furmill Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 It probably would be best analyzing more then 1 team, but consider Green Bays switch from 4-3 (2008) to 3-4 (2009), you can turn a defense around pretty quick. That being said, Green Bay does have a lot of "names" on defense and Dom Capers. 2008: total yards(20th), scoring (23rd), rush yds (26) 2009: total yards (2nd), scoring (7th), rush yds (1st) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Fong Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 I really think youth, lack of talent, and the tough schedule will conspire to doom the Bills to a bad record this year, but I really like what I am seeing from this regime. Hopefully they keep building off the positives and get the Bills back to winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharper802 Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 It probably would be best analyzing more then 1 team, but consider Green Bays switch from 4-3 (2008) to 3-4 (2009), you can turn a defense around pretty quick. That being said, Green Bay does have a lot of "names" on defense and Dom Capers. 2008: total yards(20th), scoring (23rd), rush yds (26) 2009: total yards (2nd), scoring (7th), rush yds (1st) This is a total assumption but GB's offense was quite good last year, better than 2008 and put up a fair number of points. That may play some role in the defensive stats looking better. Also I wathced their early games. The defense was brutal butgot much better as the season went on. Troup and the coordinator are the keys to success or failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 (edited) There are many reasons: Many folks consider the last years fallout to be due to a horrible situation at QB and the OL (injuries, bad plays etc). Based on that the situation has not changed as the same QBs are back and the same OL are back. You used the same logical flaw the national nit-wits have been using - and you did it really quickly. When the Bills opened against the Pat's last year, the OL did fine. They had their starting five. When the Bills faced the 'Skins in P1 this year, they were back to missing three out of five starters, and Edwards was running for his life. The last two weeks, they've had their five starters on the field, and the offense has looked worlds better than last year. Unless we lose 3/5 of the line again, then no, the same OL are not back. Having this coaching staff that believes in confidence instead of luck will go a long way. To DJs credit this team played hard but were often undone by holy **** a gameplan by the other team! Having a game plan makes this team SOOOOOO much better. I doubt we are super bowl caliber but it wouldnt shock me to see us win 9 games +1 I personally see the big challenge is in the defense converting from the 4-3 to the 3-4 especially considering that we have been drafting this 4-2 cover 2 smallish linemen. Our LBs are also not big enough to play this defense. May be these players will adapt to the scheme. Of course, we were 31st against the RUN, so we can only go up. I hope Gailey tough attitude changes these players like how Parcells and Sporanos changes the culture in Miami two seasons ago. And which of those guys is playing D-line? If you haven't had a chance to watch them in preseason, it's pretty obvious our worries that Kyle Williams couldn't cut it as a NT were unfounded. He is a beast at his new position, and plays pretty big as a 305# NT. A slimmed and fit Marcus Stroud is a very large and powerful DE. Dwan Edwards is also very large and has the measurables to continue playing 3-4 end as he did when he was here in Baltimore. Our LB's aren't big enough? Huh? We have converted DE's on the outside. Andra Davis is plenty big. Poz may be a question. The real concern may be the mental conversion for the defense, especially the LB's. Again, we have converted DE's now playing OLB, and it's not clear they have the lateral mobility and instincts outside of pass-rushing to do it. Edited September 2, 2010 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 The Bills starters have yet to play a full game so most of us really have no idea of exactly how good or bad this years team will be... This coaching staff is filled with college coaches who have no NFL experience, plus the OC and DC were elevated to those jobs from RB coach in Arizona and LB coach in Miami. The team is implementing a new 3-4 defense and will have trouble stopping opposing teams until they learn their jobs, both coaches and players. The offense will be better and score more points and have better stats, but I still have no faith in the current O line to protect Edwards for 60 min a game for 16 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 You used the same logical flaw the national nit-wits have been using - and you did it really quickly. When the Bills opened against the Pat's last year, the OL did fine. They had their starting five. When the Bills faced the 'Skins in P1 this year, they were back to missing three out of five starters, and Edwards was running for his life. The last two weeks, they've had their five starters on the field, and the offense has looked worlds better than last year. Unless we lose 3/5 of the line again, then no, the same OL are not back. Please read my comment carefully. I said that is the belief of the national media. From their perspective we are bringing back the same QB and same OL as last year, without any upgrade through FA or draft. That is not my opinion. I understand that the BIlls lost 3 of their starters on the line during the season and the QB was in and out with a QB controversy. And which of those