JohnNord

The 3 Ghosts of Defense: @Mikie2times @LABILLBACKER @SoCal Deek

Pretty sure I mentioned Spector. Maybe it was in a different thread. NE definitely went after Spector, but they also targeted Bishop and Elam as well. I don’t think either of these instances had anything to do with Spector’s struggles

Finally a logical well-balanced take

To everyone that wants to pretend that the issue is the scheme or play calls on defense, here’s what Joe Buscaglia saw when he reviewed the tape and revealed why Buffalo struggled against the run: It certainly begins up front, and while the defensive tackles likely get most of the attention for run defending, the defensive ends need to be on top of their games too — especially because teams have liked to use wide rushes to test the Bills’ linebackers and safeties. At defensive tackle, it was not a good week, almost across the board. DaQuan Jones was the best of the bunch, though his impact wasn’t felt nearly as much as earlier in his Bills career. Ed Oliver went from playing with his hair on fire against the Lions to being kept in place or even pushed off his spot in run defending versus the Patriots. They need more out of Oliver as a run defender, as that has been a strength of his game his entire career. The top substitutes, Austin Johnson and Jordan Phillips, both struggled at the point of attack. On top of that unit, the Patriots took advantage of three defensive ends in particular in the running game: A.J. Epenesa, Dawuane Smoot and Von Miller. Baylon Spector got the spot start with early-down duty in place of Matt Milano, and it was a struggle right from the beginning of the game. Spector left with a calf injury, and once Dorian Williams began to get every down work, the outside linebacker position immediately improved in run defending. But it wasn’t just Spector. Middle linebacker Terrel Bernard has been on a rough run-defending stretch since that began after the bye week against San Francisco. Bernard has shown difficulties in getting away from blocks, and those blockers drive the linebacker up the field far too often. Bernard’s first two seasons have been all about flash plays, which can help change a game, and plays that he deserves credit for making. But in the consistency department, particularly as a run defender, he has left a bit to be desired now, almost two full seasons into his career. He shows flashes of being a better run defender, but they have been too infrequent, specifically over this four-game stretch. So it appears that this is everything Bobby Babich said in his press conference. They struggle because the front 7 loses one-on-one matchups. It has nothing to do with playcalling or scheme as it does with them getting their asses handed to them In the trenches.

You don’t play on 4 teams in 1 calendar year if you CAN still play. He’ll be a non-factor is Houston as he was in Baltimore

Correct… his whole .660 winning percentage comes from feasting on bad QB’s…got it

If you actually watched the game, instead of just guessing, you’d see there were multiple adjustments in the 2nd half. Sadly none of them worked.

You gotta think he takes the spot from Spector

Someone needs to let the Christmas spirit into their negative frozen Buffalo heart

LOL I can really see Terry Pegula giving McDermott this ultimatum.

That what a lot of us see

I’d be fine with more reps but Bishop was targeted and was not very good in coverage on TE’s. In the first half he was beaten on 2 big 3rd-and-8 coverage. Then Henry beat him for a 3rd and goal TD. Bishop wasn’t a train wreck but a big reason why NE extended drives was because they went after him, Elam and Cam Lewis. He has a long way to go before he can be a competent starter in this defense.

The biggest criticism of the Bills administration is “wasting the prime of Josh Allen.” Want to see about 2-3 more wasted years? Completely switch defensive schemes, when the majority of your players work best in their current scheme. It takes a few years to do this effectively. The better solution is upgrading the front 7

Cousin, it all started by me saying Houston is overrated and you were signing their praises. To do this, you added the statistics from 4 games (1 of which was a major outlier) to create the impression that the defense was better than they are. Also my impressions were not based off one game. I gave you multiple examples of poor performances by Houston’s defense including KC, TEN, Minnesota etc. The 1985 Bears? LOL you got me. That was an exaggeration since I feel you are really overrating their defense. Was the blitzing against NE effective? It seemed like the blitzed got block and Maye found a connection. But you’re right about McDermott/Babich trying different things. Though I know they would prefer a rush with 4… but that’s not happening

Straw man argument… when did I say that Buffalo had a better defense than Houston? I did say that they performed better against Kansas City than Houston did, which is tough for even you to dispute. I just said Houston’s defense is overrated and I saw that overrated defense get pushed around by Kansas City and you’ll see them get pushed around by Baltimore on Christmas Day. Sorry but the 1985 Chicago Bears…they are not.

