Unsung hero : Leslie Frazier

[Buffalo716]

He was one of the whipping boys here for a long time... That he should have his play calling duties taken away or fired

 

His steady presence, and understanding Sean's philosophy, with his own football knowledge is a major asset to this team

 

His Gap integrity, attention to detail, are all top notch... There's never a quarterback roaming free on a bootleg .. there's always someone home to put pressure in his face

 

There's never a massive miscommunication in the back half where there's a 60-yard blown coverage 

 

You take after your coach.. and this defense is a smart, fast, physical defense.. over all these years I see tons of Leslie Frazier fingerprints all over this defense , and him and Sean really work well together

 

And he'll never get much credit because he's working under another defensive coach... But I can guarantee that to the players, that his work is absolutely paying dividends and they are glad to play for him 

 

Here's to Leslie Frazier one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL

[BillsFanForever19]

Tonight was his Magnum Opus.

[Nelius]

Camera caught him getting really happy with about :50 seconds left, I thought it was awesome. He seems so serious and reserved most of the time but has cracked a few times now when things go well, like when he was running down the sideline stride for stride with a Taron's pick-6 vs Baltimore last year. Bet his players love him.

[Buffalo716]

5 minutes ago, Nelius said:

Camera caught him getting really happy with about :50 seconds left, I thought it was awesome. He seems so serious and reserved most of the time but has cracked a few times now when things go well, like when he was running down the sideline stride for stride with a Taron's pick-6 vs Baltimore last year. Bet his players love him.

Guarantee they love him. He is a man they can respect  

 

He's like having a second head coach on our team... Week in and out you could see it in the preparedness 

 

It's all the little things.. dictating the game where he wants it to go.. not where the offensive coordinator wants it to go

 

Leslie is hardly ever in a situation where he needs to get drastic.. he's hardly ever playing catch up... He dictates what the offense does.. not vice versa 

 

He's a master at combining coverages and hiding them.. and playing the sticks 

 

Best defensive coordinator we've had here since Wade.. Schwartz was good and I liked him but his defense had little Gap integrity which hurt in big moments 

 

Leslie's defenses are never out of gap

 

 

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

 

 

Leslie is like the father figure to many of these young Bills on defense.   He has called a master plan to outwit the best players in the business.  Can he do it one more time next week in Nashville.  

[Conlan58]

I read somewhere this was the first ever NFL game (next gen stats i believe?) that a team did not blitz even a single time. Was an amazing game to watch - he had a plan, stuck to it, and his players obviously bought into it and executed it!

[machine gun kelly]

I love his demeanor and he doesn’t get enough credit for how he calls games.  He finally has the horses to call plays how he wants.  Enough of the crap we faced weak opponents why our defensive stats are good.  Now we just beat the team in the SB.  What’s the excuse after we beat the Titans?

[Shortchaz]

Winning cures everything. 

[GunnerBill]

Think about it this way.... which team put out the blueprint on defending Lamar and the Ravens? 

 

And then which team put out the blueprint for defending Mahomes and the Chiefs (even if last year they couldn't quite execute their own plan for various reasons)?

 

Yea. Leslie Frazier is good.

Edited October 11, 2021 by GunnerBill

[bmur66]

24 minutes ago, Conlan58 said:

I read somewhere this was the first ever NFL game (next gen stats i believe?) that a team did not blitz even a single time. Was an amazing game to watch - he had a plan, stuck to it, and his players obviously bought into it and executed it!

Awesome. I was just trying to recall if they blitzed at all and could not 

[Stank_Nasty]

The chiefs were LUCKY to score 20…. Cant believe I just typed that. 
 

Dude just put on a clinic 

[BuffaloBill]

There has been an assumption that the Bills will lose Dabol this year to a HC’ing job.  If I was an owner, I would look much harder at Frazier. I certainly hope he is in Buffalo to stay. At the same time the guy has been brilliant.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I’m giving this to the players. They didn’t do much scheming in this one. Played safe which was exactly what they’ve been doing vs KC. Difference in this one is the offense put up 38 points. Everyone on defense did their 1/11. Poyer and Hyde played under control all game. They really never had to switch up.

 

 

[Ralonzo]

5 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

Tonight was his Magnum Opus.

There was that commentary right after McD was hired that he was the anti-Rex Ryan. Similarly this D game plan was the Palms magnum opus and the exact opposite of the Rex 46. Don’t chase the big plays, just follow the plan, execute with discipline, and the plays will come to you through the scheme.

 

When Chuck Knox came the early 80s the Bills weren’t the most talented bunch but could win if opponents weren’t on point through Ground Chuck and tough D. In the Super Bowl years the Bills were as talented as anyone, but Levy and Corey got killed at the big moments by, let’s face it, better coaching.

