You play coordinator. What's your game plan for Sunday?

[Solomon Grundy]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

If you want to live by the blitz against Brady you will die by the blitz. They key to rattling him has always been by rushing four but getting pressure up the middle. 

 

My game plan defensively is just to play our defense. No blown assignments, no big plays, mix your coverages and make Brady go 80 yards and 12 plays on you. He will do that but if you can limit him to doing that 2 or 3 times you are in the ball game. 

 

It is offense where I am struggling. I just don't know where I see an advantage for us. I think our oline should hold its own against their front but beyond that I give every advantage to the Patriots D. My plan would be use Allen's legs early try and get them to commit someone as a spy so I am evening the numbers game elsewhere to 10 on 10 and then see if you can get Beasley and Knox open underneath. But basically it becomes can you out Patriots the Patriots and execute effectively 2 or 3 long touchdown drives. I am not sure. 

 

It is maddening that just as the Bills have their most competitive team for a good while the Pats arrive here with their most formidable defense in a decade. There are plenty of Pats teams over the last 10 years that I would take this Bills team to beat at home. Sadly I am not sure the 2019 Patriots is one of them.

 

 

Offensively, eliminate the stupid penalties and Josh take what the defense give you. I'd love for Allen to learn to manipulate the pocket the way Mahomes/Wilson does.

[nedboy7]

Don’t get conservative with the lead. 

[North Buffalo]

Gonna need to out hit them especially skilled O guys and use jumbo formation on edges... 3 TE and bludgeon their lbs and safeties.  Run and block angry.

[Virgil]

Single deep safety, press Edelman and Gordon.  Send an extra blitzer up the middle.  
 

Utilize plays with McKenzie like last week.  Keep speed on the field on the corners at all times.  Let Knox and Beasley work the middle of the field.  
 

Run in formations that spread the defenders, read option. 

[hondo in seattle]

Beating the Pats is a monumental task.    Their O is good.  Their D is good.  They've owned us.   To win this game will take more than a good game plan.  It will require some Bills players to play better than they've played this season so far.  And it will require some execution errors from the Pats.  But here are my general thoughts...

 

Offense.  We've got to force the excellent NE defense to defend the entire field.  We have to take take shots deep shots.  We've got to throw crossing routes over the middle and take shots at the perimeter shots.  We need Gore going up the middle and Motor running outside.  We have the potential to run a multifaceted offense and need to live up to that potential on Sunday.  A one-dimensional offense won't score enough to keep pace with a Pats team averaging 35 points per game.   Allen and company need to bring their 'A' game.

 

Defense.  Brady may be the GOAT.  It's hard to pressure him because he gets the ball out so quick - 2.45 seconds on average - but if you don't pressure him, he'll pick you apart.   2.45 seconds isn't long enough for an offensive linemen to beat his man so we've got to attack Brady with exotic blitzes.    We've got to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Brady - but not on every play.  We've got to blitz enough to get him nervous but we can't continually give him the opportunities downfield that comes with blitzing.  Our blitzes need to be smart and aggressive - so he thinks about them every play even if they only happen 1 play in 3.   

[Sherlock Holmes]

Immediately talk the Panthers into tanking and giving us Kuechly and McCaffrey. Give the ball to McCaffe 50 times between passes and rushing in our fancy RPO offense with Knox also. Have Kuechly murder Brady on 1st drive. Feed Beasley all day on route to 15 TD passes from Allen to go with his 5 rushing TDs

 

After evey 1st down I cup somebodys ball sack

Edited September 24, 2019 by Sherlock Holmes

[Solomon Grundy]

7 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

If you want to live by the blitz against Brady you will die by the blitz. They key to rattling him has always been by rushing four but getting pressure up the middle. 

 

My game plan defensively is just to play our defense. No blown assignments, no big plays, mix your coverages and make Brady go 80 yards and 12 plays on you. He will do that but if you can limit him to doing that 2 or 3 times you are in the ball game. 

 

It is offense where I am struggling. I just don't know where I see an advantage for us. I think our oline should hold its own against their front but beyond that I give every advantage to the Patriots D. My plan would be use Allen's legs early try and get them to commit someone as a spy so I am evening the numbers game elsewhere to 10 on 10 and then see if you can get Beasley and Knox open underneath. But basically it becomes can you out Patriots the Patriots and execute effectively 2 or 3 long touchdown drives. I am not sure. 

 

It is maddening that just as the Bills have their most competitive team for a good while the Pats arrive here with their most formidable defense in a decade. There are plenty of Pats teams over the last 10 years that I would take this Bills team to beat at home. Sadly I am not sure the 2019 Patriots is one of them.

 

 

 

And that would result in a pick. 

