colin

PFF blows, but this does kinda show that our D Scheme is a big "fragile". the whole 1/11 concept would mean that you don't need individual outperformers to win matchups for the d to be effective, but in the case of our D, it kinda means if any of the 11 aren't up to the task, the the whole bottom falls out. we've had good success overall, so im not about ditching it, but if we have 2 LBs on the roster who can play at all, it kinda sucks that the d goes to pot if either of them are hurt. based on guys like klien coming in and just being useless, it also seems like the requirements of the d on certain positions is a bit much. i remember back in the day, urlacher and ray lewis were the top two MLBs in the nfl. lewis had more team success in the NFL, but honestly, i think urlacher could have done Lewis's job in baltimore, but no way lewis could have run and covered the middle like urlacher did in chicago. not saying urlacher was a much (or at all) better player than ray, but if you have a requirement of positions that you don't have guys meet, it makes you wonder if some changes are needed. in theory, we ask less of our corners than other teams, which i suppose means we can have a 7th round rookie come out and ball like we did vs the jets (yes, they suck, i know), but it's still nfl football and if a corner can't run w a guy he's toast. anyhow, i hope they decide to get aggressive, we are just a better d playing that way and we aren't staffed or schemed to bottle teams up, we need to disrupt. i heard a podcast (cover 1) where they had a pats beat guy on. he said their LB, number 51, was too slow and cumbersome to be in space, so after getting exploited doing that by san fran, the pats just had 51 line up close and rush, more or less like a d lineman. the genius of billicheat is that he gets guys who can do things he needs, and also changes up schemes to confuse the other team and generally avoids asking his guys to do something they aren't good at. so you get patrick chung being a star for them when he's really not a fast guy playing safety, and he's not agile for the position either. since we are more of a team scheme'd D, i don't think we have the flexibility that the pats do from a coaching standpoint, but i think if things aren't working you may as well err on the side of aggression, because you don't want the opponent to be comfortable. . here's to hoping we have it figured out now for the rest of the season.

good stuff Oppie. so, i was somewhat aghast with what we were paying for who we were paying, their age, and that we let younger at least somewhat proven performers go. i think these deals were all just structured as one year rentals, taking advantage of the excess cap we had. in that case, i'm less disgusted with what we did. we will have money (unless cap capsizes, which will mess up a ton of teams and maybe create opportunities) to sign a real guy to a long term contract.

im of two minds on edmunds. he absolutely gets washed way too often. the rumblings cap of the end zone run to the offensive left where the right guard just shoves him and he falls down, that's basic MLB play. if he keeps his balance and uses his hands to get off the block faster, he has a shot at a play, potentially stopping a TD. he also over runs or over shoots w bad angles more than he should. on the other hand, our d schematically has only 2 LBs who for the most part play the same position. they have to take on blockers and drop back and run upfield w pass catchers, and their assignment has a lot of variance vs say an OLB in a 3-4 who covers much less ground and has much less to think about. the biggest issue to me is our D is this kinda of rubicks cube of every part has to fit with somewhat small tolerances for it to work. one thing of note vs the jets (and yes, it's the jets) is that even with the rookies and practice squad guys in there (including epensa im happy to say) the d seems to be much much better when it is aggressive, and more guys are moving forward. aside from just bad DL play for about a month (and that's disgusting because of how much we spend on that) it really seems like being aggressive and gunning for a negative play on the first 2 downs setting up third and long is what we need to get back too. the 3rd and way longs we have allowed are disgusting, but in part i think it's because the plays called have had the D play on their heels too much, instead of coming downhill and forcing the issue

im sure they like him, but healthy scratch means they don't want him, obv because of his performance. spain was at least OK, on par w ford more or less, but ford has upside and is cheaper, and they let him walk, so i think at least part of the positive speak about phillips is because he's taking getting benched better than spain did. spain moped and moaned and got cut. what a bad signing that was.

i know that, and i don't care. if we actually pull off the next two (long odds) i will be a zubaz wearing psycho homer, at least until a few minutes into the game where we make some bad mistake, then i will be chicken little. it is my right as a bills fan.

never forget, you must REMEMBER THE TITANS. i'll see myself out.

the current format but with 15 minutes is best. ncaa stuff is stupid, kicking the ball is part of the game.

i remember epenesa making one play where he lined up, the db behind him smacked his right hip, epenesa move to his right, and a sweep came right at him and he made a sure tackle for 0 yards. makes me think maybe he can play, but he hasn't figured out the d yet.

if we can ship out murphy and harrison philips (assuming the front office is done w harry) then i'll take mercilus and a big body from either of the NY teams. if we are really gonna run a nickle only D, we need more D linemen. i would like a real SAM but i don't know that we can change our scheme mid season.