guys is playing D-line? If you haven't had a chance to watch them in preseason, it's pretty obvious our worries that Kyle Williams couldn't cut it as a NT were unfounded. He is a beast at his new position, and plays pretty big as a 305# NT. A slimmed and fit Marcus Stroud is a very large and powerful DE. Dwan Edwards is also very large and has the measurables to continue playing 3-4 end as he did when he was here in Baltimore. Our LB's aren't big enough? Huh? We have converted DE's on the outside. Andra Davis is plenty big. Poz may be a question. The real concern may be the mental conversion for the defense, especially the LB's. Again, we have converted DE's now playing OLB, and it's not clear they have the lateral mobility and instincts outside of pass-rushing to do it. The prototypical 3-4 NT is much bigger than what we have in Kyle Williams. Kyle is yet to go in a meaningful game at that position against some of the best Centers like Mangold in our division. He definitely has the skill and attitude to play the NT, but don't know if he has the physical strength to play it for 16 games. May be the Troup rotation will help. We have small LBs in Ellis, Maybin and Poz who were meant to be cover 2 DEs or LBs (fast and small). There is now big expectation from this group and many are unproven at their position. Kelsay has had difficulty rushing the passer from the DE position. I don't know if he will have success from the OLB position. There are just too many question marks to pretend that the transition will be smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 What I've noticed in only three pre-season game? Hardly any yellow flags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach55 Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Gailey = Cirque du Soliel Jauron = clown show. PTR +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Gailey coached the Cowboys in the late 90s when the cards were still in the NFC East. And thus four of those thirteen wins were almost certainly against the Cardinals. But a 9-3 record against the Giants, Eagles and Redskins is nothing to sneeze at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 And thus four of those thirteen wins were almost certainly against the Cardinals. But a 9-3 record against the Giants, Eagles and Redskins is nothing to sneeze at. I totally forgot the cards were in the NFC East once. Actually Dallas was 3-1 vs the Cards in 1998-1999. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynical Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 I totally forgot the cards were in the NFC East once. Actually Dallas was 3-1 vs the Cards in 1998-1999. PTR If you include the playoffs, then Dallas went 3-2 vs the Cardinals during 98-99. The Cowboys won both regular season match ups, but unfortunately, lost their playoff game against the Cards. Not a really a knock against Chan. Expecting a first year HC to beat the same team 3 times in one season is a tall order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasBB Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 If you include the playoffs, then Dallas went 3-2 vs the Cardinals during 98-99. The Cowboys won both regular season match ups, but unfortunately, lost their playoff game against the Cards. Not a really a knock against Chan. Expecting a first year HC to beat the same team 3 times in one season is a tall order. Chan blamed himself for that loss to the Cards in the playoffs -- said he allowed his team to be over-confident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Jauron took a 5-11 team and went 7-9 his first season. His worst record as a Bills coach was 7-9 (full season) In comes Chan Gailey. A guy who thus far has proven to be everything Jauron was not. A guy that demands hard work, attention to detail, can game plan, has an offensive mind, and expects his players to win as opposed to telling them "it's hard to win in the NFL". Other than T.O., what has significantly changed for the worse? -Defense switching to 3-4 will take some time, but the idea is that it will help shore up our horrid run D from last year. At some point in the season, this switch will be a positive. -Special teams do look suspect, but we need to wait till the starting line-up is in for the regular season -Offense now has a real OC. We added Spiller. Roscoe will be more involved. The O-line is more experienced and for the time being, is healthy. They have shown signs of life thus far in the pre-season and are actually exciting to watch. How can people (fans and "analysts") predict this team to only win 3 games? I would like to think that overall our team has improved on paper from the last few years, or at least stayed the same. So the question is this: Who wins more games given the same team, Gailey coached Bills or Jauron coached Bills? I say Gailey, hands down. That’s why I say we go at least 8-8 this season and make a push for a Wild Card spot. We could win 5 games and still actually play better than last year, even though they won 6 last year. We could end up with more yards, more points, less yard given up, better time of possession, fewer penalties and fewer turnovers .... and still only win five games. We play a much tougher schedule and our division is getting better, not worse. Added to that we still have the same weaknesses that we had last year. It will take at least two off-seasons to improve the talent and change the losing culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpl6876 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Another good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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