Jump to content

Defensive Playbook Too Complicated = Crap!


Virgil

Recommended Posts

I'm so sick of all this crap we are hearing about how complex the system is and how it takes a full year to learn it. I get the concept, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

First off, like with new qbs, you don't just throw the whole playbook at them at once. This allows the player to learn and get more comfortable with it. Why is this any different? If the players aren't getting it, scale it back until they do. Seriously, after 3/4's of a season, now you get it?

 

Then there's the second patriots game where we confused and hit the ever loving **** out of Brady. What, we magically figured it out? We haven't seen that scheme since. Did Rex dumb it down and then go right back to his complex playbook. Did the players just check back out?

 

Either way, we saw proof of what the defense could do for that one game so we knows what's possible.

 

This only leaves me with the conclusion that Rex didn't put his team in the best position to win via scheme.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rex would have us to believe that his defense is so complex that simple-minded players find learning it laborious. I guess he fancies himself to be the Stephen Hawking of NFL coaching- he should teach a class on his defensive philosophy at MIT.

No, he actually said he didn't think it was too complicated. Where are you getting that from?

 

The players are the ones who felt it was complicated.

Edited by YoloinOhio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, he actually said he didn't think it was too complicated. Where are you getting that from?

The players are the ones who felt it was complicated.

 

When the podophiliac was hired all we heard from media members/bootlickers was about Rex having "binders" full of blitz calls that he was bringing to town. The likes of Peter King have spoken of Rex's comprehensive defensive playbook. Case in point-

 

 

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/09/05/the-rex-blueprints-how-the-bills-coach-throws-everything-at-opponents/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It certainly didn't take all year for the 2009 NY Jets to learn his system, and they ended up #1 overall in both points, Yards against. Those Jets teams got progressively worse on defense as the years went by, and in 2014 were 24th in points allowed, 6th in yards. All those years with the Jets Rex Ryan was known for almost constantly running an overload type blitz which means Ryan will send more players at the QB then the opposing team has protecting.

 

It looks like the entire difference in this year to last year is that Ryan simply isn't blitzing as much this year. Looking back to how much they pressured Tom Brady in their last meeting the decision to not rush the passer more often this season is by pure choice.

 

Just watch that Eagles game, and you should see what looks like the Bills DB's, safeties playing 10 or more yards off the line of scrimmage in some sort of a soft passing coverage scheme. Almost like a prevent defensive scheme before either team has scored a point. :blink: Then the Bills defense almost never rushed with more then the Eagles were defending with. It looked like the only guy the Eagles doubled on was Dareus.

 

Sam Bradford looked like nearly every QB the Bills have faced this season in that he was under very little pass rush pressure, and had all day to throw. 30th in sacks. A recipe for disaster that I feel is contrived for whatever reason.

 

When the podophiliac was hired all we heard from media members/bootlickers was about Rex having "binders" full of blitz calls that he was bringing to town. The likes of Peter King have spoken of Rex's comprehensive defensive playbook. Case in point-


http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/09/05/the-rex-blueprints-how-the-bills-coach-throws-everything-at-opponents/

 

While that article is very true in that we were all expecting a blitz crazy scheme that was supposed to be the best defense since the 85 Bears.

 

Instead we got a passive prevent style of defense that allows opposing QB's all day to throw. I think its a tribute to the player talent on the team that the defense is only ranked 20th in total defense. Meaning that some Bills are playing great despite the scheme Rex Ryan is utilizing.

Edited by Nihilarian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the podophiliac was hired all we heard from media members/bootlickers was about Rex having "binders" full of blitz calls that he was bringing to town. The likes of Peter King have spoken of Rex's comprehensive defensive playbook. Case in point-

 

 

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/09/05/the-rex-blueprints-how-the-bills-coach-throws-everything-at-opponents/

 

a what? ^_^

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Defense was excellent last year. Why not keep it and install the new defense over time in small pieces.

I'm sure Jim Schwartz would have gladly handed over his whole playbook in the way out the door so the franchise could continue to benefit from it.

 

I'm not a fan of how Rex's D has performed and I'm of the mind that may be after 15 years of film, its just become very beatable. But Schwartz absolutely wasn't going to just leave his scheme behind for the team to continue using.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having Schwartz as a DC would be great if we played the NFC North every year. Outside of those games, the defense was good last year while running a simple 4-3 scheme that fit the front seven personnel perfectly, while the secondary played more zone and off man coverage, which is not their strength. Rex's scheme will require a true NT to free Dareus up. The ROI on that Dareus contract will not be fully realized unless he is freed up inside and partnered up with another 5-tech lineman. A true NT that can anchor will change a lot of how effective Rex's system will be. How good was Rex's D in NY when Jenkins was either hurt or off the team? Look it up. Every 2-gap 3-4 team needs a true run stuffing planetoid at the nose to make it work. Dareus can do it, but you end up wasting his pass rushing skills the majority of the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the podophiliac was hired all we heard from media members/bootlickers was about Rex having "binders" full of blitz calls that he was bringing to town. The likes of Peter King have spoken of Rex's comprehensive defensive playbook. Case in point-

 

 

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/09/05/the-rex-blueprints-how-the-bills-coach-throws-everything-at-opponents/

in the article, be describes his defense and what he has done and wants to do. Nowhere does he say it is complicated or that he would "have us believe" it is so complex and to where "fancies himself some kind of Stephen Hawking." No...The media may say that it is complex, but he's not saying that. To him it's just a scheme he believes in and has been successful everywhere he's been. He seems to be the only one who does NOT think it is complicated. Edited by YoloinOhio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it is difficult to learn and a complex scheme. Maybe next year the team will have it down and be able to execute it at a high rate.

