Larry Playfair Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Pittsburgh's "D" is ranked first in total yards allowed and rushing yards per game, second in points allowed, third in first downs allowed and fourth in total yards passing. It has surrendered 17 points or more just once in the past eight games. This certainly is not Cleveland, or the Rams D. We couldnt move the ball on the ground against Cincy's D. I think this will be a nice test as to how far our O-line has grown. Any predictions on yards for Willis? Go Bills!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohninMinn. Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Pittsburgh's "D" is ranked first in total yards allowed and rushing yards per game, second in points allowed, third in first downs allowed and fourth in total yards passing. It has surrendered 17 points or more just once in the past eight games. Pits isnt the Cleveland, or Rmas d. We couldnt move the ball on th ground against Cincy's D. I think this will be a nice test as to how far our O-line has really come along. Any predictions on yards for Willis? Go Bills!! 185270[/snapback] 110 yds. He will come out in the 3rd Qtr to rest up for the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Pittsburgh's defense is lights out - not unlike ours. They also benefit from playing with the lead and teams tend to abandon the run early because of that. The key isn't so much to have tremendous success with the run, rather to commit to doing it to keep them from pinning their ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 The key is to pass on them. Their secondary is weak, hence the amount of blitzing they do. Also trick plays will work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailog80 Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 The key is to pass on them. Their secondary is weak, hence the amount of blitzing they do. Also trick plays will work well. 185298[/snapback] Geez I wonder if MM has ever seen any game film of Pitts D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 To be honest it doesn't set up real well for the Bills to have a big day running the ball. We tend to have more trouble with teams that play gap, and play risk taking instead of read and react. The Steeler LB's have very good lateral quickness, this is another trait that gives us problems. That said--I agree with AD--we need to commit to running even if we average less than 3 a carry... Our line has improved but they are still more effective with true straight ahead smash mouth than with the communication it takes to overcome a gap shooting quick D. Not having a TE threat hurts us in this game a well. If we can possibly hit a couple of big plays early...maybe a misdirection run (counter) or screen that Willis breaks for 30 and then a 30+ yard pass out of a 3 or 4 wide set--we might have a chance to slow them down a bit. The no huddle might also help us slow them down....if they dominate us early--it could be a very long day on O. The Steelers are 14-1 because of much more than Big Ben...this D is better than the Pats--better than we have faced all year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Playfair Posted December 30, 2004 Author Share Posted December 30, 2004 we need to bang it in there and committ to running, cause their O holds the ball forever. I think they lead the league in time of possession, or are close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 The key is to pass on them. Their secondary is weak, hence the amount of blitzing they do. Also trick plays will work well. 185298[/snapback] Yep. They have to move the safety out of the box. Evans has been improving every week, so they'll try to get the ball to him down the field. The Bills couldn't run against the Bengals when they had the safeties up, but at the same time, Mularkey wasn't trying to strectch the field with a 2 TD lead. The STs and D will also have to help out with field position and turnovers. This will be a Mularkey-style chip-away game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 I think this becomes a game where we will need the D and STs to put us in a position to win. What we do on offense won't be that spectacular against this D, but if we can limit mistakes and take advantage of their secondary, we CAN put points on the board. We're very fortunate to see Maddox if for no other reason than because whatever success he had last year came, to a large extent, because of Mularkey. I see Mularky fessin' up on Maddox much like Gruden fessed up to the Bucs about Gannon. During that entire SB, it was like the Bucs knew every cadence, every audible, every eyeblink that Gannon had. I'm trusting Mularkey to help our D with that. Now, that said, I'm concerned that because our D is operating at a very high level that they will initially overpursue and that Cowher will anticipate that. We got burned early in the season with overpursuit, and these guys simply need to play within themselves and not let themselves become bigger than the game. If we can keep it close into the third quarter, I believe Cowher will say "uncle" and start the JV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 So nobody wants to throw in the fact that: - The steelers will be playing not to get hurt and - We are playing at home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 So nobody wants to throw in the fact that: - The steelers will be playing not to get hurt and - We are playing at home? 185415[/snapback] Agreed John. But also throw in that the Steelers D is not going to want to see that #1 ranking shot to hell on the last day of the season particularly if the ranking goes to their highly respected Defensive Coordinator's understudy.....That's why I think early success is the key...there will be more reason to go on "break" early for the Steelers if the Bills move the ball.