Chris Simms Game Analysis: Defense not as bad as I thought + illusion of blitzing

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Don't overlook the impact of ST giving up that 40 yd punt return with 2 minutes left in the 1st, forcing the D to defend starting at the Bills 30 and leading to a Titans TD.

 

Prior to that ST miscue, it was a tied game.  After, it was 14-7. 

 

We also had 2 drives starting from our 9 yd line, not a miscue exactly and we need to sustain long drives, but no help from ST either.

 

 

And yet, if we let Henry grind it out and hang 200 yds on us, everyone would be all "Bills lost because they can't stop the run"

 

 

Right. "Make Tannehill beat us" is a good plan in general, but not so good when it amounts to "make AJ Brown beat Josh Norman and Taron Johnson." Because he will, and he did.

[MJS]

1 hour ago, Charles Romes said:

That makes him a situational/third down back not an every down back which is why they trying to sign Bell. 

I'm not disputing that. Bell would be fine to add. But Singletary is a good back. He isn't a bust.

[WideNine]

Chris rocks.

 

I love how he breaks down the NE defensive philosophy and how it really disguises coverage and how defensive players are coached to have specific defensive options for dropping, spying, or blitzing depending on the progression of the play by the offense.

 

Those defenses are not reacting to offensive pre-snap hard counts or motions to give anything away even though the Titans incorporated a lot of movement (fake blitzes, fake dropping back, 7 or 8 men in the box then dropping back into zones, to a large degree those were mostly just window-dressing. They are going to execute a very specific coverage for their back end zone with 3-to-4 down linemen up front with some effective variable-role defensive spy/pressures just behind the line within 5 yards.

 

As Chris pointed out, they were able to do this effectively because we did not have the running game to actually force Tennessee into having to commit resources to the box to counter the run. On the flip side, Buffalo had to do this to counter Henry, which left the likes of Taron Johnson in man coverage which is a match-up the Titans take all day.

 

We were taken to school by a variation NE defense and it will be a very good teaching moment for this team to figure out how to counter when we get some better pieces to our offense and defense and key players healthy again.

[Thurman#1]

13 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

The stuff Simms says about blitzing strikes me as totally true. The fifth man-only blitzer is functionally useless and only gives the qb a free shot.

I never thought about it, but one of the reasons offenses are so dominant is that the qbs who can’t diagnoses blitzes are being run out of the league. Just about all of them are good at it now, and just about all of them understand tempo and getting lined up quickly to give themselves the time necessary to diagnose who is probably blitzing.

 

 

Yeah, he put it clearly, really made me get it more deeply than I have before.

[SirAndrew]

8 hours ago, K-9 said:

Singletary may be an illusion, but watching our OL get absolutely NO push between the tackles is a reality. We can’t run block worth a damn.

Singletary has some weak spots in his game, but I think you can win with him. He isn’t a guy who can break off big runs with his speed. Speed isn’t everything, it mostly allows guys to break away in those rare open field situations. The ability to make guys miss is just as important, and Singletary has plenty of that.  I’m not sure why everyone is so down on Singletary this season. The results haven’t been there, but everyone was happy with him last season.
 

He proved his game translates to the NFL, so I’m not sure what changed. I find it hard to believe that Singletary has suddenly become a bad player. Nothing about his speed has changed since last season. We all saw how amazing Fred Jackson was for us, while the speed guy in Spiller wasn’t as productive. Being a back isn’t all about speed. It might be nice to have a speed back on this offense, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win with Singletary. The offensive line is naturally the first variable that I look at. They haven’t run blocked at all this season, and that oline was one of my greatest concerns going into the season. Unfortunately, everyone immediately blames the back in these situations. 

[SirAndrew]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

But they are terrific in pass protection.... ***** it. Play to your strengths. Continue to sling it with the occasional runs sprinkled in. 

Pass protection is good, and they mostly are slinging it with occasional runs mixed in. The issue is the fact that the occasional run is lucky to gain three yards. When you’re running a spread offense with a QB picking apart the defense, there’s no excuse for that poor of a run game. You should be able to pick up four yards by default. That’s how bad run blocking has been. Most NFL teams no longer run to set up the pass. The run is sprinkled in as a secondary element. You still need to run on occasion just to keep the D honest. You just don’t want your run plays to be a wasted play. Currently our runs are wasted plays almost every time. 

[SirAndrew]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Think Yeldon should get some more carries this week and see if a back with a little quicker first step helps. 

