st. pete gogolak Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 It's no secret that NE is enamored with the spread offense and that they have been for years. They run it ridiculously well and aren't afraid to use it anywhere on the field (witness the Welker catches from the NE one yard line in the Miami and SD games). Most of their runs come off some variation of a spread, at least when the game is in doubt. I know the "blueprint" for beating NE is to beat up on Brady and hit him every time he goes back to pass (NYG, Ravens, NYJ in their last three playoff losses). A LOT easier said than done. Except in rare instances, we haven't laid a finger on him in the last ten years! (I'd be curious to know how many sacks of Brady/Cassel we have in the last 15 games.) I simply cannot watch the Bills use a four man rush and play a soft zone and see Brady pick us apart. In the 2009 season opener, I was hoping defensive genius Dick Jauron would rush two and drop nine back when we had an 11 point lead with under five minutes to play. Who cares if they rip off 5 or 10 yard runs? Get them out of a comfort zone and make them use clock. We all know how that turned out. My question is - you hear of teams that try to make the other team beat them with the pass by putting eight men in the box. Is there an equivalent to trying to make the other team beat you with the run? Can we come out on Sunday with a two man line (Williams and Dareus) three LB's (Kelsey, Barnett and Merriman) and six DB's and dare them to run the ball? Occasionally throw the house at Brady with an all-out blitz? Maybe it takes them out of their comfort zone and makes them do something they aren't used to doing or don't like doing. It also has the benefit of slowing the game down and I like our chances better than if the game is a total shoot-out. Anything, ANYTHING other than rushing four and playing a soft zone. For once, let' challenge Belichek and Brady and make them work for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Play your dime defense the whole game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cincinnati Kid Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 (edited) I posted this in another thread, but if I were Chan I would want Scott and Searcy playing just about every snap on D. We need guys who can cover first and then be useful against the run more than guys who can play the run and be useful against the pass. I would have Scott and Searcy playing 5-7 yds off the ball on every play. Go ahead and pass to your TEs we have our big safeties in there. Go ahead and run with your mediocre at best run game. We have our big safeties in there to fill holes. I think that would work. So our starting D Dareus Williams Edwards Barnett Merriman/Davis Scott Wilson Byrd Florence McKelvin A. Williams Edited September 20, 2011 by The Cincinnati Kid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 My question is - you hear of teams that try to make the other team beat them with the pass by putting eight men in the box. Is there an equivalent to trying to make the other team beat you with the run? Can we come out on Sunday with a two man line (Williams and Dareus) three LB's (Kelsey, Barnett and Merriman) and six DB's and dare them to run the ball? Occasionally throw the house at Brady with an all-out blitz? Maybe it takes them out of their comfort zone and makes them do something they aren't used to doing or don't like doing. It also has the benefit of slowing the game down and I like our chances better than if the game is a total shoot-out. Anything, ANYTHING other than rushing four and playing a soft zone. For once, let' challenge Belichek and Brady and make them work for it. You mean like Belicheat did to us in SBXXV? Can we really count on them missing a 47 yard FG for the win? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st. pete gogolak Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 Super Bowl XXV is a great example. We fell for the bait and didn't adjust. We should have keep Jamie Mueller in the game and pounded away at the Giants. Thurman should have had 200 yards that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I think the base defense this game will be a 3-3-5 with Scott replacing Davis. Not only is Scott a much better option in pass coverage, but he is also a pretty decent pass rusher for a safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I posted this in another thread, but if I were Chan I would want Scott and Searcy playing just about every snap on D. We need guys who can cover first and then be useful against the run more than guys who can play the run and be useful against the pass. I would have Scott and Searcy playing 5-7 yds off the ball on every play. Go ahead and pass to your TEs we have our big safeties in there. Go ahead and run with your mediocre at best run game. We have our big safeties in there to fill holes. I think that would work. So our starting D Dareus Williams Edwards Barnett Merriman/Davis Scott Wilson Byrd Florence McKelvin A. Williams Go back and look at last years tape, BJGE killed us on the final drive when we needed a stop. The Pats can run. And if we need guys who can cover first, why did you take out our two best cover-safeties and put in a hybrid S/LB and a rookie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I posted this in another thread, but if I were Chan I would want Scott and Searcy playing just about every snap on D. We need guys who can cover first and then be useful against the run more than guys who can play the run and be useful against the pass. I would have Scott and Searcy playing 5-7 yds off the ball on every play. Go ahead and pass to your TEs we have our big safeties in there. Go ahead and run with your mediocre at best run game. We have our big safeties in there to fill holes. I think that would work. Stats line from last years two games against the Pats CAR YDS AVG TD Game 1: B Green-Ellis 16 98 6.1 1 TD Woodhead 3 42 14.0 1 TD Game 2: B. Green-Ellis 19 104 5.5 0 D. Woodhead 13 93 7.2 1 That is anything but MEDIOCRE! In Game 2, the Patriots had 12 Rushing first downs compared to 7 Passing first downs. The Bills will get punished, if they ignore stopping the run. Sure we gave away the ball 7 times in that game, but that is what the Pats have done to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Stats line from last years two games against the Pats CAR YDS AVG TD Game 1: B Green-Ellis 16 98 6.1 1 TD Woodhead 3 42 14.0 1 TD Game 2: B. Green-Ellis 19 104 5.5 0 D. Woodhead 13 93 7.2 1 That is anything but MEDIOCRE! In Game 2, the Patriots had 12 Rushing first downs compared to 7 Passing first downs. Oh stop throwing around useless things like facts. Bottom line is that the Bills have to play nearly perfectly in all three phases of the game to win. The patsies* have shown an uncanny ability to exploit mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 You certainly can force a team to run: See 2010 Buffalo Bills run defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notwoz Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 You certainly can force a team to run: See 2010 Buffalo Bills run defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) You mean like Belicheat did to us in SBXXV? Can we really count on them missing a 47 yard FG for the win? They forced us to run by playing a two man line and taking away the crossing patterns. We did not figure it out until it was too late. Everytime we saw the two man line we should have pounded the ball down their throats. That would have opened up the pass. Our staff did not adjust until to late. Thurman would have had 200 yards on the ground with ease. Man ... our team was so much better. Edited September 21, 2011 by Bob in STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPS Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Stats line from last years two games against the Pats CAR YDS AVG TD Game 1: B Green-Ellis 16 98 6.1 1 TD Woodhead 3 42 14.0 1 TD Game 2: B. Green-Ellis 19 104 5.5 0 D. Woodhead 13 93 7.2 1 That is anything but MEDIOCRE! In Game 2, the Patriots had 12 Rushing first downs compared to 7 Passing first downs. The Bills will get punished, if they ignore stopping the run. Sure we gave away the ball 7 times in that game, but that is what the Pats have done to us. Those stats are so last year... Different run D with Dareus, Barnett and Merriman (yes I think he's improved the run D). Dareus, Williams and Edwards provide the beef up front, which allows someone like Scott to play more often than Davis. Probably see Morrison a bit more too. Can you force the run? NO. You can "dare them to run" though, with more nickel and dime D packages. I say the front 3 and Merriman is the key to victory this week--dominate the LOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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