I don't remember Gilmore ever being a great deep ball defender. Matter of fact, many wanted him gone because of this fact

4 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Gonna need to out hit them especially skilled O guys and use jumbo formation on edges... 3 TE and bludgeon their lbs and safeties.  Run and block angry.

GORE THEM!! (Run Angry)

[DJB]

I say go full Greg Williams and take out Brady's knee!

 

 

[oldmanfan]

1.  Offense:  Keep the ball out of Brady’s hands.  Run game - go at Gilmore’s side with runs cause he won’t tackle.  Pray Singleton can play.  Lot of play action, short throws and they take the deep shot when they cheat up.  No mistakes!!!  No dumb off sides, no dumb throws back over the middle.  Have to be smart 

 

2.  Defense:  Only thing that potentially affects Brady is pressure up the middle.  Play LoZo and Shaq  inside, stunt a lot to free them and Oliver to pressure up the middle.  Edmunds has to control the middle short routes.  DBs have to keep the ball in front of them.  And all this is if we can control their run game - odds are they run the ball like they did the game at our place last year until and unless we can show we stop them.  Guys like Edmunds, Milano, Oliver, Neal - time to our on the big boy pants.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

McDermott: “sweep the leg.”

 

(long stare)

 

McDermott: “you have a problem with that?”

 

Hughes: “No, sensai.”

 

McDermott: “no mercy.”

[billsfan_34]

Control the clock- move the chains

[GunnerBill]

37 minutes ago, the skycap said:

I don't remember Gilmore ever being a great deep ball defender. Matter of fact, many wanted him gone because of this fact

 

Those many were wrong then and are wrong now. 

[Sweats]

Pound the rock and get Knox involved early and often

[Steptide]

I'd do the exact opposite of any game plan you would normally have. Run no huddle 80% of the game, blitz 80% of the game. Run every option play possible, and if it doesn't work the first time, do it again the next play. In all seriousness, I can't think of any way the bills could outplay the Patriots. Let's hope daboll and Frazier have some tricks up their sleeves

[Augie]

52 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

Don’t get conservative with the lead. 

 

Get the lead! 

 

 

Then keep it. 

[Radar]

My game plan? Hope we don't lose anyone to serious injury. 

[reddogblitz]

My D game plan:

 

1. Double cover and jam Edelman at the line.  Take away their best threat  ala BB.
2. Every so often do a full house max reddogblitz on Tommy. 
3. Hit Tommy often even late if you have to.  It'd be worth the 15 yards to knock him down a few times.
4. Sure Tommy may burn us a few times, but he gets really erratic and mad when hit often.  
5. Disrupt their timing.  It's all timing for them.

Edited September 24, 2019 by reddogblitz

[Just Jack]

Here....

 

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Blitz Brady mercilessly. We have the DBs to cover and we don't give up much YAC.  He is going to beat you dropping 7 or 8 so you might as well blitz.

I'd give Johnson a few more reps. Murphy is a bust. He just runs upfield playing hands with the RT. He is never doubled. Give the kid a few reps. Blitz the nickel/slot CB or safety. Let Milano and Edmunds chase side to side. 

It would be nice to get some production out of Oliver

[snafu]

Defense:  Get hands in passing lanes.  Focus on stopping the run. Never let them run out of bounds on a run or a completed pass.  Can’t miss ANY tackles. If the chance presents itself, bang Brady real hard early in the game about two or three times.  Jam the receivers at the line and make Brady throw deep because I’m not sure his arm it still all that. 

 

Offense: first half choose the O-line’s favorite fifteen plays and execute them perfectly. Just mix them up like a baseball pitcher moves the ball around the strike zone.  Second half (this is outside the box), run every single play the **Pats ran during the first half, in reverse order.  Maybe it will freak them out. Maybe they run those plays because their defense can’t stop it in practice. And never run out of bounds to stop the clock and run the play clock down to one every pre-snap.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2019 by snafu

[Juice_32]

Defensively, I’d play the pats* exactly like they played Falk and the jests on Sunday. Stack the box, take away the run game and short middle of the field. Make tom* beat you with long and intermediate throws outside the numbers. He was surprisingly inaccurate in the jests game when he had to drive the ball. I do not care what anyone says, my eyes tell me that his arm is not what it was.

 

On offense, I think you turn Josh loose. PASS PASS PASS. Take some deep shots to open up the intermediate throws Allen seems to thrive on. Keep the misdirection and sweeps going. Put the ball in his hands and tell him to take the crown from the evil ones. Let him play hero ball, hell with it. No conservative game plan. Go beat their asses Josh. 

[TheNorwoodStrangler]

I was going to post a video of a certain  Gregg Williams speech but decided that would be in bad taste..

