Bills defense's game against NE on monday night this year

[dave mcbride]

Many people are saying that while the Bills defense was terrible in the first game against the Pats this year, Rex did a great job in the second game. That is not exactly true. What became apparent over the course of the season is that Sebastian Vollmer, an above average RT, is a turnstile at LT. Also, the backup RT who became a starter when Vollmer flipped sides, Marcus Cannon, should not be starting for anyone. He is HORRIBLE. The loss of Nate Solder -- a very good LT -- in early October set in motion a chain reaction that made a great line a bad line overnight. The Bills faced the good line in the first game, and the bad line in the second game. That was the difference. If anyone saw that Miami-Pats game that closed the season, it was clear how bad the line was. Miami has some real talent on their d-line,and Cannon (who sucks) got hurt and was replaced by Fleming, who is even worse. Brady was absolutely killed in that game. Fleming played a bunch of snaps yesterday too (Cannon was out for a few plays because he was shaken up) and I swear to god that he looked like a stone statue out there -- Von Miller simply ate him for lunch on every play.

 

Also, the Pats line's good performance against KC was deceiving -- Justin Houston, who is as good a pass rusher as Von Miller -- was playing on one leg and played fewer than ten snaps.

 

Anyway, talent -- and the lack of it -- matters.

Edited January 25, 2016 by dave mcbride

[8-8 Forever?]

the reason why we largely skip the FA market this year and sign Glenn and Incognito. so forget about all the threads about "we should get this guy and get that guy" .. not happening this year. Plus need to sign Gilmore and probably Bradham. Forget about most new signings, heck we need to cut Mario to even sign these 4 guys.

 

Unless you have a top 5 QB, if your O Line goes down in today's NFL, your season is over. Over. "Next man up" is a bunch of garbage when it comes to O Line. Defensive fronts are too strong and close coordination and long communication required to handle blitz schemes. Next man up is fine for commodity positions like RB, LB, TE, DT, but lose 2 or 3 of your starting OLine and its over.

Edited January 25, 2016 by 8and8-->NoMore

[Webster Guy]

the reason why we largely skip the FA market this year and sign Glenn and Incognito. so forget about all the threads about "we should get this guy and get that guy" .. not happening this year. Plus need to sign Gilmore and probably Bradham. Forget about most new signings, heck we need to cut Mario to even sign these 4 guys.

 

Unless you have a top 5 QB, if your O Line goes down in today's NFL, your season is over. Over. "Next man up" is a bunch of garbage when it comes to O Line. Defensive fronts are too strong and close coordination and long communication required to handle blitz schemes. Next man up is fine for commodity positions like RB, LB, TE, DT, but lose 2 or 3 of your starting OLine and its over.

Good observation. Ive never thought of that before. Here's to hoping we have at least cordy, richie, eric and johnny miller back together and healthy for a full season next year.

[peterpan]

The flaw in your argument is that Nate solder sucks too

[dave mcbride]

Good observation. Ive never thought of that before. Here's to hoping we have at least cordy, richie, eric and johnny miller back together and healthy for a full season next year.

Yeah, but I'm slightly concerned that Miller will turn out to be garbage. He was a rookie, of course, but he was still awful -- overmatched.

The flaw in your argument is that Nate solder sucks too

Gimme a break. Solder is a VERY good LT. He's not the best in the league, but he is definitely above average. Edited January 25, 2016 by dave mcbride

[SWATeam]

I think the pats were missing some skill players in that second game as well

[The Big Cat]

All Bills fans who have questions about what went wrong on defense should read this:

 

http://cover1.net/news/2016/1/22/mergedsystems

 

"I started out this piece trying to prove him wrong, but I couldn't find significant evidence to do so. So I guess I buy "it", for now..."

[34-78-83]

Bills D was phenomenal that night, regardless of the status of Pats players. It was the perfect scheme to defend what they had in place and was extremely well executed.

 

In fact the remaining opponents of the Pats seemed to use the Bills plan as a schematic the rest of the way, including yesterday's game.

Edited January 25, 2016 by 34-78-83

[The Big Cat]

Bills D was phenomenal that night, regardless of the status of Pats players. It was the perfect scheme to defend what they had in place and was extremely well executed.

 

In fact the remaining opponents of the Pats seemed to use the Bills plan as a schematic the rest of the way, including yesterday's game.

 

Seriously, read the article I just posted. Or at least the section on this game.