I still believe in Singletary, but I’m good with that idea in hopes of finding a spark. We just need a little more from our running game. The outcome of this season continues to ride on the arm of Josh Allen regardless. Allen plays like he did in the first four games we’ll win. When he doesn’t look elite and our defense plays like garbage, we’ll lose. An improved run game would be nice, and I’m in favor of giving other guys a chance, but ultimately our roster is set for this season. Allen and the defense will be the question mark heading into each game. That’s what decides our fate. 

 

[Nihilarian]

I have no idea why this offensive brain trust doesn't see who has a hot hand right away and keep feeding them. Beasley wasn't used until the second half and caught 6 of 6 and 4 of those touches came in the first drive in the second half while 2 more came in the next drive.

 

TJ Yeldon was used from the first drive and looked to be doing better than Singletary as it looked like the Titans were keyed on stopping him. Why not run Yeldon more?

 

 

Now, from my view the Titans were dropping more into coverage and allowing the underneath stuff and for whatever reason the Bills kept trying to find Diggs midfield 16 targets, 10 receptions for 106 yards. Davis also had 9 targets with 5 receptions. Why didn't they take what the defense was giving them instead of going for the guy who was more often covered?  The Bills come in with a game plan and stick with it no matter what the opposing defense does/shows. 

 

The entire NFL world was watching the only game on TV that night and all saw what the Titans did to handle the Bills. Tough games ahead. 4-1 Chiefs, Jets, 2-2 Patriots,

5-0 Seahawks, 3-2 Cardinals, BYE, Chargers, 49ers, 4-0 Steelers, Broncos, 2-2 Patriots, Dolphins.

 

5-5 by the bye week losing to KC,NE, Hawks, Cards. 9-7 at the end...maybe? Current Bills defense 21st in points allowed, 17th in yards allowed.

 

Had they gotten so used to the big passing play that the moved away from just moving the chains over and over to get to the red zone? Better remove that cranium from the posterior...and get healthy. 

 

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

17 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Right. "Make Tannehill beat us" is a good plan in general, but not so good when it amounts to "make AJ Brown beat Josh Norman and Taron Johnson." Because he will, and he did.

 

I don't want to sound like I'm dissing off Tennessee.  They came out ready to play.  They had no place they'd rather be.

We looked like  "anyplace but right here right now" was our prevailing attitude.

 

But honestly, I'm not sure any defensive plan can be good when the opponent has 4 drives starting respectively at the Buffalo 16, 30, 12, and 18 yd line.   

 

To those pronouncing on the death of our defense: you saw that right, the Titans had three (3) drives STARTING inside our "red zone" and a 4th on the 30.

And yes, they scored a TD on every one.  28 points off drives of <30 yds.   

 

Two were the fault of our offense.  Two were on ST.

 

Those points all count, but without them, it's a 16-14 game.    Other than those drives, the Titans had 2 TDs and 3 punts. 

 

There's a lot to be said for the viewpoint that yes, Tennessee is a good team and yes, they had a hand in forcing those plays - but yeah, largely, the Bills beat themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

[Billsfan1972]

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I don't want to sound like I'm dissing off Tennessee.  They came out ready to play.  They had no place they'd rather be.

We looked like  "anyplace but right here right now" was our prevailing attitude.

 

But honestly, I'm not sure any defensive plan can be good when the opponent has 4 drives starting respectively at the Buffalo 16, 30, 12, and 18 yd line.   

 

To those pronouncing on the death of our defense: you saw that right, the Titans had three (3) drives STARTING inside our "red zone" and a 4th on the 30.

And yes, they scored a TD on every one.  28 points off drives of <30 yds.   

 

Two were the fault of our offense.  Two were on ST.

 

Those points all count, but without them, it's a 16-14 game.    Other than those drives, the Titans had 2 TDs and 3 punts. 

 

There's a lot to be said for the viewpoint that yes, Tennessee is a good team and yes, they had a hand in forcing those plays - but yeah, largely, the Bills beat themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Whether short fields or not, the Titans had no trouble moving the ball.  One af the punts was after half and they generated first downs and held the bal 5:30 and punted from the Bills 44.  On another punt they were at the Bills 36 (and decided to take a penalty vs. try a fg).  

 

The Bills did not stop them all night.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Whether short fields or not, the Titans had no trouble moving the ball.  One af the punts was after half and they generated first downs and held the bal 5:30 and punted from the Bills 44.  On another punt they were at the Bills 36 (and decided to take a penalty vs. try a fg).  

 

The Bills did not stop them all night.

 

That's not quite true - the Titans 2nd series of the game was a 3-and-out from the Tenn. 35 yd line.  A second possession got 3 1st down before a stop.

But I understand why it gives that impression.