 

This is something different. This roster is top-echelon talent-wise in the league, and after getting punked by Tomlinson & co week 1, Daboll stopped trying to be cute like Andy Reid and the defensive coaches been unbelievable with game planning and halftime adjustments. With that combination, it doesn’t matter if the opponent is on point or not. The Bills will win if they don’t beat themselves.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Ralonzo

[Paul Costa]

Josh & the offense get all the headlines but this D  is well coached & well prepared each week. They totally frustrated Mahomes most of the night. Well done 👏👏👏

[nucci]

I love how our coaches are mostly calm and controlled during games....Some DC or special team coaches running on sideline yelling and screaming....

[Ralonzo]

29 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I’m giving this to the players. They didn’t do much scheming in this one. Played safe which was exactly what they’ve been doing vs KC. Difference in this one is the offense put up 38 points. Everyone on defense did their 1/11. Poyer and Hyde played under control all game. They really never had to switch up.

Nah, coaching was big. The play I keep coming back to was the Chiefs turnover on downs, tipped pass by Poyer. Addison iirc was left end and defeated his block and had a clear upfield path to Mahomes and suddenly stopped in his tracks, did not continue upfield, and by doing that maintained contain on Mahomes in the pocket. All the lineman concentrated not on getting to the QB but just preventing him from leaving the pocket. Mahomes had 8 friggin seconds in the pocket before he threw, and finally tried to zip it over Poyer who tipped it for the inc.

 

Those DL were coached to do something unnatural to them (i.e. don’t try to sack the QB). That’s coaching, scheme, and execution.

[SoCal Deek]

Frazier was a textbook example of having a plan, not getting bored with that plan, so instead just sticking with what was working. Amazingly calm! . (I wish I could say the same for Daboll, who appeared to have gone asleep in the 3rd quarter.)

[DJB]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Think about it this way.... which team put out the blueprint on defending Lamar and the Ravens? 

 

And then which team put out the blueprint for defending Mahomes and the Chiefs (even if last year they couldn't quite execute their own plan for various reasons)?

 

Yea. Leslie Frazier is good.

 

I agree with the Ravens but it was the Bucs who gave us the blueprint on how to stop Mahomes

[GunnerBill]

46 minutes ago, DJB said:

 

I agree with the Ravens but it was the Bucs who gave us the blueprint on how to stop Mahomes

 

We used this plan 2 months before the played the Buccs. Or at least the bones of this plan. We just failed to execute it in week 6 last year for a multitude of reasons.

[Best Williams Available]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

There has been an assumption that the Bills will lose Dabol this year to a HC’ing job.  If I was an owner, I would look much harder at Frazier. I certainly hope he is in Buffalo to stay. At the same time the guy has been brilliant.

Hopefully execs think this D is McDs and they overlook Frazier. He’s like having 2 head coaches on the side line. Steady presence so Sean can focus on in-game stuff rather than worrying about the D. Huge for this team.

[Fan in Chicago]

Yesterday, as with the playoff game against the Ravens, were two masterpieces by Frazier. For yesterday's game, the narrative was that the Chiefs' D was bad and O was elite. But the Chiefs O never looked comfortable. The big thing I noticed was that our D played a very physical game. Frazier learned from last year when the Chiefs did that to us. Now its our turn. We have the horses and the willingness to slap their players around. We were hitting hard and it showed in the overall disorientation on the Chiefs side. Reid did not expect us to play this way. 

 

Finally, there was a time last year when I too was down on Frazier but am glad I was wrong. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Charles Romes]

 Brilliant v the ravens in the playoffs. Did not have the personnel to do much v the chiefs in ‘20. This year he does. 

[Fan in Chicago]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

There has been an assumption that the Bills will lose Dabol this year to a HC’ing job.  If I was an owner, I would look much harder at Frazier. I certainly hope he is in Buffalo to stay. At the same time the guy has been brilliant.

Frazier had his chance and didnt succeed as HC. I am not particularly worried about losing him. I hope that he becomes a Dick LeBeau and stays with us as long term elite DC. 

[BuffaloBill]

14 minutes ago, Fan in Chicago said:

Frazier had his chance and didnt succeed as HC. I am not particularly worried about losing him. I hope that he becomes a Dick LeBeau and stays with us as long term elite DC. 

 

Understood but the feeling was he would have taken the Texans job last year if they had offered it to him.

[Hebert19]

Man.  Having Tre somewhat follow kelce was genius.  It was like when we did that with gronk and tre frustrated him to the point of gronk snapping....

 

And Micah and poyer were unbelievably disciplined. 

[Chandler#81]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

Leslie is like the father figure to many of these young Bills on defense.   He has called a master plan to outwit the best players in the business.  Can he do it one more time next week in Nashville.  

One more time??😲 There’s possibly SIXTEEN games remaining we’ll need expert coaching to overcome! 15 at least!

3 hours ago, bmur66 said:

Awesome. I was just trying to recall if they blitzed at all and could not 

Yet they may Bring The House every play next week if that’s the best way to outlast Tennessee.

