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Anyone else concerned about Pass Rush?


MR8

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People are talking a lot about the offense, and rightfully so, but something that stuck out to me like a sore thumb all game was the inability for this team to reach Andy Dalton.

 

Going into this weeks game one of the biggest things discussed about the Bungles was that their O-Line was banged up TERRIBLY, and the Bills should be able to feast on them.  But that wasn't the case.  They did a nice job in the first half stuffing the run, and flummoxing Dalton by putting pressure forcing quicker throws.  But they still weren't getting to him, and this inability to hit him and knock him down allowed them to change their offensive approach. 

 

In the second half they adjusted with shorter routes in space between the zone, and the defense struggled then to stop them.  I know no defense will stop an offense all day, and only allowing 17 points is a win for any defense, but my point is that they were put in a position to need a stop, and the defense bent to allow them to get to field goal range to win.   All the while this HIGHLY paid defensive line was entirely unable to register sacks against Dalton despite them having injuries all over the line.

 

Dalton is far from a world beater QB, and he picked the D apart in the second half in the short passing game.  Thankfully he's not Tom Brady or they would've moved the ball even better and really run us out in the second half.

 

My concern is WE DO PLAY TOM BRADY THIS WEEK!  No one is better at the short precise passing attack than Brady, and that has been exposed by the Bungles as a weakness of this defense.  

 

It's highly documented that the way you beat Brady is to, to quote Kawika Mitchell "Punch him in the mouth, and when he gets back up you punch him again".  Our D can't get to Andy Dalton behind a TERRIBLE O-line... how do we expect them to get pressure on Tom Brady who is known for getting it out quick?  

 

IMO it's a large concern! 

 

Maybe I'm over analyzing it, but I really don't think I am... if they can't get pressure on Brady this week, he is going to dink and dunk pick us apart on the way to 35 points this week.  And I don't see the Bills winning in a shoot out... 

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Brady typically uses the quick passes early in a game.  That forces the D-line to spend their energy uselessly.  The d-line gets both gassed and frustrated. 

 

Then, when the pass rushers start to think they can't get to Tommy and they put in less effort, the pass patterns get deeper and take longer to develop.  I hate him but he is a master at his craft.

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They won’t get to Brady. Fact. 

 

They need to pressure him up the middle to throw off his timing 

 

they need to score points on offense 

 

The Bills and other teams have had successful game plans vs Brady over the years but it’s virtually impossible to completely shut them down. What they’ve rarely been able to do is have a successful offensive game plan vs Belichick. That’s the only way to beat them. 

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I see what you guys are saying about how quick it comes out, but that's Tom Brady's bread and butter... so how do you shut it down from a guy like him, who is 1000X better than Dalton, who executed it to 17 points in the second half, and put his team in position to win. 

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Pass rush is a significant concern. They are getting nothing from Murphy. Lawson’s sack was an effort and coverage sack. Otherwise he has not generated any pressure. Hughes has been ok but seems to have taken a step back from last year. Oliver has been fine for what you expect from a rookie DT.

Frazier has dialed up some blitzes that have been reasonably effective. 

 

And now we come to the unanswered question - do you blitz Brady or not? I have always said yes because he will pick us apart with no pressure anyways.  When Rex dropped 7 or 8 Brady passed for over 400. They don't have the weapons outside or at TE to beat the Bills deep. I say unleash hell on Brady this week. Poyer should play in the box the entire game with Hyde as a single high safety.  I know McD loves his zone, but this is the week to play more man and blitz Brady from all angles, especially up the middle with Lorax and Edmunds. Also the corners need to play closer to the LOS. Brady throws mostly short stuff now and while a 6 yard hitch won’t lose the game, 20 of them will. My only concern is their backs catching out of the backfield. Milano and Edmunds need to play coverage first and then rush if the back stays in to block.

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2 minutes ago, MR8 said:

I see what you guys are saying about how quick it comes out, but that's Tom Brady's bread and butter... so how do you shut it down from a guy like him, who is 1000X better than Dalton, who executed it to 17 points in the second half, and put his team in position to win. 

