Turbosrrgood Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) Despite what is starting to like like a pretty gloomy outlook for our already weak defense (maybe even a death knell for our playoff chances), there a few things to be optimistic about. We know we lost Merriman for the season, Williams season is in doubt, Troup may never be able to play, and our D has been getting torched all season anyway... BUT, I personally am very excited to see Heard line up at NT. He made the team as a gigantic DE, but he definitely has the size (6-6 ~350) to play NT. He looks to be very athletic for his size, and has a great burst off the line...Plus he's got a mean streak. We could do way worse at that position. Hopefully he can be disruptive similarly to KW, and with his size maybe even tip a few passes. Unfortunately our pass rush is probably the biggest problem on this team as a whole, and now Merriman is out. BUT,despite the hype, Merriman literally did nothing in the regular season. So losing him isn't THAT big of a deal, we will now get to see plenty of the young guys behind him. I like getting Coleman back in the mix, I think that's a very solid move. He can at least play the run well...Hopefully those young guys can turn the corner (literally), our season might depend on it... Edit : I meant to mention McGee too. I think he is our best cb when healthy. His return is huge for us considering our poor pass rush. Edited October 27, 2011 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saundena Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) Merriman required required a lot of attention from the opposing team's offense. It's not fair to say he did nothing. There were also several holds which he drew that were not called. We would be better off if he was still playing, even if only in a backup/rotational capacity Edited October 26, 2011 by saundena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Merriman required required a lot of attention from the opposing team's offense. It's not fair to say he did nothing. There were also several holds which he drew that were not called. We would be better off if he was still playing, even if only in a backup/rotational capacity The interesting thing will be to see if the absence of Merriman causes any different approaches by opposing offenses, or if players of smaller reputation but better health (Coleman, Moats) will be able to avoid double teams... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Merriman required required a lot of attention from the opposing team's offense. It's not fair to say he did nothing. There were also several holds which he drew that were not called. We would be better off if he was still playing, even if only in a backup/rotational capacity I remember him being held, and I know the run defense was better when he was in the game. But I don't remember significant attention paid to him; most times it looked like he had one-on-one match-ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 The interesting thing will be to see if the absence of Merriman causes any different approaches by opposing offenses, or if players of smaller reputation but better health (Coleman, Moats) will be able to avoid double teams... I think the better question might be will Coleman and Moats command double teams in the first place. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I think the better question might be will Coleman and Moats command double teams in the first place. GO BILLS!!! Quite so. Which is what I meant to say, and clumsily did not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Quite so. Which is what I meant to say, and clumsily did not. Don't be so hard on yourself. Your post was a Rembrandt compared to the paint-by-numbers crap I throw up here from time to time. Lets hope Coleman/Moats both command and avoid those double teams. How's that? GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I was disappointed to hear Gailey in his presser today remark that he doesn't think Coleman will be ready to play this week. I was quite surprised by that considering how much time he spent with the team last year and this preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Dear Arthur, Make Beck wish he was still doing missionary work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Don't be so hard on yourself. Your post was a Rembrandt compared to the paint-by-numbers crap I throw up here from time to time. Lets hope Coleman/Moats both command and avoid those double teams. How's that? GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Is Kelsay coming back this week? He was getting consistent pressure on 3rd down when he was lining up with his hand on the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) Is Kelsay coming back this week? He was getting consistent pressure on 3rd down when he was lining up with his hand on the ground. I haven't seen any information on that, but I hope so...despite the haters he has been our best pass rusher over the last 6 games of last year, and the time he played this year. He has even looked good against the run this year when healthy. He may not get a ton of sacks, but he makes his way into the backfield on a regular basis. Edited October 27, 2011 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 i have been, and will continue to be a strong supporter of Shawn Merriman, and hope he recovers and returns to the team next year. With that said, I know he had an affect on how opposing teams had to plan for and account for him, but i agree with the OP that it will not be that big a deal simply because the defense is still one of the worst in the league, and on pace to give up more yards per game than last year, or even possibly set a franchise record for futility. There's so much more to worry about on the defensive side of the ball that losing Merriman right now should be the least of our concerns as fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SactoBillFan Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Hoping there is some way Williams can get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Is Kelsay coming back this week? He was getting consistent pressure on 3rd down when he was lining up with his hand on the ground. According to BuffaloBills.com injury report: Full practice LB Chris Kelsay – calf I guess that means he's OK to play. I hope so. I'd like to see us play him at DE and forget about the whole LB thing. he's a decent DE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPS Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Dear Arthur, Make Beck wish he was still doing missionary work Seems there's a good joke in there about putting him in the "missionary position...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) According to BuffaloBills.com injury report: Full practice LB Chris Kelsay – calf I guess that means he's OK to play. I hope so. I'd like to see us play him at DE and forget about the whole LB thing. he's a decent DE. This is good news then. Even though he's labeled as a LB, the end of last year and all of this year he has been playing up at the line with his hand down. Not a whole lot different than how a 4-3 DE would play, hence his much better performance since they started doing that. With him back, I think that changes how the O-line can play the Bills. With Kelsay, Dareus, and now Heard lining up next to each other, teams will have to focus on that. That should take some of the pressure off of the young guys filling in for Merriman, and maybe create some opportunities. I'm being unusually optimistic here, but maybe it's just wishful thinking. I like our defensive players overall, but lets face it, if the Bills can't start getting some pressure on the QB's this nice start could turn around really quick... It sure would be nice if George Edwards (weak link) could do some game planning, or at least design a few quality blitzes, I am not quite THAT optimistic though... Edited October 27, 2011 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I think putting Merriman on IR was the right thing to do because it gets our healthy, young pass-rushing linebackers more playing time. This is a young man's game, especially on defense and I think Moats and Coleman will do a superior job of getting to the QB when the blitz is dialed up. I too, am interested in seeing Heard play NT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffmonster Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 This is good news then. Even though he's labeled as a LB, the end of last year and all of this year he has been playing up at the line with his hand down. Not a whole lot different than how a 4-3 DE would play, hence his much better performance since they started doing that. With him back, I think that changes how the O-line can play the Bills. With Kelsay, Dareus, and now Heard lining up next to each other, teams will have to focus on that. That should take some of the pressure off of the young guys filling in for Merriman, and maybe create some opportunities. I'm being unusually optimistic here, but maybe it's just wishful thinking. I like our defensive players overall, but lets face it, if the Bills can't start getting some pressure on the QB's this nice start could turn around really quick... It sure would be nice if George Edwards (weak link) could do some game planning, or at least design a few quality blitzes, I am not quite THAT optimistic though... It is sad our D now reminds me of the Dick J offense of years past. So vanilla and ineffective, all you wanted to see was some creativity. We have Gailey now and voila look at our offense. Kind of think the D could have a similar turnaround with the proper coaching and game planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 This is a young man's game, especially on defense and I think Moats and Coleman will do a superior job of getting to the QB when IF (big IF) the blitz is dialed up. fixed I've only seen us blitz in one game, and we won and got 4 picks. A smart football coach would take note of that. Even us TBDers caught on to that. The fact that we have been drafting heavy D the last 2 years and defense is only getting worse is a testament as to how horrid our Defensive co ordinator is IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts