Criticism of Wanny

[Beerball]

Hello?

 

How about the Jets game when you abandoned it?

 

I think part of our problem, if not the major part of the Jets debacle was the coaching, getting too conservative, getting out of what our DBs do well. Right now, more than the LBs, our biggest problem on defense is the coverage skills of the DBs. Gilmore is a rookie who is going to be great IMO. Williams is struggling in coverage, as is Leodis. McGee is not healthy or back to speed yet. We need to do what we did against KC even if it means some big plays against us. Play press defense. Blitz a bit. Pressure the QB into mistakes, and live with some 20 yard completion of you have to.

Chan said much the same thing. I don't get it; these guys are actual coaches right?

[fbzh2]

Something was sure off vs the Jets. If it wasn't the players' attitude it was def. the coaching and game plan.

 

Football is a chess match. You come into the game with something you think will work.

The difference between good coaches and job-seekers is the good coaches adjust, during the game, when the plan they came into the game with isn't working.

 

The most troubling thing to me is that the Bills didn't adjust, on either side of the ball.

 

My thoughts as well. The major concern I have is why there were no adjustments in the D game plan when it was obvious to even the most casual observer that what they where doing wasn’t working. You would expect that any coach at that level would be able to adjust his game plan when it is obvious that it isn’t working-if not during the first half of the game, between the forever commercials, then certainly at halftime!

 

….maybe he forgot his computer and left it in Buffalo……

[Coach Tuesday]

Maybe he should get out of the booth so that he and Chan could discuss adjustments more frequently during games.

[bmur66]

The defense getting their lunch money taken in the first game of the year exposed their weaknesses. Proper adjustments were made for the next game. I think the entire team needed a good whooping after the terrible pre season showing. They had a whole different demeanor and were ready to play against KC. Could that have been part of the greater plan?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Totally agree. I've got a bad feeling about Wannstache. There's enough talent on this defense to be really good. It seems as though they are still in preseason mode with the playcalling though.

 

And also, that they just came out against the Jets very flat, not fired up at all, and no change at halftime. That's on the coach, as well as the "play soft" secondary.

Two thoughts:

1) Ralph opened up the checkbook for the 'stache as well as giving him the 1st pick of the draft last year and this year, and the bulk of the later picks. So he really has no excuse.

2) If (avert) the Bills bomb this year, I expect it will be much easier to attract a high-quality coach with a stable of high-quality OC and DC and position coaches, simply because the overall talent level on the team is so much higher and there are far fewer gaps.

[Webster Guy]

how many blitzes did we run last week?

Hmm do you know?

I do.

and you are right, use those players to their potential and squeeze a bit more than they thought they could do!

I remember Bill Parcells saying if you blitz a quarterback that is playing well he will complete 90 percent of his passes and if you blitz a quarterback who isnt playing well the defense will win 90 percent of the time.

[Nanker]

Make no mistake. Fitz killed us in the Jets game. The Defensive scheme sucked too, but Fitzy killed us.

[The Big Cat]

Could some of the bewilderment from the Jets game be chalked-up to Wanny not coming down from the booth?

[Coach Tuesday]

Could some of the bewilderment from the Jets game be chalked-up to Wanny not coming down from the booth?

 

Take me off ignore

[The Big Cat]

Take me off ignore

 

??

[Coach Tuesday]

 

 

??

 

I said the same thing 5 posts up. (I know, back on ignore I go.)

[The Big Cat]

I said the same thing 5 posts up. (I know, back on ignore I go.)

 

Haha. I don't know why you were on my ignore list to begin with. When I look at how extensive the list is, and then struggle to recall how/when/or why posters ended up there, I chalk it up to post-game, post-7-LaBatts haste.

[MDH]

My concern going into this weekend is with Byrd hurt they abandon press coverage once again and play it safe because an injured Byrd or (even worse) Howell can't be trusted to get over and prevent the big play. Ankle injuries take a lot of speed away so even if Byrd suits up I have a feeling we might not see the aggressive coverage most of us like to see.

[BuffaloFan68]

I was concerned with our Def. coaching/system during the preseason as there were way too many players out of position on a consistent basis and it transferred over into the first game against the Jets. I agree with many of the other poster on here that we should have seen that our game plan was not even close to working and should have made changes on the fly and not continue with the same crap throughout the game.

I am looking at the bright side after the KC game but we need to play even better this week against Cleveland.

 

 

Go Bills 18 - 1

[TAinLack.]

I was and still am a huge fan of making Wanny the DC. But after listening to an interview with him on The John Murphy Show early this week (either Monday or Tuesday) I think that he deserves some severe criticism for the Jets debacle.

 

Most all pre-season and training camp the Bills had the DBs in press coverage. Gilmore especially is a physical corner, and played press in college most of the time. AWilliams, too, is a physical guy. Williams was repeatedly getting burnt in pre-season on regular coverage, and Gilmore was repeatedly praised for his play and toughness.

 

Opening day, what did we do? Abandoned the press coverage. The DBs played back. I understood the theory at least, that we have this great line that should be able to generate a lot of pressure with four, and we'll dare Sanchez to beat us with his arm, especially because the Jets only had one real WR threat.

 

The result? The Jets killed us. Gilmore and AWilliams and everyone else couldn't cover anyone. The DL didn't generate pressure against a good OL. Sanchez had all day and was remarkable accurate.

 

The second week, Wanny completely changed his defense. The CBs played pressure. He blitzed all game long. And the defense dominated.

 

The real problem, however, was listening to him this week saying that the team plays much better when the DBs play pressure. It lets the DL have an extra half second or so to get to the QB. We have the players to play it, and we're a better defense with it.

 

Hello?

 

How about the Jets game when you abandoned it?

 

I think part of our problem, if not the major part of the Jets debacle was the coaching, getting too conservative, getting out of what our DBs do well. Right now, more than the LBs, our biggest problem on defense is the coverage skills of the DBs. Gilmore is a rookie who is going to be great IMO. Williams is struggling in coverage, as is Leodis. McGee is not healthy or back to speed yet. We need to do what we did against KC even if it means some big plays against us. Play press defense. Blitz a bit. Pressure the QB into mistakes, and live with some 20 yard completion of you have to.

Totally agree!!!

PS - congrats on your 22,222 post

[fbzh2]

Maybe he should get out of the booth so that he and Chan could discuss adjustments more frequently during games.

 

Excellent point….and maybe too much comfort up there….

[DrDawkinstein]

Im an eternal optimist and Bills supporter, that's no secret. But I feel the coaching gave up a huge game to a division opponent when we actually had a chance at winning.

 

As I type this, ESPN is breaking down how the Steelers beat the Jets. The answer: Press-man coverage. Which not only allowed the DL to get to Sanchez, but also gave Sanchez a much smaller window to throw into.

 

It's good to see that the two biggest mistakes (imo, playing DBs off, and not running enough) were corrected, but I agree we never should have moved away from them to begin with.

 

Im also not real excited about how Chan referred to the renewed commitment to running as "we saw favorable match-ups and thought that's what was called for in this game". IMO, to establish an identity you have to do something well even when the other team knows its coming and stacks the cards against it. I dont like the idea of fluctuating identities based on what the other team might do. Come out, run the ball, let your OL take it to the Defense, get nasty, wear them out, and control the ball.

 

Same goes for defense. Play a physical game plan, with press coverage, and let your grinders on the line eat up the offense.

 

Every week.

 

Im not even close to calling for their jobs yet. But I feel these are the first coaches in almost a decade that have a talented enough roster to produce wins. It's on them to put that talent in positions to succeed based on what they do best.

[KD in CA]

I was hoping Wanny could have made adjustments at least by halftime, if not on the fly = after it was apparent that his D-gameplan was not working! Good coaches can adjust on the fly (not wait until the next game)....

That's the part that bugs me. Had a poor game plan? Ok, it happens. But at least have the ability and confidence to recognize and change it immediately. Instead they got stuck in the 'let's stick with the plan and see if thing get better' mentality and by the time they recognize it's not working, the game was over.

[3rdand12]

I remember Bill Parcells saying if you blitz a quarterback that is playing well he will complete 90 percent of his passes and if you blitz a quarterback who isnt playing well the defense will win 90 percent of the time.

Interesting quote, but no genius statement for the big Tuna.

But Bill does know football thats a fact.

What i was suggesting is that we brought blitz packaging last week.

I suppose that was to help the D line that struggled against the Jets. The secondary played tighter and more physical (see: Stephon Gilmore ).

If i were to guess Wannstadt does not want to blitz he wants to get the one on ones won. If a blitz can get them guessing well thats effective coaching.

I still wish to see them moving the ends around and even moving Marcel and Kyle out to end. Their technique might be weaker but it seems it would raise hell with opposing OC's..

Looking forward to Sunday. A solid opponent with a nice O line and some decent coaches.

