Mike in Syracuse Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 In an article today in the Buffalo news Kyle Williams confirmed that the Bills gameplan was not to go after Brady but rather put pressure in his face. "We mixed it up a little bit, hardly any blitzes at all," So we're three weeks into the season and we have yet to launch a full out blitz package. I'm guessing Andy Dalton might get some of it this week. No lights out, no problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 In an article today in the Buffalo news Kyle Williams confirmed that the Bills gameplan was not to go after Brady but rather put pressure in his face. "We mixed it up a little bit, hardly any blitzes at all," So we're three weeks into the season and we have yet to launch a full out blitz package. I'm guessing Andy Dalton might get some of it this week. No lights out, no problem! Can't argue with the result, but I'm completely surprised by the strategy. Obviously the only way we won that game was due to the turnovers, and I just don't think it makes sense to plan on intercepting Brady that many times without trying to knock him down. Again, can't argue with the end result, just flies in the face of the history of Patriots success. Guess that's why Gailey makes the big bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 It was clear on a lot of replays that DL and LB were not rushing as hard as they could -- OR -- as soon as they realized they were not going to beat their man cleanly they would stop and try to block Brady's passing lanes and get their hands up. It didn't always work, or even half the time, but a few big plays we made were because of it, especially the TD by Florence. Even though the pass hit Dareus in the facemask, he had stopped his rush and put his hands up to block the pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Can't argue with the result, but I'm completely surprised by the strategy. Obviously the only way we won that game was due to the turnovers, and I just don't think it makes sense to plan on intercepting Brady that many times without trying to knock him down. Again, can't argue with the end result, just flies in the face of the history of Patriots success. Guess that's why Gailey makes the big bucks. I don't think you have to hit Marcia to generate interceptions, you just have to rattle him enough that his little pansy-ass ego can't handle it and then watch the wheels come completely off. Plus, don't forget that "touching the Brady" is a 15-yard personal foul in this league. So arguably, it's better to just get near him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Even with the sarcasm, it's a good point. Blitzing Brady would definitely lead to many penalties, I wonder if that was thought about when game planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Even with the sarcasm, it's a good point. Blitzing Brady would definitely lead to many penalties, I wonder if that was thought about when game planning. Sarcasm aside, Brady has a long history of picking apart blitzes, relying on his timing with his receivers and their ability to find seams in coverage to make plays. If you can get decent pressure on him with a four-man rush, keep seven in coverage, and clog up the passing lanes, you can throw the offense's timing off and force Brady into more questionable throws (through virtue of having to read seven-man coverage under pressure, versus five-man under pressure from a blitz). Not that I'd have figured that out BEFORE the game, mind you. But that seems to be what happened...that, and Brady really does seem fragile enough that when things don't go his way, he sulks and the wheels come flying off. For all his other abilities, he really does seem like something of a hothouse flower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 My brother had an excellent observation at the game - Brady makes his living with those passes over the middle as everyone knows, but the corollary to that he is not nearly as good when forced to throw the out pattern. Putting pressure up the middle not only takes away his comfort stepping up in the pocket, but also helps clog up lanes in the middle and helps force him to throw passes to the outside which he is not that good at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 In an article today in the Buffalo news Kyle Williams confirmed that the Bills gameplan was not to go after Brady but rather put pressure in his face. "We mixed it up a little bit, hardly any blitzes at all," So we're three weeks into the season and we have yet to launch a full out blitz package. I'm guessing Andy Dalton might get some of it this week. No lights out, no problem! I don't expect Andy Dalton to have a career day. Our defense hasn't been outstanding but they're doing just enough to help us secure victory. I'd def love to see more pressure on him. I think it'll be a great match up honestly. A great accessment of where the Bills are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 (edited) With Koppen gone, Brady never had a clear look up the middle with pressure being applied. 4 Brady INT's later, I would say the plan worked. Edited September 27, 2011 by Scrappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. ChumChums Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 It was clear on a lot of replays that DL and LB were not rushing as hard as they could -- OR -- as soon as they realized they were not going to beat their man cleanly they would stop and try to block Brady's passing lanes and get their hands up. It didn't always work, or even half the time, but a few big plays we made were because of it, especially the TD by Florence. Even though the pass hit Dareus in the facemask, he had stopped his rush and put his hands up to block the pass. Pretty ingenious strategy, if I've ever heard one - clearly unconventional, but it worked in the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 where was the underneath coverage to prevent Welker from running the same short routes all game long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 (edited) But that seems to be what happened...that, and Brady really does seem fragile enough that when things don't go his way, he sulks and the wheels come flying off. For all his other abilities, he really does seem like something of a hothouse flower. Yep, that's exactly what seems to happen when he gets hit a couple times. He pouts and starts throwing bad passes. Not to say the way we did it has never been done before, but I don't remember ever seeing it. Big kudos to the game plan. where was the underneath coverage to prevent Welker from running the same short routes all game long Yeah, that's