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Cover 1: Bills' Run Defense Continues to Struggle


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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.

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...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.......

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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.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

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

 

 

 

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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

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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....

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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.

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