One horrid game one Hoot and Holler encouraging game. We might know what we have a bit better this week in our coaches. You know this is a stop the run game for both sides

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Regarding the Jets game, the Bills were outcoached on BOTH sides of the ball and yes, it is concerning to me. I will continue to harbor these concerns until which time it's obvious that our coaching staff has learned enough not to repeat these basic mistakes.

 

To the discussion about Wanny being in the booth instead of on the sidelines: Isn't the whole point of being in the booth that you can see what's happening on the field more clearly? I wish I knew if/when/if at all there was an attempt at changing defensive strategy against the Jets. Even for the casual fan watching on TV, it was obvious what the problem was. The victory over KC doesn't lessen my annoyance on this point.

 

As far as our coaching staff, I sincerely hope it doesn't come down to this but to repeat a comment upthread (and to re-state a thought I've expressed several times before) yes… this team is much more talented than it was when Gailey took over and if it becomes necessary for Nix to fire Gailey and his staff, I think the pool of qualified candidates will be better than it was 3 years ago.

 

Another one of Dr Dareustein's thoughts that I agree with whole-heartedly is that I would like for this team to have an actual IDENTITY and I don't want that identity to be that they are chameleonic and changeable. I don't want our identity to be that we are adaptable to our opponents. That's not an identity… it's a lack of an identity.

 

If you watch the Forty Niners, this is a team which dictates to their opponents much of the time. They'll bring in one and sometimes two extra O-linemen and defy their opponents to stop their running game. Yes a team has to out-strategize their opponents but they also have to have an identity. It seems to me that Gailey is a bit too "clever" sometimes… too cute.

 

That's my sense of the Bills offensive identity right now… clever and cute.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Let's put it this way. How many people think Wade Phillips (or Dick LeBeau or Dom Capers as you prefer) makes no adjustments during a game when things are not working?

[KOKBILLS]

That's the part that bugs me. Had a poor game plan? Ok, it happens. But at least have the ability and confidence to recognize and change it immediately. Instead they got stuck in the 'let's stick with the plan and see if thing get better' mentality and by the time they recognize it's not working, the game was over.

 

There was a TON of that in the 2nd half last year...Just a TON of it...That's basically what cost Edwards his job...We'll see how much better it is this year...But it happened on Offense and Defense at times last year for sure...And now it happened in Week #1...

 

Personally I think on the Offensive side, in a terrible way, the David Nelson injury may be the best thing to happen to this Team...Not that they would not be better with Nelson because they would...But if this injury proves to be the catalist in truly balancing this Offense...then it's a plus in a weird way...The Bills are going nowhere as a Pass 1st, 5 WR spread base Offense because their QB is not talented enough to do it with consistancy...VERY few QB's are...If they can establish the Run 1st and foremost...Run more 2-TE, and 3 WR sets, being able to Run and Pass out of everything...Then I think they have a chance...

[fbzh2]

...

 

Personally I think on the Offensive side, in a terrible way, the David Nelson injury may be the best thing to happen to this Team...Not that they would not be better with Nelson because they would...But if this injury proves to be the catalist in truly balancing this Offense...then it's a plus in a weird way...The Bills are going nowhere as a Pass 1st, 5 WR spread base Offense because their QB is not talented enough to do it with consistancy...VERY few QB's are...If they can establish the Run 1st and foremost...Run more 2-TE, and 3 WR sets, being able to Run and Pass out of everything...Then I think they have a chance...

 

Good point. With David out, it may force Chan to drop the "cute" stuff and get down to basic Football that wins games.....

[San Jose Bills Fan]

There was a TON of that in the 2nd half last year...Just a TON of it...That's basically what cost Edwards his job...We'll see how much better it is this year...But it happened on Offense and Defense at times last year for sure...And now it happened in Week #1...

 

Personally I think on the Offensive side, in a terrible way, the David Nelson injury may be the best thing to happen to this Team...Not that they would not be better with Nelson because they would...But if this injury proves to be the catalist in truly balancing this Offense...then it's a plus in a weird way...The Bills are going nowhere as a Pass 1st, 5 WR spread base Offense because their QB is not talented enough to do it with consistancy...VERY few QB's are...If they can establish the Run 1st and foremost...Run more 2-TE, and 3 WR sets, being able to Run and Pass out of everything...Then I think they have a chance...

 

Great post.

 

To add to the bolded, their receivers aren't good enough either.

[Trader]

The entire organization deserves criticisim for the Jets game. They did not prepare during the pre season. The first real game looked like the other pre season games. I am not sure what theiy accomplished during the pre season.. i do suspect though that they spent too much time on learning an overly complex offense most of which they will never use in the regular season;