Cover 1: Bills' Run Defense Continues to Struggle

[26CornerBlitz]

Bills Run Defense Continues to Struggle

 

The Buffalo Bills registered their first win of the season against the Browns with a 19-17 away victory, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t mistakes. When the team watches film of the game, they’ll assuredly notice some glaring issues, none more obvious than the starting defense’s issues with stopping the run.

 

The Browns were able to rack up 164 yards on the ground on 32 carries, which boils down to a 5.1 yards per carry average. That is far too lofty a number, and I’m sure defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is working to address it.

 

The preseason is a time for the organization to evaluate players, but fans tend to forget that it is also the time for the staff to evaluate their schemes. Much like offensive play-callers, defensive coordinators are also testing their own schemes. The defensive staff may have a defensive structure in mind on paper, but when put to the test it may not hold up. When you plug in the actual players, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and the staff may have to make some adjustments.

 

 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Weren’t the Bills in their nickel defense for much of the first half?

[billsbackto81]

Let’s remember that it is preseason and most of you know HCs and DCs usually keep their preferred schemes close to the vest and a lot of times just throw out vanilla packages. It is disturbing that they would get gashed like that even when using sub packages. I thought the tweets Talley and Bennett were exchanging during the game interesting, noticing how lost Edmunds look. 

What Talley said made so much sense especially since Tre is like 6’5” or something like that. 

Paraphrasing, The RB always lies to you but the O lineman will tell you the truth all day. Good stuff.

Edited August 20, 2018 by billsbackto81

[Dadonkadonk]

Lost in all the QB drama at San Diego and the late season playoff run, was the epic failure of McD's run defense.  Milano is too small, Lorax too old and slow, and Kyle has never been that good as a run defender.  It all started to go south after the Dareus trade but to me it didn't look like he was making that much of a difference on his snaps.  He was getting some double teams but not all the time.  

This defense needs Edmunds to figure it out real fast.  Then add two OLBs in the offseason via draft, trade or FA.  Of course if they add Mack and Milano/Humber is the third LB then I would be happy with that.

I would still prefer moving Hughes back to OLB and playing a bigger guy at DE.   

Oh and PED Murphy has yet to take a snap in a game that I am aware of.  

 

[Luka]

Tremaine was criticized for his tendency to lean into play, attempting to anticipate the snap count. Looks like he's still doing it. With his athletic ability it's completely unnecessary. That's what makes him so intriguing as a prospect. If he can just pause and diagnose a play, he still has the lateral speed to make the play. He displayed that a few times against Cleveland.

[Green Lightning]

Our LBs are suspect. Tremaine will be great, but he's got a lot to learn about being a NFL MLB. Milano can't get off a block. Lorax is a gamer but a step slow at this point in his career. Depth is just not there 

[kirkwoodus13]

Our run defense, especially up the middle has been terrible ever since we trade Dareus. For all you haters out there, the Jags run defense was near the bottom of the league, ours was pretty good. Then the trade happened. Look at the end results. They improve dramatically after the Marcel addition. Kyle has never been a good run defender, and this new kid got pushed around the other night in Cleveland. If we can not stop the run this year, it is going to get ugly real quick. Sometimes you can't replace talent. Marcell  would still be the best D-lineman on this team right now. Coach and GM needs to fix this ASAP, with talent or scheme. Marcell will have a monster year, unfortunately we will get a first hand view.

[NewEra]

Waaah?

[teef]

THIS THREAD "I'M YELLING"

[Codyny13]

Marcel is duckin rape charges, he’s already had a big year. 

[teef]

4 minutes ago, teef said:

THIS THREAD "I'M YELLING"

well...now that this thread is merged, my quote makes no sense.

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

10 minutes ago, teef said:

THIS THREAD "I'M YELLING"

 

STOP YELLING AT ME TEEF!  lol

 

Back on topic I think the run D going to improve only pre season.

Edited August 20, 2018 by Buffalo Bills Fan

[SoCoBills]

Also notice that on only 1 of those plays was Alexander on the field. Why? Because we were in Nickel. I agree with the analyst here - the Browns had an exotic run game planned for your average per-season game where we aren’t game planning for it. Some time in the film room could go a long way but eventually guys got to shed blocks too and that wide 9 was leaving our DTs in bad spots bc it forced them to line up differently as opposed to over the guy opposite them and that makes it easier for the Browns OL to attack and seal lanes and kill it on double teams. With game planning I don’t think the Browns see those same looks and alignments from the Bills D but a good learning experience all around. 

Edited August 20, 2018 by SoCoBills

[Lurker]

That was tough to watch, especially Edmunds.   He looked lost on those series...

[billsfan_34]

Its pre season- everything is vanilla and no one wants to get injured.

[BuffaloBillyG]

26 carries 53 yards.

 

That was what they held the Panthers to in the first preseason game. While I absolutely did not like what I saw against the Browns, I can't help to think that the contrast proves that we really don't know what will happen come week 1.

 

I tend to believe we will be better then last week and not quite as good against the run as the first game. 

