Defensive strategy vs KC... a hybrid approach?

[BuffaloBillies]

Obviously Kelce and Hill are THE problem. Would it make sense to employ a hybrid defensive approach where you play just those 2 guys man-to-man and then have the rest play zone? It could look like this below... where the yellow X players stay with Kelce/Hill no matter what, and the zone players (3 DBs and 2 LBs) are there also when the ball is in the air to almost be like double-coverage. And this allows 9 players to still be looking forward in case Mahomes takes off running (which was the concern with Lamar... why we ran all zone). And if a run play, the 2 yellow X's are still sort of there to help out (and maybe even play contain on the outside feeding the runner in to our LBs).

 

The base design on a pass play could look like this (obviously some adjustments based on how they are lined up)

(may need to click on image to enlarge)

 

Maybe there is a name for this type of defense?

And maybe you don't do this defense all game... could just be key third downs or something.

 

All year long I see Kelce being open in games I watch of theirs and I wonder how the hell a defense could allow that guy to get that open. I'm guessing he's just really good at finding soft spots/seams against zone defense. Keeping a guy attached to him makes a lot of sense to me. Hill is a freak... no one is likely to be able to stay with him very well - may have to give more cushion, but worth a shot trying to slow him down some. Maybe even try to jam him at the line of scrimmage.

 

OK, tear this idea apart... I won't be offended.

 

[billvernsays]

Love the fact that we are thinking outside the box and looking to other sports( Lacrosse & basketball) for defensive strategy. 
 

The issue with trying this type of defense is T Hill, Sammy Watkins, & Mecole Hardman will destroy this defense relatively quickly. I wouldn’t be against rolling it out there on a few critical 3rd downs but it’s definitely not something we can sit in, the zones are too spread out and we’d have to chose to cover deep, giving up easy 10-15 yard chunks underneath or cover shallow asking KC to take the deep play which we’d be giving them. 

Edited January 19, 2021 by billvernsays

[The Jokeman]

1 minute ago, billvernsays said:

Love the fact that we are thinking outside the box and looking to other sports( Lacrosse & basketball) for defensive strategy. 
 

The issue with trying this type of defense is T Hill, Sammy Watkins, & Mecole Hardman will destroy this defense relatively quickly. I wouldn’t be against rolling it out there on a few critical 3rd downs but it’s definitely not something we can sit in, the zones are too spread out and we’d have to chose to cover deep, giving up easy 10-15 yard chunks underneath or cover shallow asking KC to take the deep play which we’d be giving them. 

Will Watkins play? That said to me beating KC is keeping Kelce at Bay. Yes, Hill is dangerous too. Also if Mahomes does play making sure we make him earn every yard important too. Obviously the offense has to step up too as tbh they've been mildly disappointing thus far in the playoffs. I want to see more Beasley, McKenzie and Singletary against the Chiefs.

[Big Turk]

4 hours ago, BuffaloBillies said:

Obviously Kelce and Hill are THE problem. Would it make sense to employ a hybrid defensive approach where you play just those 2 guys man-to-man and then have the rest play zone? It could look like this below... where the yellow X players stay with Kelce/Hill no matter what, and the zone players (3 DBs and 2 LBs) are there also when the ball is in the air to almost be like double-coverage. And this allows 9 players to still be looking forward in case Mahomes takes off running (which was the concern with Lamar... why we ran all zone). And if a run play, the 2 yellow X's are still sort of there to help out (and maybe even play contain on the outside feeding the runner in to our LBs).

 

The base design on a pass play could look like this (obviously some adjustments based on how they are lined up)

(may need to click on image to enlarge)

 

Maybe there is a name for this type of defense?

And maybe you don't do this defense all game... could just be key third downs or something.

 

All year long I see Kelce being open in games I watch of theirs and I wonder how the hell a defense could allow that guy to get that open. I'm guessing he's just really good at finding soft spots/seams against zone defense. Keeping a guy attached to him makes a lot of sense to me. Hill is a freak... no one is likely to be able to stay with him very well - may have to give more cushion, but worth a shot trying to slow him down some. Maybe even try to jam him at the line of scrimmage.

 

OK, tear this idea apart... I won't be offended.

 

 

I felt like last game we took Hill and Kelce out of the game for the most part but allowed KC to run the ball.  Not sure if we would want to do something like that again or not...do we let them chew up the clock nd hope we can hold them to 26 again?  Can the Bills score enough if they are only going to get 8 or 9 possessions in the game instead of 12 or 13?