scary. You would figure without blitzes we'd have enough guys in coverage to slow down Welker and Gonkowski more than we did. I'm really not sure that if Hernandez wasn't hurt we would have been able to win this game. Guess we'll have a chance to find out at the end of the year. Hopefully we still have some CB's healthy by then. Edited September 27, 2011 by Faustus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Its an interesting strategy to put 8 in coverage and hope that 3 can clog up the passing lanes with hands and bodies in the way. It was really puzzling when they got burnt for 21 points on the 1st drive that they stuck with their gameplan (I would have dialed up the Blitzes at 14-0). But hey it paid off they figured putting it up in the air over and over with 8 in coverage and hands in the face might result in INT's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFFacet Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Its basically the trend in the NFL right now against qbs like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Manning... even Fitzpatrick. Blitzing is bad. They are too smart and fast, they will almost always see the blitzes coming, organize the blockers correctly, get the ball out in plenty of time, and scorch you. You have to hope to disrupt them with 3-4 rushers and drop the rest into a mini-prevent. You can't really stop them from getting yards, so you force them to drive the length of the field in small increments, maximizing the chances of them stopping themselves via penalties and turnovers. At worst, the condensed area of the red zone somewhat levels the playing field and gives the defense a good chance at forcing a field goal - which in today's NFL against those offenses can be considered victory for the defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandius Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Its basically the trend in the NFL right now against qbs like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Manning... even Fitzpatrick. Blitzing is bad. They are too smart and fast, they will almost always see the blitzes coming, organize the blockers correctly, get the ball out in plenty of time, and scorch you. You have to hope to disrupt them with 3-4 rushers and drop the rest into a mini-prevent. You can't really stop them from getting yards, so you force them to drive the length of the field in small increments, maximizing the chances of them stopping themselves via penalties and turnovers. At worst, the condensed area of the red zone somewhat levels the playing field and gives the defense a good chance at forcing a field goal - which in today's NFL against those offenses can be considered victory for the defense. Agreed. It's why Brady always terrorizes the blitz-happy Steelers; they just can't get to him in time. You pretty much have to rush four and count on your defensive linemen to defeat blocks if you want to have success against that offense. We'll obviously have to add or develop another pass rusher to this roster, but for this one game, thank God the secondary was able to make some plays for INTs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in Chicago Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I don't expect Andy Dalton to have a career day. Our defense hasn't been outstanding but they're doing just enough to help us secure victory. I'd def love to see more pressure on him. I think it'll be a great match up honestly. A great accessment of where the Bills are. While not blitzing was not at all surprising (and the strategy was as I expected). However, this week I see us blitzing for the first time this season. Dalton is raw and he has to prove that he can beat the blitzes. Expect to see a lot of disguised ones in the beginning to see what the kid can do. If he starts going down, then we will send all out blitzes. I don't expect Dalton to crack 100 yard passing this week. (sticking my neck way out on this one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eme123 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 where was the underneath coverage to prevent Welker from running the same short routes all game long On the field it looked as though they were applying Jaurons "bend but don't break" scheme. They were giving the Patriots the underneath routes in an attempt to stop the 20yd plus plays. Meanwhile when the Pats got deep in our end it looked as though they had a little bit more trouble getting it in. Welker scored on two underneath routes where he caught the ball well short of the end zone. Both of those should have been stopped in my opinion. Mckelvin took a chance and cut Chad Ochos route to intercept one. George Wilson baited Brady into his interception which took alot of intelligence. Florences INT was a great play by Dareus to get into Bradys passing lane. Scott was in the right place at the right time. Whenever a QB throws 40 times a game he is going to be vulnerable to INT's at some point. The Bills knew before the game started that Brady was likely gonna light them up. Great plan to take some perfectly timed chances and put our offense on the field more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I expect we'll blitz in games where Gailey, Wannestadt, and Edwards think our ability to blitz is better than the other team's ability to pick up the blitz. Brady and the Pats are really good at beating the blitz. The teams that have blitzed the Pats successful and made Brady uncomfortable are better pass rushing teams than the Bills are right now. I think one of the reasons that Merriman has been relatively silent so far this season is that we're not playing to his strengths. It will be interesting to see what he can do once we unleash him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGB Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 where was the underneath coverage to prevent Welker from running the same short routes all game long 200 Plus yards - no one could cover him...we were lucky that the Bills came up with 4 Brady ints....seriously how many times do you think Brady is going to throw 4 ints...that is probably all he had last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 (edited) 200 Plus yards - no one could cover him...we were lucky that the Bills came up with 4 Brady ints....seriously how many times do you think Brady is going to throw 4 ints...that is probably all he had last year. The Bills provided teams with the blueprint to play the Pats. Expect other teams to copy it. However I doubt few will be as successful/fortunate. Edited September 27, 2011 by Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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