[apuszczalowski]

It's so hard to judge during the Pre season if your not part of the coaching staff. Most coaches and teams are focusing on certain elements of their team and not game planning or focusing on winning. They dont make many adjustments to counter what the other team does, they continue to run the same thing over and over to practice that part only. Offence almost always look better then the defences at this time, usually cause the offence are able to dictate the play while the defences stay the same. Many coaches are focusing in on certain players just to see if they did what they were supposed to do and not the end result of the play. In other words, they are looking at the line to make sure they moved to where they were supposed to with the play that was called and not that the RB was able to get a 5 yard gain.

 

The Bill's were horrible in Pre season during their SB runs, and the Lions and Browns won games in the preseason during the years they went winless. It's all about evaluation and learning the plays now. Week 1 is when to start evaluating the stats and results.

[Chandler#81]

IDK, I’m not ready to throw the towel in on the ‘18 D. After that 3 game debacle last season, they played well enough, including sterling performances on the road at KC, Miami & Jax. Without question, I’m concerned about our expensive FA’s, with the monikers of “lazy, oft-injured & PED Suspensions”. More than some ugly run gashing post Dareus, the most glaring concern last season was a lack of QB pressure. We have yet to see improvement here, but we also have been vanilla in PS with no blitzes, line stunts or specific game planning. HORRIBLE & Edmunds are improvements, just very young. Lawson doesn’t appear to be any better, but he plays like a 3rd Round Pick he’s more worthy of.

 

McBeane wasted no time jettisoning Dennison, but kept Frazier which is telling for continuity and continued experience. 

 

We’ll see in September if the ledge jumpers have any merit.

[RyanC883]

I think it's just a lack of talent at DL, esp. in terms of run stopping.  It seems the D is made to have the line, well, hold the line.   The secondary is vastly improved, and the LB's do a good job in the passing game, hopefully the LB's (who lack depth) can get some help form the DL this year.  

Edited August 20, 2018 by RyanC883

[DCOrange]

8 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

IDK, I’m not ready to throw the towel in on the ‘18 D. After that 3 game debacle last season, they played well enough, including sterling performances on the road at KC, Miami & Jax. Without question, I’m concerned about our expensive FA’s, with the monikers of “lazy, oft-injured & PED Suspensions”. More than some ugly run gashing post Dareus, the most glaring concern last season was a lack of QB pressure. We have yet to see improvement here, but we also have been vanilla in PS with no blitzes, line stunts or specific game planning. HORRIBLE & Edmunds are improvements, just very young. Lawson doesn’t appear to be any better, but he plays like a 3rd Round Pick he’s more worthy of.

 

McBeane wasted no time jettisoning Dennison, but kept Frazier which is telling for continuity and continued experience. 

 

We’ll see in September if the ledge jumpers have any merit.

 

I agree that I'm not ready to throw in the towel on the run defense yet. I do think it could be an issue though, especially if Star is more like the player I think he is rather than the one that McDermott apparently thinks he is.

 

Looking back at last season, specifically in regard to the run defense:

 

Buffalo allowed 4.3 yards per carry if you include all 17 games that they played, tied for 7th worst in the NFL. If you exclude the 3 game horror show that they had as well as the blizzard game that simply didn't resemble real football, they allowed 4.1 yards per carry, which would have tied for 14th in the NFL. If you then eliminate the plays that Dareus was on the field for (54 carries for 136 yards), the Bills would have allowed 4.4 yards per carry even after eliminating the awful stretch. 4.4 YPC would have tied for 5th worst in the NFL.

 

So even without counting the the awful 3 game stretch that the defense had, the run defense was still among the worst in the NFL last year.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

3 hours ago, teef said:

well...now that this thread is merged, my quote makes no sense.

If Teef is yelling, bathing salts are usually the culprit.

[BigBuff423]

I like Cover1 quite a bit and have been reading their stuff not long after they came on-line via Twitter, so I have respect for Erik's take and their analysis. That said, it's Pre-Season and Edmunds is a Rookie. So, I'm going to hold opinion until we're 4 games in and going against some very good teams / Offenses. Vikings, Packers, Chargers are all good teams and specifically, good Offenses (or, they're supposed to be). So, let's see where things stand at that point - between Rookie gaining experience, game planning specifically for teams, and guys generally just playing together more, like Harry and Star, chemistry can't be overlooked either. Taron added to the mix along with Vontae Davis and Philip Gaines in there somewhere. Trent Murphy is a wild card as of now, not knowing what the Bills will get. So, all of this takes a little bit to coalesce and bring the totality of their cumulative effectiveness together.

 

Let's be patient before anyone starts looking for a life boat to jump ship.

[Clyde Smith]

Wasn't we concerned last preseason about stopping the run?

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...even going back to the recent days of Pettine as DC, the run defense was bi-polar........one week they'd be a brick wall and the following week was Wikileaks......baffling as well as frustrating.....similarly, 3rd down seemingly is the "down from hell" on BOTH sides of the ball.....defensively, opposition looking at 3rd and 20 called it "3rd and short" and then smoked our arse right down the seam......offensively facing 3rd and 5, we throw a two yard out and come up short.......