[sven233]

Their LBs are very good, so get as many as you can off the field.  Go 5 wide most of the game.  Work mostly in the intermediate and deep parts of the field.  Force NE to chase the WRs all over the place and let Josh use his discretion as to when to take off.  If he can get 5-10 yards by running because we're pushing routes deeper, let him.  If you can force the Pats* into nickle and dime coverage most of the game, that's a good thing.  If the Pats* counter and go zone, Beasley will find those soft spots.  You want to run the ball occasionally, fine.  Motion in a WR and give him the ball.  I am a firm believer you have to do something completely unconventional when you have a good opponent.  Do something they are not expecting.  Also, every possession, take as much time off the clock as possible.  Run the play clock down most of the way every snap, shorten the game and limit the amount of possessions the Pats* get on offense.

 

Spreading out the entire field will make things easier on Allen.  I trust him enough to know when he can take off, but make no mistake about it, if the Bills are going to win this game, it's because Allen is great.  Our running game is not going to get it done.  We'll probably need 27+ to win, so swing for the fences and see what happens.

 

On defense, sell out to get pressure up the middle and have guys get their hands up on every play to try and bat as many of those quick passes as possible.  Play extremely tight coverage and dare them to beat you deep and hope that the pressure can get there in time. Also, if you have a free run at Brady, take it.  Deal with a penalty if necessary, but a good shot or 2 to the ribs will be worth the 15 yards.

Edited September 25, 2019 by sven233

[fergie's ire]

3 hours ago, Just Jack said:

My only plan is for the defense. The entire first half, blitz. Pound Brady into the ground. Don’t worry if he has the ball or not. Don’t worry how all the penalties will let them get right down the field and score. Just keep pounding Brady so every snap he’s wondering if he’ll survive the next hit. 

Interestingly, keep hitting them and don't worry about the penalties was essentially the strategy upon which Belichick made his name.  He did it against us as a coordinator and against Manning's Colts.  He was hitting receivers more than quarterbacks...but same principle.

[LSHMEAB]

Offensively, stick to whatever works. That's what they do and I think it would catch BB off guard. Absolutely cannot fall behind in this game so if a particular set/play is working, just keep going to the well.

[njbuff]

The Bills need to come with the mentality that they are TIRED of losing to the Pats and will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

 

Pretty simple.

 

Until they come in with the mindset that they will smack the Pats in the mouth, they might as well not waste everyone's time and not show up.

 

Bills teams of the past against the Pats have folded like cheap suits when the first bad thing went wrong against them (other than the Fitzmagic game).

[LSHMEAB]

1 hour ago, reddogblitz said:

My D game plan:

 

1. Double cover and jam Edelman at the line.  Take away their best threat  ala BB.
2. Every so often do a full house max reddogblitz on Tommy. 
3. Hit Tommy often even late if you have to.  It'd be worth the 15 yards to knock him down a few times.
4. Sure Tommy may burn us a few times, but he gets really erratic and mad when hit often.  
5. Disrupt their timing.  It's all timing for them.

I would extend the take a penalty mentality to Edelman for the same reasons you cited; timing. Knock him around a bit, get him out of HIS rhythm and you may get the same effect as knocking Brady down a liiiiiiiitle late.

[Mango]

3 hours ago, skibum said:

Offense: Lots of run plays. Screens and check-downs. Dink and dunk and just move the chains, as slowly as humanly possible. Whatever it takes to keep the Pat's offense off the field. 

 

Defense: I got nothing. I would say 'get after Brady', but the so-far sub-par pass rush has me thinking this won't fly. 

 

At least there's no Gronk?

 

I like McDermott a lot, but Belichick outcoaches him every single time. The 3rd quarter is going to be a bloodbath.

 

I agree with basically all of this. Agreed, we have to pace the offense. But I’d favor change of pace. Find your mismatches and run no huddle as long as you can. We can stay at the line for 35 seconds at times, it’s fine. But I’d also throw in a healthy dose of quick counts. 

 

BB is notoriously difficult on young QBs. If we can keep them on the field, with irregular pacing, hopefully we can keep the looks pretty vanilla. Especially since I think we’ll need to put up 25+ and decision making has been tough for JA. 

[Hebert19]

4 wides with foster getting more playing time.  Alternate foster and splitting knox out.  I don't think they have the secondary depth to guard everyone.  Then run from that look at we should be able to pound the rock. 

[billspro]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

On defense, I take away the short throws and force Brady to push the ball down the field. Press coverage all day. On the line, focus all pressure up the middle, not on the edge. Lots of stunts.