[dave mcbride]

All Bills fans who have questions about what went wrong on defense should read this:

 

http://cover1.net/news/2016/1/22/mergedsystems

 

"I started out this piece trying to prove him wrong, but I couldn't find significant evidence to do so. So I guess I buy "it", for now..."

Good piece. Re the second Pats game, though, he should mention that the Pats o-line was not the same animal as it was in game one, talent wise.

[BuffaloBill]

All Bills fans who have questions about what went wrong on defense should read this:

 

http://cover1.net/news/2016/1/22/mergedsystems

 

"I started out this piece trying to prove him wrong, but I couldn't find significant evidence to do so. So I guess I buy "it", for now..."

Great article. I think Rex drops any ideas of a mixed system next year and plays what he knows best. He tried to get too cute and outthought himself. The real question is does he have the players to play his scheme? The sad truth is the front seven was fantastic under Schwartz and suspect under Rex. Maybe releasing Mario is addition by subtraction but hard to say this is an absolute truth.

[dave mcbride]

Great article. I think Rex drops any ideas of a mixed system next year and plays what he knows best. He tried to get too cute and outthought himself. The real question is does he have the players to play his scheme? The sad truth is the front seven was fantastic under Schwartz and suspect under Rex. Maybe releasing Mario is addition by subtraction but hard to say this is an absolute truth.

Rex's system was terrible in a few games late this season. Let's not forget that.

[Luxy312]

All Bills fans who have questions about what went wrong on defense should read this:

 

http://cover1.net/news/2016/1/22/mergedsystems

 

"I started out this piece trying to prove him wrong, but I couldn't find significant evidence to do so. So I guess I buy "it", for now..."

 

Excellent article. Very good read.

[The Big Cat]

Rex's system was terrible in a few games late this season. Let's not forget that.

 

Washington? Which else?

[34-78-83]

 

Seriously, read the article I just posted. Or at least the section on this game.

Oh no, I did. It's a great article well done. It wasn't directed at you specifically, more of a general response to the flow of the thread.

[The Big Cat]

I think it's more then just the defense with the Rex which was a complete failure as noted all year.

 

His coaching style is too casual. Too laid back of an environment and the players follow. IMO he gets too cocky and lazy after a win. Hence the typical win one lose the next pattern for most of the year.

 

I'm still of the opinion this team will fail to reach the playoffs again next year and Rex will be gone after the season.

 

Okay

Oh no, I did. It's a great article well done. It wasn't directed at you specifically, more of a general response to the flow of the thread.

 

Got it. At first blush, seemed like the article filled in some of the questions you posed.

[dave mcbride]

 

Washington? Which else?

I thought it performed quite poorly against Philly, a team that would have scored more points if not for dropped passes (Cooper) and overthrows deep by Bradford. They got lucky, basically - on those plays, the points were there to be had because the defense didn't do what it was supposed to do. They played very poorly against KC too - 400+ yards and a sieve after the first few series. They had some good games too, of course. They were average to slightly below average overall. The lack of pressure meant that they could never really be better than average. The strength of the d was the CB play while Gilmore was in there.

Bills D was phenomenal that night, regardless of the status of Pats players. It was the perfect scheme to defend what they had in place and was extremely well executed.

 

In fact the remaining opponents of the Pats seemed to use the Bills plan as a schematic the rest of the way, including yesterday's game.

I really think that talent matters. Their tackles were worse than Terrence Pennington on a bad day yesterday.

Edited January 25, 2016 by dave mcbride

[stevewin]

The bottom line is it doesn't matter if the OL sucks if you play passive and don't go after the QB. It drives me crazy that people have known for years you need to get in Brady's face, hit him and make him move in the pocket - but time and time again teams outsmart themselves trying to drop people into coverage to take away the short throws. And forget about the whole "he gets it away in 2 seconds so we can't rush" BS which was such a popular excuse this year - total BS. You don't have to sack him every time within 2 secs, just let him know you are trying to rip his head off in 2 seconds - and give him a shot at 2 secs + 1. The Broncos only had 4 sacks but 20 hits - how effective was that? Especially now with NE*'s weak running game, OL issues, and Brady getting older, all teams in the NFL should sign a binding pact to all swear to GO AFTER him and try to BEAT THE CRAP out of him EVERY GAME.

 

And not to hijack the thread - but realize also the bueprint above to beat NE* is pressure from the DL with straight up coverage - not gap responsibilities for the DL (or zone blitzing) for LBs to come from all angles (did you see it Rex?)