1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

There has been an assumption that the Bills will lose Dabol this year to a HC’ing job.  If I was an owner, I would look much harder at Frazier. I certainly hope he is in Buffalo to stay. At the same time the guy has been brilliant.

Imo, the best way to stave off poachers is to play in the Super Bowl. ‘Black Monday’ is a real thing in the NFL and likely everyone here already has a list of immediate openings following the Regular Season. Few -if any- teams in search of a new HC want to wait 5 weeks to interview a candidate.

[DJB]

30 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We used this plan 2 months before the played the Buccs. Or at least the bones of this plan. We just failed to execute it in week 6 last year for a multitude of reasons.

 We weren't the first team to go with a two deep safety look only rushing 4 up front vs KC. Its a pretty common scheme. 

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, DJB said:

 We weren't the first team to go with a two deep safety look only rushing 4 up front vs KC. Its a pretty common scheme. 

 

We were the first team to really make a point of forcing them to try and be patient and making them run the ball when they wanted to throw it deep. Other teams have played cover 2 shells against them but not with the commitment to making them nickel and dime the way Leslie and Sean did last season. It didn't work last year for a number of reasons but with the defense playing with this confidence it worked perfectly yesterday.

[WhoTom]

Every DC with KC on their schedule will be watching film of this game. Leslie put on a clinic on how to slow down the Chiefs' offense.

 

 

[Max Fischer]

3 hours ago, Conlan58 said:

I read somewhere this was the first ever NFL game (next gen stats i believe?) that a team did not blitz even a single time. Was an amazing game to watch - he had a plan, stuck to it, and his players obviously bought into it and executed it!

At the very least, it ties a record that can’t be broken. 

[Ralonzo]

42 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We used this plan 2 months before the played the Buccs. Or at least the bones of this plan. We just failed to execute it in week 6 last year for a multitude of reasons.

Bills didn’t have the horses to do in the AFCG what they did yesterday. Like complementary football between O, D, ST, Bills have a complementary front office and coaching staff.

[26TrapDraw]

Tell you what, having a game plan and then having the defensive talent to do it are two different things. This defense couldn’t impose their will last year like they are doing right now. It’s awesome to watch. I have complete confidence in them now and know they have the pieces in place to shut down anyone they have to. Probably best defense I have seen in my 32 years of fandom.

[GunnerBill]

9 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

Bills didn’t have the horses to do in the AFCG what they did yesterday. Like complementary football between O, D, ST, Bills have a complementary front office and coaching staff.

 

In the AFCCG they didn't try the same plan. I think they let the criticism about them being too passive in week 6 get into their heads too much and They went in saying we are just going to play our defense and try and out execute them. Which failed. This was more a slightly modified version of the 2020 week 6 plan. What do I think made the difference? A number of things:

 

1. Confidence. Week 6 last year the D was coming off some early season struggles and wasn't feeling itself the way it is now after 2 shut outs in 3 weeks. 

 

2. The horses up front. Rousseau had a great game last night but also just the ability to use wave after wave of different dlinemen with the energy of the 3 young guys which in turn keeps Jerry and Mario fresher and of course have Star back and playing his best football as a Bill. 

 

3. Health. Okay we were down Milano (same as week 6 last year) but remember week 6 last year Edmunds was still playing with the shoulder and Tre was struggling and had missed the game at Tennessee the previous week hurt.

 

4. Slight adjustments in our coverage packages and a bit more use of dime (which the Bills generally use very little) with Siran on the field a lot on passing downs.

 

I think that combination of factors allowed us to run what was fundamentally the week 6 of 2020 plan but execute it much better to the point where it didn't look "passive" in the way it was criticised for looking last year. 

[DJB]

29 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

Every DC with KC on their schedule will be watching film of this game. Leslie put on a clinic on how to slow down the Chiefs' offense.

 

 

 

And if the Chefs figure out a way to beat it Leslie will have watched that and found a counter move to that. 

[Beast]

Leslie Frazier seems like a human being that would be very easy to play football for. Someone you'd want to lay it on the line for.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Wonder if Houston wants a do over for their HC position.

[WhoTom]

34 minutes ago, No Place To Hyde said:

Wonder if Houston wants a do over for their HC position.

 

Do we know for sure that they didn't make him an offer? I think it's possible that Leslie turned them down, or would have turned them down if they had made an offer. Sometimes, and I think we can all agree that Houston is one of those cases, it's better to pass on the first available opportunity and wait for the right opportunity.

 

[BillsFan4]

Houston should have hired him instead of David Culley. But I’m sure glad they didn’t! (I’m also glad for Frazier. I think Culley’s being set up to fail)

 

I can’t believe he hasn’t had more head coaching interviews. Iirc he’s had a top 10 defense every year in Buffalo but one (2020, under very unusual circumstances (esp. no fans in the stands)).

 

Selfishly I hope we get to keep him but I know he really wants another shot at being a head coach and I think he deserves it + would do a very good job.