[SoCal Deek]

Whether Mahomes plays or not I’m betting the coaches won’t want him taking any hits. So I’m guessing he’s not going to be running it himself ...advantage Buffalo.

[billvernsays]

It’s the AFC championship, I’m gonna assume everyone is playing. 
 

Saying we need to stop Kelce is like teams saying the key to beating the Bills is they need to stop Diggs, easier said than done. That being said, Milano didn’t play in our 1st matchup and if we want to pull this one out it’s critical that he and Edmunds have one of their best games of the year. 
 

Edited January 19, 2021 by billvernsays

[GunnerBill]

So tell me the guy who is covering Kelce man to man. I'll hang up and listen. The Bills should play their defense. Don't let Kansas City beat you with the explosive play, make them play perfect football on offense every drive to beat you. Try and tighten in the redzone and hold them to FGs. And then we just have to score on offense.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I just watched the game highlights from last game, and am kind of shocked at how we played those guys and the success we had. 
 

Outside of Kelce juking out Edmunds on an option route for a TD, we kept both Hill and Kelce in check. The guy that hurt us in the passing game was their 2nd or 3rd receiver (DeMarcus Robinson).

 

i am also surprised that our rush did pretty good in Mahomes and we even blitzed him with some success.

 

in terms of the Run d, the d-line just got gashed, and our Lb’s and safeties were just missing lots of tackles. Maybe they run the same scheme and hope they cleaned up the execution errors. 
 

I will say that we were pretty close to making that last one a game. They scored a a TD on a 4th and 1, and we missed a long FG before the end of the half.  Pretty good, for getting totally gouged in the run game. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I felt like last game we took Hill and Kelce out of the game for the most part but allowed KC to run the ball.  Not sure if we would want to do something like that again or not...do we let them chew up the clock nd hope we can hold them to 26 again?  Can the Bills score enough if they are only going to get 8 or 9 possessions in the game instead of 12 or 13?

 

We had a plan to prevent the deep "chunk plays" and contain the run, but we couldn't execute it as desired.  It was certainly NOT part of the plan to give up 245 yards on the ground.  We didn't have Milano, Edmunds was hindered, and the coaches were still trying to figure out how to use Klein instead of trying to plug him in 1:1 for Milano.

 

Kelce had 65 yds on 6 receptions, Robinson had 69 on 5 - I believe they both had a lot of YAC.

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

We had a plan to prevent the deep "chunk plays" and contain the run, but we couldn't execute it as desired.  It was certainly NOT part of the plan to give up 245 yards on the ground.  We didn't have Milano, Edmunds was hindered, and the coaches were still trying to figure out how to use Klein instead of trying to plug him in 1:1 for Milano.

 

Kelce had 65 yds on 6 receptions, Robinson had 69 on 5 - I believe they both had a lot of YAC.

 

I'll take 6 for 65 to Kelce...Hill didn't do much of anything of I remember.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

In terms of the Run d, the d-line just got gashed, and our Lb’s and safeties were just missing lots of tackles. Maybe they run the same scheme and hope they cleaned up the execution errors.

 

It wasn't just execution errors.  This was the 2nd game where they benched Murphy and Phillips, and brought up Zimmer and Bryan Cox Jr.

Zimmer became part of the rotation, Cox didn't. 

 

Overall the Bills were clearly struggling to figure out who could play 1T and 3T most effectively because it was clear that the plan they came into the season with wasn't cutting it.

[Solomon Grundy]

What’s wrong with the defense they used against the Ravens?

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Solomon Grundy said:

What’s wrong with the defense they used against the Ravens?

 

Nothing. I hope Dez Bryant is running go routes for the Chiefs on Sunday. 

 

 

I kid, I kid.... fundamentally the Bills should just play their defense. There are some differences between how I'd play Baltimore and KC but at it core the plan should be play our defense. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

14 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It wasn't just execution errors.  This was the 2nd game where they benched Murphy and Phillips, and brought up Zimmer and Bryan Cox Jr.

Zimmer became part of the rotation, Cox didn't. 

 

Overall the Bills were clearly struggling to figure out who could play 1T and 3T most effectively because it was clear that the plan they came into the season with wasn't cutting it.

I really hope that the issue was personnel then, and that we are much stouter up front. The gaping holes last time we played was not pretty!!