Again, you don’t. You have to 1) throw off his timing and 2)outscore them. They probably won’t do the 2nd thing not to be negative 

Edited by YoloinOhio
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No. Would we love having 3/game? Sure. But McDermott is a highly regarded Defensive mind. I think we’re above the curve of altering our rush to play the 3step drop & throw so widely used in the pro game. He’s figured out nearly to the 10th of a second when opposing QBs release the pass on these throws in schemes they favor via down/distance. I say “He” specifically because I believe we lead the League in batted down passes. Look at the height he has playing on passing downs. They count in their heads while holding up pursuit to leap and crush the play. It’s not a fluke when it happens multiple times a game. 

Who’s the best QB at these cheesy little passes? 

He’s coming to New Era next Sunday.

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With the ticky tacky calls to protect the QB being the masters of collapsing a pocket while swatting down passes at the LOS has increased in value over just out right edge rushes and blitzes that lead to that hit that adds on penalty yards

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We held Andy Dalton, who threw for over 400 yards against Seattle's defense....at Seattle.

He's got almost 1,000 yards in the first three games this season.  Dalton is a QB that makes mistakes but he's always been able to move the ball through the air.

We held him to virtually nothing for most the of the game yesterday.  


QB's are getting the ball out quickly against us.  They know we can bring the heat so they're game planning against it.  Our pass defense is still good.  

Sacks also come in bunches too.  
We probably won't touch Brady this week so be patient.

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In the first half,  the Bengals tried addressing their OLine problems coming into the game by going to a quick, short passing attack with Dalton getting rid of the ball in less than 2.5 seconds and you just aren’t gonna get to a QB in those circumstances. We can expect more from Brady next Sunday.

 

In the second half, the Bengals used max protection schemes virtually the entire time and, again, it’s a chore to get to the QB most of the time, even with the blitz packages Frazier dialed up on occasion. And a good QB is gonna find open guys when he has the time. 

 

Andy Dalton is a good QB. He came into Buffalo with 729 yards passing his first two games, including 418 yards AT Seattle, with a passer rating of 100,  and YPA over 8 while completing 65% of his passes. Yesterday, he had a rating of 63, 5 yards per attempt, and completed 55% of his passes. He made some plays because he’s a decent QB, but we did a good job defending him, especially downfield. No big plays for Ross, especially. 

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The pass rush was significant yesterday having watched live and in person. When the Bengals were still trying to throw deeper developing routes, the pocket frequently was collapsed by the Bills rush (and they blitzed VERY little). The interior pressure we've added this year helps a lot. After all that , The Bengals were getting the ball out withing 2 seconds. The Bills should have played more press coverage likely at that point, but seemed fearful of getting beat over the top. Pass rush has been fine this season. Not great, but not a concern.

Edited by 34-78-83
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38 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Pass rush is a significant concern. They are getting nothing from Murphy. Lawson’s sack was an effort and coverage sack. Otherwise he has not generated any pressure. Hughes has been ok but seems to have taken a step back from last year. Oliver has been fine for what you expect from a rookie DT.

Frazier has dialed up some blitzes that have been reasonably effective. 

 

And now we come to the unanswered question - do you blitz Brady or not? I have always said yes because he will pick us apart with no pressure anyways.  When Rex dropped 7 or 8 Brady passed for over 400. They don't have the weapons outside or at TE to beat the Bills deep. I say unleash hell on Brady this week. Poyer should play in the box the entire game with Hyde as a single high safety.  I know McD loves his zone, but this is the week to play more man and blitz Brady from all angles, especially up the middle with Lorax and Edmunds. Also the corners need to play closer to the LOS. Brady throws mostly short stuff now and while a 6 yard hitch won’t lose the game, 20 of them will. My only concern is their backs catching out of the backfield. Milano and Edmunds need to play coverage first and then rush if the back stays in to block.

 

I agree with most of this.   Murphy needs to be cut in the offseason, he has provided nothing in pass rush.  Lawson however has the second most qb hits on the team so he is generating pass rush.   Hughes is Hughes, he may end up with 6 sacks, but the guy has 16 QB Hits already.

 

I wouldnt blitz Brady.  You blitz bad qbs and drop players into coverage on good ones.  

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