[NickelCity]

Our LBs are a weakness. Wanted to see Edmunds perform better than he is. I have high hopes for him but I was optimistic for faster development. Another poster said this above, but he "leans in" when he shouldn't.  

[Luka]

On 8/20/2018 at 4:23 PM, Clyde Smith said:

Wasn't we concerned last preseason about stopping the run?

 

I don't really remember but I do remember getting our asses handed to us a good portion of the season in the run game. The highlight being 298 yards given up against New Orleans.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Bills general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott went into the offseason with a plan to improve the front seven of the team’s 26th ranked defense. But in order to improve in that department, the organization needed to bring in defenders that could directly address how teams were going to attack their defensive scheme. Specifically, they needed to improve versus the run.

 

Beane signed a familiar face in defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and added former Redskins edge rusher Trent Murphy. Beane also added two players who should help shut down opposing run games by drafting defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. All of these additions plus a sound scheme should help the Bills defense shut down the run on early downs, putting offenses in 3rd and long situations that will allow them to disguise and hopefully get after the quarterback and create turnovers.

 

Scheme Issues

 

 

 

Adjustments

 

 

 

[3rdand12]

certainly should remain a focus for us fans. Been our achilles heel for couple years now. FO knows it and i am sure wish to correct it.

 preseason showed that Bills have more work to do , and Edmunds is going to be a work in progress for year or two. Fans might do well to keep that in mind.
next year Bills need to find more firepower outside from LBs. 

 Hope the additions and tweaks to the Defense show against Ravens. 

 will be tuning i focused on run game. Both sides of the ball actually

[NoSaint]

On 8/19/2018 at 6:09 PM, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Weren’t the Bills in their nickel defense for much of the first half?

 

Its the new base nfl defense so hopefully not an excuse we lean on

[MJS]

Missing two starters on the line (Kyle Williams and Trent Murphy) and playing nickel defense are the two biggest reasons the run defense struggled, in my opinion.

 

They actually looked strong week 1. I'm not going to worry about it until it becomes a problem in the regular season.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

2 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

Its the new base nfl defense so hopefully not an excuse we lean on

 

While there is more nickel played in today’s game, your statement isn’t entitely accurate.  

 

In 2017, NFL defenses employed the nickel defense 53% of the time.  Some teams more than others, obviously.  Team typically are in their base defense (4/3/4 or 3/4/4) approximately 33% on the average.  

 

If you re-watch that game (especially the 1st half), Buffalo clearly had 5 DB’s on the field way more than that.  I would guess more like 70-75% in the first half.  

[billsredneck1]

On 8/19/2018 at 9:56 PM, Luka said:

Tremaine was criticized for his tendency to lean into play, attempting to anticipate the snap count. Looks like he's still doing it. With his athletic ability it's completely unnecessary. That's what makes him so intriguing as a prospect. If he can just pause and diagnose a play, he still has the lateral speed to make the play. He displayed that a few times against Cleveland.

but he came back and played strong with some flashes. he will be ok.     thank god lorax is still here....who btw, i think is gonna be a sack machine this year.

On 8/19/2018 at 10:01 PM, Green Lightning said:

Our LBs are suspect. Tremaine will be great, but he's got a lot to learn about being a NFL MLB. Milano can't get off a block. Lorax is a gamer but a step slow at this point in his career. Depth is just not there 

keep in my preston brown was a 3rd rd. pick and started every game from day 1.

[Green Lightning]

22 minutes ago, billsredneck1 said:

but he came back and played strong with some flashes. he will be ok.     thank god lorax is still here....who btw, i think is gonna be a sack machine this year.

keep in my preston brown was a 3rd rd. pick and started every game from day 1.

Keep in mind Preston wasn't that good. Lots of tackles, but most down field and he was poor in coverage. Triemaine has all the tools but needs some time to develop. But be prepared for some mistakes early on.

[billsbackto81]

2 hours ago, MJS said:

Missing two starters on the line (Kyle Williams and Trent Murphy) and playing nickel defense are the two biggest reasons the run defense struggled, in my opinion.

 

They actually looked strong week 1. I'm not going to worry about it until it becomes a problem in the regular season.

Totally agree with this assessment. Hopefully Star comes to play and earns that contract. Hopefully Kyle and Trent are healthy enough to contribute. Hopefully Davis can be the player he used to be and hopefully this D knocks Flacco on his arse.

 

Hopefully....

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Why did Cover1 leave again? 

Curious he doesn’t post his own material 

[MJS]

3 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

 

While there is more nickel played in today’s game, your statement isn’t entitely accurate.  

 

In 2017, NFL defenses employed the nickel defense 53% of the time.  Some teams more than others, obviously.  Team typically are in their base defense (4/3/4 or 3/4/4) approximately 33% on the average.  

 

If you re-watch that game (especially the 1st half), Buffalo clearly had 5 DB’s on the field way more than that.  I would guess more like 70-75% in the first half.  

 

Exactly. I mean, we were watching Tarron Johnson making and missing plays the whole half. He's the nickel corner. In run situations you want that to be a linebacker, not a small cover corner.