aside from losing so many solid players, cam newton is a shell of his former self and i don't think he's really healthy. BB is obv a sick coach, but that just isn't a really good roster.

if we win the next two i will be ABSOLUTELY expecting a win in zona. i won't be able to help myself.

i think this thread is spot on. josh takes a little longer to find his target on most multi target plays (he's gotten a lot better at quick screens tho). he's got the talent and arm to buy himself some time. but that weakness is emphasized and that positive ability is negated with goofy slow forming plays, MOST OF ALL WHEN THE FIELD IS SHORTER! we should tend to have a fast first or second read for allen, because that gives him a chance to go through his reads and go back if need be. he can also tuck the rock and just murder a deep drop D, but slow forming plays in compressed space remove that too. we had one audible into a run by allen where the halfback came through the hole and blocked. allen got tackled about 3 or 4 yards up, but it was for a first down. a missed tackle on a play like that can break for a score, and it's going to pull the LBs up. dabo likes to either keep going to the qb run, or just throw it out totally, never really setting up the d with the same look to set up play action which gets the LBs fooled quickly after the snap. the stuff NE is doing w newton or what andy reid always does works this way very well, we need a coach for our offensive coaches.

bro, i am now able to call out ahead of time if a play called (almost always on 3rd down or in the red zone) is going to fail or not because it takes too long to develop. the timing of the play call vs a given D formation and down and distance is the art of calling plays IMO, execution, prep, and deep understanding of what the D is weak to is the science. the higher the stakes get, the worse at the former dabo gets. early in games he gets teams fooled, and on first down, or 3rd and passing (in general) this O has had some good success, but you can just feel the O get tight because they have simply too high of a degree of difficulty built into the play call. the trickery part of it might even be worse. i swear dabo read the "advanced stats" goofery that said that play action works no matter how well you have been running the ball. what that fails to take into account is play action works only if you can fool the D into thinking you might actually run it. formation and down and distance can really tip the d off, so you still need to fool the D, so it needs to look like a play where you have run or should run out of. that double fake screen which was supposed to be a TE screen over the gut was the dumbest thing around. we weren't killing them on screens enough to fake it one way, let alone two, and our screens tend to be a touch slower w the back further out, not the NE stuff where the DE or LB comes crashing at the QB and only then does the ball get passed (they also get away w illegal man downfield all the time, but i digress). and of course we got called for illegal man and the play had no chance. we did that inside the like 20 or 25, when the jets are in a zone with no room to work. we have so much success out of 4 or 5 wide that A) we should keep doing it and B) we aren't setting up any real tendencies for a double fake reverse or screen so it makes those much harder trick plays even dumber. i do give him credit for not stinking as bad as usual in the 3rd, and he actually called some decent run plays, but he pays no mind to setting the O up with a few bread and butter formations and personal groups where we can play advantage and get the D going the wrong way when we need to.

im getting ahead of myself but i am allowed because i am a fan. so, assuming ne just still stinks and our d has figured out how not to be the worst, and we win that game, can we hope to split w these teams? we'd need brown and at least one more TE, and mongo back to have a shot i think. edmunds getting better would help too. tall order tho

The odds are long, very long

Well, the take away is we fixed the d (yeah jets suck) and moved the ball well, we just had bad luck and mistakes in the redzone. I'll take it, now we gotta crush the pats

He was aiming for the ball and the wr lowered down. New we need to bring that intensity again

Just stupid. Stopped the clock for that? Just go for it w allen, why are they doing this? Oc is cheeks man

So those two misses are looking large. Also, I knew that last play would fail as soon as I saw how we lined up. Compressed zone w eyes on the qb, and we are in this silly ass formation w a slow rookie rb in the back field. No chance of a fast play. Awful

This drive now is on dabol. He needs to know the tendencies by now and call something that lets us play advantage offense

So bass has two easy misses in a tight game, and our idiot te falls down on the way to the end zone. I swear this team is snake bit. Also, every 3rd and passing down they blitz and we have a slow to develop play. Williams is out coaching dabol

Guys, we actually had an almost good 3rd quarter. Of course we end it with a fuggin hold on the return

I really wanna win this game. The db mugging beez makes me sick, these zebras need a long swim in the Hudson. We finally got some solid run blocking at least, but our rbs are sooooo slowwwww

Why did that guy in the jets hold the ball and kick it?

Dabol is still a trash oc. He can script em, but he can't call for sheeeeet. If bass didn't flub that earlier one, we'd be in the lead, hurts. Our o to start the season was a lot of smoke and mirrors, and now the ds have caught up (except ours it seems) and it's a struggle