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJaimie Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 The Bills couldn't run against the Bengals when they had the safeties up, but at the same time, Mularkey wasn't trying to strectch the field with a 2 TD lead. 185349[/snapback] I think this needs to be emphasized. For all the criticism about the Cincinatti game, there was NO reason to do anything fancy. The Bills went conservative, relying on our D and STs. The one time we tried something fancy-- the flea flicker-- it worked to perfection. The Bengals also came to play that day. They weren't going to roll-over. You need to give them credit for playing hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 SS Polamalu tends to cut in front of receivers for an int chance. Kinda like Buchanon with Oakland. I think Polamalu has picked 4 or 5 this year. He's a fine player, for sure, but he can get burnt. I've got no data to back that up, only that PGH is an NFL North club and so I get several of their tv games. Just my impression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BackInDaDay Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 To be honest it doesn't set up real well for the Bills to have a big day running the ball. We tend to have more trouble with teams that play gap, and play risk taking instead of read and react. The Steeler LB's have very good lateral quickness, this is another trait that gives us problems. That said--I agree with AD--we need to commit to running even if we average less than 3 a carry... Our line has improved but they are still more effective with true straight ahead smash mouth than with the communication it takes to overcome a gap shooting quick D. Not having a TE threat hurts us in this game a well. If we can possibly hit a couple of big plays early...maybe a misdirection run (counter) or screen that Willis breaks for 30 and then a 30+ yard pass out of a 3 or 4 wide set--we might have a chance to slow them down a bit. The no huddle might also help us slow them down....if they dominate us early--it could be a very long day on O. The Steelers are 14-1 because of much more than Big Ben...this D is better than the Pats--better than we have faced all year. 185329[/snapback] Good analysis JoeF. Aggressive D schemes (Jags, Ravens, Jets, Pats) have confounded our O in the past, but I think alot of our current running success is attributable to our O-line 'jelling' (thanks to Coach McNally) and a RB with the right senses to find daylight. So I think we can deal with Pitt's '7 in the box' D. It's the 8th or 9th guy they bring up that we've got to have an answer for. Remember who's on their sideline now. LaBeau has quite an assortment of run and zone blitzes to throw at us, so it won't be easy to pick them all up. Bledsoe has to recognise those blitzes, pre-snap, and call the correct protections / hot routes to counter them. When he fails to do so, he has to accept the results (sack / loss ) and not get frustrated into trying to make plays that aren't there. If he has some success, then a couple quick hitches and slants to our TEs and WRs may act like a left-jab, backing some of their people away and giving us better running lanes. As you pointed out, those mobile LBs close quickly, but if we can force them into a 'read / react' mode we'll have more success with misdirection, counters, draws and screens. I wrote a post a week ago addressing my TE worries, and we're gonna need some gritty play out of Neufeld this week. As jad1 points out, the O can expect some short fields at times thanks to the D and STs. DB cannot turn it over in our end, and he only has to be slightly more effective in the red-zone than Big Ben or Maddox. Hey, if Pitt comes to play and we don't implode, this will be one helluva building block for this bunch.... playoffs or not. Go Buff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 This "8 in the box" trend has it's risk. If you do it, and the rb pops through, any 'ol NFL rb is gone for a bunch of yardage. I'm not a real fan of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 This "8 in the box" trend has it's risk. If you do it, and the rb pops through, any 'ol NFL rb is gone for a bunch of yardage. I'm not a real fan of it... 185610[/snapback] And the Bills now have a RB who seldom goes down at first contact or second for that matter....he is bound to break one soon....why not this week... How do you like your stiff arm Troy...baked, broiled or just down your throat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BackInDaDay Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 This "8 in the box" trend has it's risk. If you do it, and the rb pops through, any 'ol NFL rb is gone for a bunch of yardage. I'm not a real fan of it... 185610[/snapback] If you can bring one or two men more than the O is set to handle, you can play single gap against the run, and let the extra man(men) attack the play. Coaches that have the right personnel have challegened our O this way since last year (Parcells and Capers for instance). I think hours of filmwork was enough to convince these guys that our O was predicated on our RB hitting the called hole hard, period. Whether it was a lack of 'sense' ( feeling,vision) or talent on TH's part, or a lack of adequate coaching, what they saw was what they got. Compound that with the lack of an outside receiving threat and you get a lot of 3 and outs, and turn-overs. Obviously, our O has more weapons (Evans, McGahee and a healthy Moulds) to gameplan against, but an agressive D gameplan aims at keeping the ball out of the skill players' hands. This is where coaching, and Drew, come in. Clements has to do a good job in identifying Pitt's D tendencies and preparing a gameplan that Bledsoe can execute. I'm sure we'll have a sound plan, and lately Bledsoe has impressed me more with what he hasn't done, than what he has done. His newfound confidence in his mates seems to have taken the pressure off him to carry the O. If a drive stalls, we punt and our D can stop them on downs or turn it over. Forced to punt, we might block their kick or at least return it for good field position. When Bledsoe's being pressured hard on a 3rd and 8, he has to know he can eat it, and live to fight another day. This beats throwing the pick that puts you down 14! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. K Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Bills need to avoid mistakes, turnovers. ("Thanks, Dr. K, that was deep....") They have a lot narrower margin for error in this game. I wonder if they could be too high coming into the game, overpursue on defense and screw up. I expect them to take a series or two to settle down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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