Blaming the Defense and Defensive Playcalling

[The Big Cat]

So we gave up 23 points to the Bengals, on the road.

 

That doesn't seem so bad.

 

Nor do any of the stat lines of Cincinnati's key players:

 

Dalton: 50% passing for 298 yards 1 TD and 2 INT's.

 

Benson: 104 yards on 19 carries and 0 TD's.

 

Okay, so nothing's jumping off the stat sheet, what about HOW those yards and points were earned?

 

Dalton's lone TD throw, a 17 yard strike, placed delicately where only his receiver could make the one-handed sideline grab that would be the first of only two touchdowns scored against us.

Seems like that play deserves kudos for them and doesn't necessarily warrant any criticism of coverage, play call, etc. In fact, Wilson is right there with him.

 

Well, what about AJ Green's gaudy stat line. Some call it an indictment of Leodis McKelvin, and in some ways they're right. But to say that Green's 4 catches for 118 yards lies directly at McKelvin's feet (or even more baffling, at the feet of George Edwards) ignores the RIDICULOUSLY ACROBATIC nature of Green's 40 and 58 yard grabs. The kid made some plays. Shoot, he was drafted only one pick after Dareus and was an agreed upon offensive stud, a can't miss guy of the 2011 draft. Perhaps a simple turn of the head from baby-Einstein out there would have resulted in a break up, but Green does deserve some credit for how those plays turned out. And just for a second, let's pretend like Leodis does just turn, find the ball and prevent those catches:

 

Just by omitting the catches alone, Dalton now throws for less than 50% (thanks in large part to the pressure he was under, ahem) and he gains only 200 yards on 36 attempts. Hardly a banner day. But even after Green's 40 yarder brought them all the way down to the 7 yard line, they still walked away with only a FG. And the 58 yarder was ultimately negated by a drive-ending interception. So those 98 yards that "killed us" really only cost us 3 points.

 

And about that pass rush...

 

How much different does that stat line look when an incomplete pass is actually a sack for a fumble for a touchdown...?

 

The Bengals really only succeeded in moving the ball in big chunks that were more often the result of great play making by their receivers and had less to do with the kind of systematic errors you'd think were plaguing this team by the way folks are posting around here. It's not like they were consistently moving the chains with 6,7,8 yard pickups. It happened in spurts, and for the rest of the game, our defense held them completely in check. Need proof? How about how TERRIBLY we were losing the field position battle throughout most of the first half. The result? Bills up 17-3.

 

Oh, but what about Oakland and New England? What about them? They put up CA-RAZY numbers against George Edwards and company.

 

For the last half decade New England has been, and continues to be, an offensive juggernaut. They've yet to be stopped or contained, only merely re-routed less than a handful of times over the last four or five seasons.

 

And Oakland? Talk about shocking. Not only is McFadden finally living up to his draft-status, but Campbell finally looks to be the quarterback everyone's touted him to be all these years. Plus HIS receivers have made some great plays too, and ESPECIALLY against us. That go-ahead TD in the fourth thrown into double coverage? Are you kidding me?

 

Long story short, we're 3-1 thanks to some huge breaks both for and against us. It's been an epically wonky start across the league--thanks in most part to the lockout, IMO--and folks around here are acting like no progress has been made in our rebuilding efforts.

 

To them I say: PHOOEY!

[Boludo]

The defense showed no heart late in the game and just bent over and took it. Poor coverage, poor rush, poor tackling - just a plain old weak effort in crunch time.

[qdawg in philly]

Exactly Boludo! And that's the bottom line. We needed a stop and couldn't get it. That's what it boiled down to. so we have are first loss.

[Dorkington]

First half defense = Awesome

 

Second half defense = Embarrassing

[GG]

The only statistics that count are the two scores at the end of the game.

 

But if you want telling stats:

 

Bengals scored on 4 of 5 second half possessions.

Bills have given up 1400 yards in three games.

 

That's not playing good defense.

 

The main reason no one has talked about D prior to this game is that they have been very good in the turnover department. Don't manufacture excuses for poor efforts. Nobody wanted to see the opponents with the ball and time left on the clock for a last drive.

 

This D still has a hard time shutting people down when they need to. The real question is, what games have you been watching?

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1) I agree on Dalton and Green; Dalton probably threw 5 balls that were an inch away from getting picked, including the TD to Gresham.

 

2) The very easy 100 yards that Benson got, however, was inexcusable. And the failure to even slow Dalton and co. down on the last drive was alarming.

 

Bottom line: not the end of the world, but defense needs improvement

[Rubes]

So we gave up 23 points to the Bengals, on the road.

 

That doesn't seem so bad.

 

 

Sorry, the D is still a pig with or without that lipstick.

[The Big Cat]

Valid points all around, gents.

 

If not for our very favorable turnover ratio right now, we would undoubtedly be sitting at 1-3. So the defense does deserve credit there.

 

And while I won't dispute everything said in response to my OP (again, valid points all around), I re-enter into evidence the sheer gutting the defense has undergone in the last two years coupled with all the new blood that implemented just this year.

 

A lot of fresh faces are being expected to contribute, and they are...sort of

[BillsObserver]

I'm a bit confused. Are you saying Jason Campbell has finally arrived? Did you happen to see New England vs Oakland?

