Tcali Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 It seems like we have all the players needed to have a solid defense at least on paper....but in the game they just seems to be out of position.... Now coaching seems to lack all imagination..... And injuries have been a concern.... And no one might agree with me, but PUT MARCY AT DE ..... Our DBs are above average..and lets hope McGee stays healthy you could see what a real pro he is by yesterdays performance after the long layoff. On the D front 7 Williams is very good, Dareus is good at this point,,,...and then......well lets hope some of the young guys step it up. Kelsay is too old and slow although he is a decent football player.-We need another D lineman--and at least 2 LBs.PLUS a few of the young guys at LB need to step it up. Merriman shows brief flashes but he should be farther along at this time. Our D front 7-with the emphasis on the LBs- is well below average in the league at this point.-I think our D overall is slightly below average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 If we do not find some sort of a consistent pass-rush, we will finish no better than 8-8 with the toughest part of the schedule still to come. New blitz schemes and/or an aquisition/trade must happen and soon! We're 4-2 right now. So you are predicting we finish 4-6? While I agree we need a better pass rush, I don't foresee a 4-6 finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Missing Merriman, Williams and Kelsay didn't help against the Giants. But Edwards is in WAY over his head, has been since he took over as DC, and Gailey's misguided sense of loyalty towards him is troubling. We have NO bona fide pass rusher. So I would take issue with your first sentence. This is a passing league and if your defense can't dial up some legitimate pressure on an opposing QB, you are eventually going to pay the price. We can't so we do. Stats prove it. Besides, I don't have any confidence that Edwards would effectively use the aforementioned bona fide pass rusher, so it's a moot point. Although I'm concerned about the defense, I'm not sure Edwards is in over his head. He's got good mentors. Bob Sanders was the DC for the Packers for three years and has 30+ years coaching experience. Dave Wannstedt has been both a HC and DC in the NFL for many years. I'm sure both are solid advisors who keep Edwards head above water. Gailey is all about winning. If Edwards truly is the problem, Gailey will ax him. I see no evidence in Gailey's history that he has a misguided sense of loyalty. It would be easy to fire Edwards when Wannstedt is already on staff as a potential replacement. I wonder if maybe our defensive personnel just aren't as good as you think they are - and the coaches are doing the best with what they've got. Remember, Kyle Williams and Shawne Merriman (our two 'star' players) have both been playing hurt when playing at all. Our best DB has missed some games as well. Dareus is still a rookie and learning how to be effective at this level. Remember also the Bills have a high scoring offense which forces opponents to open up their own offenses. So predictably, we see opposing teams pass a lot, gain a lot of yards, and turn the ball over as they attempt to keep up with the Bills. We force them to play high-risk, high-reward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 No pass rush, no QB pressure at all. I'm glad they are at least making effort at curtailing the run, but it sure seems to be more bad coaching than bad personnel. Edwards was horrible last year, and it appears he is on the same course to replicate it this year. It's terrible coaching. The defensive play calling stinks. No pressure on the QB's. A folding zone, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 I agree with the bad coaching theory. We got all pro Kyle Williams and 3rd over all pick Dareus. If we can't figure out a way to get those guys after the passer we got problems. I wonder is "Coach" Edwards has heard of stunts? If you can't get pressure from the from 3 or 4 whatever, you gotta bring some extra guys sometimes or you'll get torched by NFL QBs as we have been. The strategy of not blitzing the pee jee bers out of rookie QB of the Bungles after he had already thrown 2 picks and was bailed out on a tuck is inexcusable. If we had blitzed him like we did Vick some in the Eagles game we win that game by 10 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Sure, no pass rush and a hit and miss secondary is killing us, but the truth is that we are not playing well ANYWHERE on defense. Against the Giants the shortest scoring drive they had was 69 yards - that's crazy! That means we are allowing teams to march down the field and score with regularity. Somehow they need to figure out how to make some defensive stops.You can't expect to win on turnovers every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 My take: Cornerbacks aren't very good. Linebackers just a little too small to stop the run. No imagination to create confusion and open