 

The point is, when 4 of 9 Tenn possessions start in the Buffalo "red zone" or right outside it and resulted in 28 points.  Our D was at a huge disadvantage on those drives, can we agree on that?

 

[Mr. WEO]

But what did he say about Taysom Hill?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Yea.... when the Bills defense needed a stop after the offense made the game 28-16 with about 10 minutes left in the 4th they gave up a 70 yard 7 minute drive for a TD. Dagger. 

 

I don't even count the Roberts fumble drive. Game was over at that point anyway. So they had 3 drives starting inside the Bills 30 and scored a TD on all of them. One of which the defense did hold them to 3 until Jefferson hit Tannehill late and low.... and the game was probably over at that point even if they did kick the FG because the Bills defense couldn't really stop the Titans when it mattered. 

 

They looked completely out of synch  and disinterested in all 3 phases....except Allen. He always looks ready to go. 

 

I wouldn't say Allen looked disinterested, but he was certainly part of the "out of sync".  His passes in the 1Q were a bit more off than they have been in previous games, and he was not taking what the defense gave him but forcing the ball instead.

[badassgixxer05]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I wouldn't say Allen looked disinterested, but he was certainly part of the "out of sync".  His passes in the 1Q were a bit more off than they have been in previous games, and he was not taking what the defense gave him but forcing the ball instead.

Yeah, some of those throws were into triple coverage. Instead of processing the defense, he was panicking and forcing to Diggs. Im sure when he looks back at the tape he will see some guys were open that he should have been looking for. Not sure why he wasn't tucking and running in some of those situations like he usually does too(maybe the shoulder risk, so they told him to dial it down?).

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

On 10/15/2020 at 8:18 AM, thebandit27 said:

This reinforces my opinion that the difference in the game was the 2nd INT. We score on that drive and it’s 21-17 with the ball on TEN 25 (presumably after a touchback) instead of 21-10 on the BUF 12.

sounds right, even the int where is was and they might have had a chance for a stop. That return was the straw that broke their back... 

[mbs]

On 10/15/2020 at 10:35 AM, K-9 said:

Singletary may be an illusion, but watching our OL get absolutely NO push between the tackles is a reality. We can’t run block worth a damn.

I have been very impressed with the pass pro this year and it wasn't bad last year, but the run blocking has looked awful for years. I feel bad every time I think back to that oline under the chair chucking kiddie puncher. I miss that guy.

[KauaiBuffaloSports]

On 10/15/2020 at 8:10 AM, WideNine said:

Chris rocks.

 

I love how he breaks down the NE defensive philosophy and how it really disguises coverage and how defensive players are coached to have specific defensive options for dropping, spying, or blitzing depending on the progression of the play by the offense.

 

Those defenses are not reacting to offensive pre-snap hard counts or motions to give anything away even though the Titans incorporated a lot of movement (fake blitzes, fake dropping back, 7 or 8 men in the box then dropping back into zones, to a large degree those were mostly just window-dressing. They are going to execute a very specific coverage for their back end zone with 3-to-4 down linemen up front with some effective variable-role defensive spy/pressures just behind the line within 5 yards.

 

As Chris pointed out, they were able to do this effectively because we did not have the running game to actually force Tennessee into having to commit resources to the box to counter the run. On the flip side, Buffalo had to do this to counter Henry, which left the likes of Taron Johnson in man coverage which is a match-up the Titans take all day.

 

We were taken to school by a variation NE defense and it will be a very good teaching moment for this team to figure out how to counter when we get some better pieces to our offense and defense and key players healthy again.

 

This is one of my biggest gripes with the Bills D this year. Our defense reveals who is blitzing way to easily. We are so quick to get a jump to sack the quarterback that we reveal our coverage on the hard count almost every time. I see our LBs and DBs do this all the time. Chris Simms brought up a good point during this same podcast that it's not worth getting to the QB a half second earlier if you reveal the coverage pre-snap. We need to start confusing our opponents QBs more  

[GunnerBill]

On 10/15/2020 at 1:26 PM, dave mcbride said:

Man is Simms down the Bills’ RBs and running game in general. Indeed, after the game, McDermott basically said it was terrible that they couldn’t run better than they did against a D playing coverage/cover 2 all night. I wonder if we suffer from the illusion of Singletary being good rather than a mere change of pace back who is quick but not fast in space. There are a lot of negative plays with him and he is not fast enough to break really long runs. 

 

I have been here on Singletary the whole time. 

[VW82]

Singletary isn't anything special but our Oline was put together to pass block. You don't sign Mitch if you're trying to be a good running team. We could really use Feliciano back in the line up. That guy was really stout. 

[Fan in San Diego]

Good analysis, thanks