If you’re going to criticize the Bills defense, the game against the Rams was a much worse defensive performance. The Bills were in complete control of the Lions game and were up 35-14 at the end of the third. Detroit was aided by a crazy fluke TD and a poorly executed prevent defense. 21 points against the Patriots isn’t that bad. They average almost 18 per game. Besides, the greatest defense in the NFL according to some here - the 2024 Houston Texans - also gave up 21 to New England.

The 3rd down defense is my #1 concern. It seems like there is always an answer for the opposing offense. I’m sure this is a mix of ineffective play calls and individual players not doing their job but it has me nervous for the playoffs. The Bills get turnovers which is great but without turnovers they really struggle to get teams off the field. The long pass from Allen should have been a catch. The other two drops were difficult contested catches. But that fumble… man that was bad. Overall probably his worst game as a Bill.

Well, not every defense can be as good as the 1985 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens… or the 2024 Houston Texans 🤣

Remember how so many of you wanted to fire the strength and conditioning staff? 🤣 One thing to consider though, I believe that Johnson, Coleman, and Kincaid ended up missing 4-5 weeks with their injuries. So while they didn’t go on IR, they very well could have. Still that puts Buffalo toward the bottom of the list.

Rodgers is pretty banged up and was limping at times yesterday. He will be missing his new LT that had been playing well. He doesn’t have the mobility that Maye has, so if the Bills DL comes to play on Sunday they have a chance at a nice day.

Whoever said “load management” is likely correct. I think they wanted to split the load between two players that are coming off injuries. The logic is that Spector is better against the run and Williams against the pass. Of course, NE saw Spector on the field on 1sr and 2nd down and immediately started throwing at him. It was brutal and they can’t afford to have Spector playing on defense Williams can cover. His problem is that he’s easily fooled by misdirection and play action. He bites easily on fakes which outs him out of position. He does have good closing speed but that extra step leads to a completion and moves the chains.

Beane and McDermott (and probably Aaron Kramer) deserve a ton of credit for sticking with Spencer Brown and realizing his potential . At the end of the 2022 season, many of us wanted a new RT to compete with Brown after a lackluster sophomore season. But Beane stood up for him at the end of the year press conference and he was 100% right. Unfortunately, he did the same for Gabe Davis and Tremaine “he does things that don’t show up on the stat sheet” Edmunds. His loyalty wasn’t really rewarded in those players.

If that’s what you took away from my comment about the Chiefs then you don’t understand. My point was the defense has performed well and better….yes BETTER… than a defense like Houston who some here believe is the second coming of the 1985 Chicago Bears. It was pretty obvious where I was going. Both McDermott and the defense have the potential to perform well against a top contender, so it’s not inconceivable to think they’ll perform better than what we’ve seen over the past few weeks. To your point about the defense, I too have the same concern and the biggest issue is the defensive line. But I think it’s more about individual talent than it is about scheme. McDermott like most defensive coordinators will not be changing his scheme. Especially because all of the returning personnel fit that scheme. But I would not be surprised to see more of a mix between zone and M2M coverage starting in the playoffs.

Where was the back pedal, sir? I said they played a great game against a top offense. Better than Houston did on Saturday, despite Mickie2Times calling them a “great” defense. For that reason, while they’ll never be a “great” defense, not impossible to think they can improve from what we seen on defense over the past few weeks. Insight, consistent and pragmatic. See how that’s done?

This is a really good point that’s often overlooked not just defense but every where on the roster. No one in the preseason took a look at the Bills roster and said “that’s a team that will content for a Super Bowl.” McDermott, Brady and of course the MVP are getting more out of less this season.