 

On offense, I've got no clue. Maybe have lots of motions like in the first game to force the Pats into base defensive fronts? Lots of screens? Lots of RPO's? Anything to force the defense to process what they are seeing and keep them out of confusing fronts and packages. I would stay away from Gilmore. That means lots of crossing patterns to get John Brown passed off onto other defenders.

 

This is similar to how I like defending the Pats. Brady is going to make his plays, but if you let him be methodical he will take the ball down the field every time. We need to stop the run and the short timing throws and force Brady to hold the ball. If he gets it out in rhythm it is always a long day. Hopefully his arm has trouble with the deeper throws as the game goes on and we can take advantage of their oline. 

 

Offence is going to be tough, hopefully the running game can get us in favourable situations. We need to hit some timing throws to Beasley, Knox and the RBs to create some consistent first downs. Hopefully Allen can steal a few first downs with his legs. We definitely can’t have more than one turnover. The key is going to be beating Gilmore though. If we can get Foster or Brown one on one with Gilmore we need to take advantage of that. If we can hit a couple deep balls against him it will open the offence up. Foster did torch him last year but couldn’t haul it in. Gilmore has had trouble with small speed players in the past. If we can’t connect on those shots it will probably be a long day. 

[Billsatlastin2018]

FAKE the Jet sweep.

step back & fire the deep ball!

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

The key on defense will be Neal in the big nickel. Because they are going to try to run the ball but you need ability to cover the entire field 15 from los. Don’t drop safeties deep, in fact rotate them down with a robber look. 

 

On offense max protect and use speed to attack middle range. Jet sweeps and bubbles to Roberts.  It’s time to see what he can do. 

 

Swap Edelmans toradol with estrogen and pass Gordon a tray of special brownies.

 

Make Ed angry  

Edited September 25, 2019 by Over 29 years of fanhood

[eee1776]

It the super bowls he lost I noticed they sacked him early on in the game which seemed to un-nerve and effect his game. We need to hit him hard on his first drive .

[Guest K-GunJimKelly12]

If I were D coordinator I would send out the backups to repeatedly go helmet to Edelman's ribs until he crumbles.  If you have to take a few illegal contact or PI call's so be it.  They'll probably score on the opening drive anyways and this way you are giving your defense some rest with penalties instead of having the Pats chip away at them.

 

With Edelman out it all becomes about going at Brady's knees.  Have Star Lotulelei crash into Brady's knees with all his weight and momentum.  Time for the fat man to earn his paycheck.  Take out Brady and make Stidham be a quarterback as the kids like to say nowadays.

 

This is what I would do but I must admit, I have minimal NFL game planning experience.  I imagine McDermott will have a more conventional approach. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by K-GunJimKelly12

[Augie]

When punting for “inside the 20”, nail it at the 2 rather than the 18. It’s still legal to kick to the sideline. Why did that go away? Pressure off the edges is not an adequate explanation. 

[TigerJ]

I'd love to see the Bills get some passes to Dawson Knox when he's covered by a DB so he can stiff arm the guy into Brady on the sidelines.  That's not much of a game plan though.

[MJS]

2 hours ago, billspro said:

 

This is similar to how I like defending the Pats. Brady is going to make his plays, but if you let him be methodical he will take the ball down the field every time. We need to stop the run and the short timing throws and force Brady to hold the ball. If he gets it out in rhythm it is always a long day. Hopefully his arm has trouble with the deeper throws as the game goes on and we can take advantage of their oline. 

 

Offence is going to be tough, hopefully the running game can get us in favourable situations. We need to hit some timing throws to Beasley, Knox and the RBs to create some consistent first downs. Hopefully Allen can steal a few first downs with his legs. We definitely can’t have more than one turnover. The key is going to be beating Gilmore though. If we can get Foster or Brown one on one with Gilmore we need to take advantage of that. If we can hit a couple deep balls against him it will open the offence up. Foster did torch him last year but couldn’t haul it in. Gilmore has had trouble with small speed players in the past. If we can’t connect on those shots it will probably be a long day. 

It always infuriated me when we would defend the Pats by having all our corners in off coverage. They'd dink and dunk us down the field with short little throws all game long. Have to get up on the line and get physical with their receivers, force them off of the timing patterns.

[Paulus]

Rush 5, jam all WRs at the line, and try to take away the inside slant. Test Brady's arm and hit if whenever legal. 

 

Offensively, spread things out as much as possible. Have Josh run it whenever he can do so, without absorbing a hit. Play for the deep ball. Force BB to account for Josh's running ability and arm strength.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Paulus

[GunnerBill]

Honestly all the people talking about blitzing Brady must not have been watching him these past 18 years. 

[reddogblitz]

18 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Honestly all the people talking about blitzing Brady must not have been watching him these past 18 years. 

 

honestly I see him carve up teams that don't blitz him in almost every game I watch.