[RyanC883]

The defense showed no heart late in the game and just bent over and took it. Poor coverage, poor rush, poor tackling - just a plain old weak effort in crunch time.

 

 

Exactly. And they did that against a rookie QB. Edwards himself must have started this post. The fundemental problem, besides sloppy tackling, lack of accountability, is the fact that Edwards defensive play calling is as predictable as a high school coaches.

[3rdand12]

well this is going to cover some good points. And i suspect we can come down to defining specific weaknesses in defense.

allow me to begin.

outside pass rush. dont have one yet even though i see Merriman and Kelsay heading towards the qb. merriman looked a little better and Kelsay keeps on running past the qb as he gets turned by the RT again and again leaving a passing or scrambling lane Wide open

inside pass rush. i see some gap stuffing but not much penetrationon pass. or much interest in it from GE.

front 3. are we trying to use them as pass rushers? in a 3 -4. i thought they were supposed to take up blockers for the LBs. They can do that. But the big guys need to think about passing lanes unless they are going to get a hand on the offensive qb!

Secondary has been reasonable to very good. excepting one player.

Play calling. not sure although i finally noticed a corner blitz against cinci that worked well enough. i expected more trickery against Dalton.

[Dr. Trooth]

Dude. Think about what you posted. Take yourself out of your role as a Bills fan for just a moment and take a look at the facts. Before the game on Sunday against the Bengals, the Bills ranked 26th on defense. So, even before playing the Bengals, the Bills D sucked. The Bengals ranked 26th on offense. That 26th ranked offense, with a rookie QB and rookie wide receiver, dominated the Bills... even though they spotted the Bills 2 TDs off turnovers. They more than doubled the Bills production of first downs and lit up the Bills defense for 458 yards. As a result, the Bills rank 27th on defense.

 

You want to omit the big plays and discount them like they shouldn't count, or didn't happen. This Bills defense sucks every bit as bad as the past two years. Anyone thinking the defensive performance wasn't so bad is dilusional and in denial. Let's not forget the torching they got from the Raiders, sans their TE and top three receivers.

 

Bottom line, go look at the stats... Bills are ranked 27 in total D. That's a fact. That's real. In any sports venue in the world that would clearly constitute that their defense flat out sucks, period, end of story.

[Ozymandius]

To me, the offense was just as bad as the defense. Putting up only 273 yards and 13 points is just as bad as giving up 458 yards and 23 points to the Bengals. In fact, those two things are probably linked. If the offense could've moved the ball a bit more, maybe the defense would not have gotten progressively worse (worn down?) throughout the game.

[3rdand12]

458 yards and only 23 points? look inside that a little hmmm.

[John from Riverside]

To me the real problem was not stopping the run in the 2nd half.....

 

If we shut that down.....the Bengals dont open up the playbook with a rookie QB and put the pressure on him.....

 

It isn't how much we gave up so much as at what key moments we gave it up.....

 

So many things that affected the outcome of this game though

 

 

- On consecutive 3rd downs in the first two offensive series our wide receiver was blatantly held to prevent the completion......

 

- In the 2nd half we have a chance to down a ball on a punt at somewhere around the 3 yard line.....a two hand push in the back moves a bill into the end zone past the ball and he cant get back to it before it bounces in the end zone

 

- Multiple consecutive holds on defenders to keep them from destroying Dalton....blatant

 

 

And then of course there is the Stevie non catch. We had just had a long sustained drive by our offense to take control of the game back over....were at around the 50 yard line and driving.....we were actually very close to being in field goal range which would have iced the game. No friggen way that ref saw that ball come out...what he should have done was rule it a catch and let the replay booth overturn it if he is wrong but no.

 

 

Do I wish we would have destroyed the bengals? Yeah....but they had a lot of help along the way.

[BuffalOhio]

I'm tired of QB's standing there without being touched. KILL THAT MF'ER EVERY DAMN PLAY!

[3rdand12]

Is this Stevie? i mean really, is it? lol

add. tuck rule is amazingly bizarre

Edited October 4, 2011 by 3rdand12

[Heitz]

Bottom line, go look at the stats... Bills are ranked 27 in total D. That's a fact. That's real. In any sports venue in the world that would clearly constitute that their defense flat out sucks, period, end of story.

 

True we are 27 in Total D (right in front of Green Bay, oddly enough) looking at total yards. However taking a look at the ever important (some would argue more important) stat of points per game, or even total points given up this year we're ranked 16th.

 

I don't think we're *good*, but I don't think we're terrible either...

 

We're going to need to see a pass rush eventually - can't keep giving QB's time to throw at McLovin!

[It's in My Blood]

First half defense = Awesome

 

Second half defense = Embarrassing

 

The Bills D played exceptional in the 1st half. They got full of themselves in the 2nd, whereas the Bengals never gave up. I really hope the veteran leadership on this team steps up and makes sure this never happens again. Hopefully, we will look back on this game as the springboard to greater achievement due to the fact that they now realize you can never take your foot off the gas in the NFL.

[Projay89]

I'm tired of QB's standing there without being touched. KILL THAT MF'ER EVERY DAMN PLAY!

yes

please

no excuse for not blowin that kid up.