The thought occurred to me, don't we want a complex D Scheme? I mean I get talent and such but the harder it is for another team to figure out all the different sets the better for the D. Maybe Rex knows he has 3 years and this is looking at year two and three? Just a thought and a lot of maybes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

before judging the job that any defensive coach/coordinator is doing in the NFL, i think it's only fair to be conscious of the very real bias the league has developed for offensive production.

the ancillary gaming industry depends on high volumes of offensive statistics from a high volume of players to support it's 'fantasy' leagues, and the NFL game has been transformed to produce those volumes.

 

that said.. like many, many American football coaches.. Rex eats, sleeps, and ***** defensive football.. and to his credit, he's recognized the need to develop a playbook that may be flexible enough to slow down an NFL offense operating under the league's current conditions.

 

i keep going back to Rex's comments following the Steelers pre-season game, where he challenged his D to recognize and execute some of the more complex coverage schemes in that playbook. it's been a learning process, no doubt... and personally, i think the D has improved to the point of being sound. i think Rex and his defensive staff have done a good job teaching the playbook to the players. they've played more disciplined ball as the season's progressed.. probably because the players have gotten more comfortable recognizing where their individual responsibilities are on each given play, and executing them. far less spinning around like tops out there.

 

so my problem isn't with the complexity of Rex's defense, it's in it's application. all of this borrowing from Peter to pay Paul stuff he's doing schematically, has taken the aggression out of his gameplans.

why would he do this?

is he overly concerned with leaving his secondary exposed to this new NFL offensive paradigm - that makes all defenses susceptible to big game-changing plays? i think he may be.. he seems more intent on using his flexible defensive playbook to throw a blanket over as much of the field as possible.. and introduce aggressive plays in measured doses. as HC, i'm guessing he has to balance his impulse to have his beloved D wreck a game, with the risk that it's failures could be responsible for a team loss. i may not agree with this approach, but it's the manner in which a very good defensive coach thought he could improve upon a very good D... and that will be open to second guessing all off-season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh how fondly we remember that suffocating defense from 2014 that helped us go:

 

4-0 against the NFC North:

  • Overtime win against a crappy Bears team
  • Fluky missed-FG squeaker against a good Lions team
  • Last minute TD win over crappy Minnesota team
  • Legit solid performance against GB (in which Nelson dropped a sure TD, but whatevs)

 

3.5-2.5 against our own division

  • Two wins over a spiraling Jets squad
  • A win over an unheralded Dolphins squad
  • A week 17 meaningless win over the Pats* backups

 

0-4 against the AFC West

Which details would you prefer? We lost them all.

 

1-1 against our flex opponents

Win was against the Hapless Browns.

 

Can we please stop talking about the 2014 team as if it was really all that and a bag of chips? And please stop referring to a defense that hemorrhaged stats as something it was not?

 

I'm not saying we should ingore the team's success or throw it all out, but come on. The success of that team is greatly over exaggerated to bolster the critiques of this year's.

Edited by The Big Cat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh how fondly we remember that suffocating defense from 2014 that helped us go:

 

4-0 against the NFC North:

  • Overtime win against a crappy Bears team
  • Fluky missed-FG squeaker against a good Lions team
  • Last minute TD win over crappy Minnesota team
  • Legit solid performance against GB (in which Nelson dropped a sure TD, but whatevs)

 

3.5-2.5 against our own division

  • Two wins over a spiraling Jets squad
  • A win over an unheralded Dolphins squad
  • A week 17 meaningless win over the Pats* backups

 

0-4 against the AFC West

Which details would you prefer? We lost them all.

 

1-1 against our flex opponents

Win was against the Hapless Browns.

 

Can we please stop talking about the 2014 team as if it was really all that and a bag of chips? And please stop referring to a defense that hemorrhaged stats as something it was not?

 

I'm not saying we should ingore the team's success or throw it all out, but come on. The success of that team is greatly over exaggerated to bolster the critiques of this year's.

 

Obviously it's the pressure element from last/this year that's at the core of everyone's issue and driving the comparison. Pressure forces bad decisions and turnovers...we did a lot of that last year to set up our wins. The difference in pressure/turnovers and penalties are very hard to ignore and not discuss. If the system was working otherwise, the complaining would be a lot less....but the system has failed and failed miserably to the point where there's absolutely nothing to takeaway from this year (except Darby - thank god this scheme couldn't damage our CB's too badly). We're left with fatty blowhards empty statements and some fans here that need 2 more years of this before being convinced.

 

Let's kick Mario and Kyle to the curb just to see if this works. :doh::death:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...