't absolve the defense--they hung the offense out to dry against Miami (twice) and the Jets (twice). I can't get too ticked about Seattle since it took two phenomenal efforts from Jimmy Graham to score.

Rex's D used a ton of zone. The bigger case for McDermott's scheme is that it would simplify responsibilities for everyone.

it's a trick question Kirbs--they were average in points per game allowed--tied for 16th But that doesn't really mean much, since "average" in this case is across the league. If you dive into the numbers, the average number of defensive points per game allowed across the league (normalized to remove opponents' defensive and special teams TDs) was 21.164. Buffalo allowed an average of 23.063 defensive points per game in 2016, which ranked 20th. See above.

So a 1-tech and 2 9-techs instead of 2 3-techs and 2 Leos.

So, for example, if they could improve to "average" in points per game allowed, would that suffice?

Nice thread! QB: Matt Moore RB: Shady FB: Felton LT: Kouandjio LG: Incognito C: Wood RG: Miller RT: Glenn TE: Clay WR1: Watkins WR2: Mike Williams LDE: Shaq DT: Kyle DT: Dareus RDE: Hughes Sam: Zach Brown Mike: Ragland Will: Preston Brown CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB: Darby FS: Antoine Bethea SS: Budda Baker

This makes me want to call the drought "the long night"...or perhaps "the long winter"

He called it in the Shoutbox and the McDermott thread

Well done again, Leroi

Man that's a great bet value-wise.

Vulgar Observer

So have I, which is why I think it's funny

There no "s" at the end of his name!!!! Seriously though, that's what I like about him. He's in the mold of teach the fundamentals, ask players to do what they do well, create accountability, and manage the big personalities.

Wawrow may be hinting that they've asked for permission