up blitzing lanes to rush the quarterback (in other words, mediocre coaching). The LBs aren't too small to stop the run, I haven't noticed an inordinate amount of missed tackles in the run game. What they lack is the ability to get to the passer. You can't run a 3-4 and have LBs that simply get eaten up by the OL over and over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taglientep Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Here's where everyone disagree .... Leodis is a good corner.... he struggles against freakish WRs ..... but in the last two games he done well against his man.....Mcgee is back and made some plays.... Now.... can we ever get to the QB? I don't know..... its just a lack of imagination.... I donno if its imagination or that fact that we had 3 key players out. With Merriman, williams and Kelsey out its makers some huge holes. no matter what you think of how good those players are, they have a lot of experience. i saw on a bunch of plays, my boy batten was out of position,...bad... i hope our starters can come back and grow and anchor the d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) I agree with the bad coaching theory. We got all pro Kyle Williams and 3rd over all pick Dareus. Of course, it'd help if williams was, you know, playing. >.> Edited October 18, 2011 by joesixpack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 We don't have an elite defensive end you have to plan for. San Francisco has two of the top 3 pass rushers statistically right now, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald. Dareus is on his way. He's #9 on this list, but Dwan Edwards is not on this list. We need 2 to play. 1 Justin Smith SF 2 Antonio D. Smith HST 3 Ray McDonald SF 4 Darnell Dockett ARZ 5 Randy Starks MIA 6 Calais Campbell ARZ 7 Wallace Gilberry KC 8 Kendall Langford MIA 9 Marcell Dareus BUF 10 Brett Keisel PIT 11 Vonnie Holliday ARZ 12 Tommie Harris SD 13 Sean Lissemore DAL 14 J.J. Watt HST 15 Cameron Heyward PIT What is that supposed to be a list of? There are two players from the Dolphins in the top 10, but they have the fewest sacks in the league and, if I recall correctly, no sacks by a defensive lineman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 We have needs to address in the draft in the front seven, no question about it. Merriman is on his last year or two so I can imagine we'll get one of the best linebackers available in the draft. For this year we've got what we've got and after all we are 4-2. Our defense has given up more points than we would like, but it has been aggressive on turnovers and produced a lot of points on its own. I think the bye week should be one of innovation and getting tuned up, but not a week of tremendous change. Hopefully a time for williams and merriman to get better. The defense certainly has room for improvement, but I think whatever improvement there is will have to come from existing personnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Yea the Bills are a really bad defense, and they are a freaking sieve... 31st in total defense, 30th in passing defense, 29th in rushing defense... in yardage allowed I'm not certain if its all the coaching or play calling or players just not good enough, or players not disciplined enough ...ONLY because Chan Gailey still believes in this DC... then perhaps in time it will get better. But right now this is a bad defense that has been very lucky with turnovers NFN, but If I'm Gailey I'd be looking at someone like Eric Mangini, and see if he would be interested in the coordinators job as the man does know defense and may want to coach again. There was some speculation that he was asked to be a consultant for the Eagles but turned it down. Stop and think about how much better this team would be with a top ten defense, playoffs for sure and they could actually have a chance to win once they get there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 It seems like we have all the players needed to have a solid defense at least on paper.... It does? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobshaw81 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 We play that swiss cheese defense.. Holes all over the place. I blame coaching mostly. This is worse then Jauron D, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrFishfinder Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Although I'm concerned about the defense, I'm not sure Edwards is in over his head. He's got good mentors. Bob Sanders was the DC for the Packers for three years and has 30+ years coaching experience. Dave Wannstedt has been both a HC and DC in the NFL for many years. I'm sure both are solid advisors who keep Edwards head above water. Gailey is all about winning. If Edwards truly is the problem, Gailey will ax him. I see no evidence in Gailey's history that he has a misguided sense of loyalty. It would be easy to fire Edwards when Wannstedt is already on staff as a potential replacement. I wonder if maybe our defensive personnel just aren't as good as you think they are - and the coaches are doing the best with what they've got. Remember, Kyle Williams and Shawne Merriman (our two 'star' players) have both been playing hurt when playing at all. Our best DB has missed some games as well. Dareus is still a rookie and learning how to be effective at this level. Remember also the Bills have a high scoring offense which forces opponents to open up their own offenses. So predictably, we see opposing teams pass a lot, gain a lot of yards, and turn the ball over as they attempt to keep up with the Bills. We force them to play high-risk, high-reward. Edwards' defense has been horrible from the time he took over. Mentor, schmentor. The fact that he has good mentors doesn't necessarily mean he will be successful. There are plenty of bad students who have good teachers. We definitely need more play makers on D. We have no legitimate pass rusher. Buffalo's D ranks 31st as of now. Last year's D ranked dead last in stopping the run. As in, Dead. Last. Why Edwards was kept as DC when Wannstedt came aboard is beyond me. We have needs to address in the draft in the front seven, no question about it. Merriman is on his last year or two so I can imagine we'll get one of the best linebackers available in the draft. For this year we've got what we've got and after all we are 4-2. Our defense has given up more points than we would like, but it has been aggressive on turnovers and produced a lot of points on its own. I think the bye week should be one of innovation and getting tuned up, but not a week of tremendous change. Hopefully a time for williams and merriman to get better. The defense certainly has room for improvement, but I think whatever improvement there is will have to come from existing personnel. It may not be fair to say so, but I believe the fact that the D has as many take aways as it does is more the individual players than the DC. The fact that we were dead last against the run last year and are 31st now are ugly but undeniable facts. IF we were able to get pressure on QB's (see Dalton & Manning), we most likely would be sitting at 5-1 or even 6-0 right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Cubed Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I know some will disagree with this, but with out the defense scoring TDs 3 games in a row, it's very possible we lose all those games instead of winning 2. I mean even if you look at this past week against the Giants, in the second half the Bills offense went Punt, Interception, TD, Interception, LoD. And yet the defense only allowed the giants 10 points in the second half. I think a lot of it has to do with the offense as well. With that said I do agree we need more pass rush and our blitzes need to be much more effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The AntiFin Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 We haven't had a pass rush since Schoebel retired. A pass rush can do wonders. It won the Giants a Super Bowl. Literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I believe it is related to George Edwards being a crappy DC...the faster he is run out of town, the better Dave Wannstadt can make this D... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrFishfinder Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I believe it is related to George Edwards being a crappy DC...the faster he is run out of town, the better Dave Wannstadt can make this D... I think we need a couple of billboards up with this message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryland-bills-fan Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Guys, we are four and two. That is an important stat and trumps quoting yardage numbers. Last year, we couldn't win because everybody ran the ball down our throat. This year, we are stopping the run pretty well and getting a grip on sealing the edge. You can't fix everything at once. Some posters are like someone complaining about a row boat that is leaking a bit in the bow. They seem to have forgotten that yesterday, it was pouring in from a hole in the stern, that you fixed. Most 3-4 defenses use the front 3 to soak up blocks and QB pressure and sacks come from sending one of the outside linebackers, unexpectedly to the QB. We don't have real good players there right now, so we are concentrating on containment, stopping the consistent running game and putting hands up in the short passing lanes. Its not the best thing, but it is making good use of what we have. We have two aging guys starting at outside linebacker (Kelsay [9 years]and Merriman[7 years and injury prone]), who are backed up by two 6th round picks (Moats and Batten). We have two aging interior linebackers in Barnett [9] and Davis [10], who are backed up by Sheppard and White [rookies]. I'm going to connect some dots and predict that we will take two linebackers in the first 4 round in the next draft. Rome wasn't built in a day either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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