The Bills are (literally) changing how defense is played (VIDEO)

[MJS]

I found this video on YouTube and he really does a great job of illustrating how the Bills defense is played and how insanely well coached the unit is. This is just a breakdown of week 1 against the rams, but really shows how disciplined and fundamentally sound the defense it. It also helped me to gain more appreciation for how well coached this team is. The defensive calls were perfect, countering everything the Rams wanted to do and really showed they were one step ahead of them at every turn. We saw this against the Titans too.
 

 

I also gained a lot of respect for Tremaine Edmunds from watching this video. He is asked to do a lot and is very effective in coverage. He had a good game week 2 as well, with a sack, 2 tackles for loss, a QB hit, and a deflected pass that was intercepted by Poyer.

[Einstein]

Just watched the video. None of it is really changing how the NFL plays defense. Fairly typical stuff. Bills are just doing it at a very high level. Executing it nearly perfectly.

[richNjoisy]

Great video! It was very difficult to follow all of it but it certainly shows how well coached the players are.

[RoyBatty is alive]

Upshot:  Players are very well coached and know the nuances of the play, esp pre-snap, the players are attuned not just to their assignments but to the entire flow of the play.  Buffalo's emphasis on a dominant front four changed the entire defensive dynamic versus LA.  

 

Continuity, coaching and smart players.

[HoofHearted]

Yeah, nothing ground breaking here. We are one of the more simplistic teams defensively. We just execute at a very high level.

[MJS]

19 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Just watched the video. None of it is really changing how the NFL plays defense. Fairly typical stuff. Bills are just doing it at a very high level. Executing it nearly perfectly.

 

2 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

Yeah, nothing ground breaking here. We are one of the more simplistic teams defensively. We just execute at a very high level.

 

Yeah, I think he titled his video that just to illustrate the current trend in the NFL of going back to the two-high safeties and to blitz less. The Bills took that to an extreme in week 1 by blitzing zero times. Anyone know how much we blitzed week 2?

[Yobogoya!]

They've been performing at peak efficiency last two weeks, its been lights out. 

 

All the continuity we've had the last few years plays a huge part in that. You also have to hope the combination of "13 seconds" and not being given a head coaching opportunity last year has really lit a fire under Frazier to not be the reason the Bills are blowing dramatic performances from Josh and the offense. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Yobogoya!

[HoofHearted]

7 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

 

Yeah, I think he titled his video that just to illustrate the current trend in the NFL of going back to the two-high safeties and to blitz less. The Bills took that to an extreme in week 1 by blitzing zero times. Anyone know how much we blitzed week 2?

The blitz thing isn't by design. Every defensive coordinator wants to be able to just rush 4 an drop everyone else. The reason we didn't blitz was because we didn't have to. That's why you saw us blitzing more vs the Titans because we weren't hitting home just rushing 4.

[MJS]

5 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

The blitz thing isn't by design. Every defensive coordinator wants to be able to just rush 4 an drop everyone else. The reason we didn't blitz was because we didn't have to. That's why you saw us blitzing more vs the Titans because we weren't hitting home just rushing 4.

Oh, it absolutely is by design. We will also blitz zero times when we face Patrick Mahomes, I'd be willing to wager. That's the game plan against good QB's who routinely destroy the blitz, and Stafford is in that category as an experienced, good QB.

[HoofHearted]

Just now, MJS said:

Oh, it absolutely is by design. We will also blitz zero times when we face Patrick Mahomes, I'd be willing to wager. That's the game plan against good QB's who routinely destroy the blitz, and Stafford is in that category as an experienced, good QB.

Ok

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

I found this video on YouTube and he really does a great job of illustrating how the Bills defense is played and how insanely well coached the unit is. This is just a breakdown of week 1 against the rams, but really shows how disciplined and fundamentally sound the defense it. It also helped me to gain more appreciation for how well coached this team is. The defensive calls were perfect, countering everything the Rams wanted to do and really showed they were one step ahead of them at every turn. We saw this against the Titans too.
 

 

I also gained a lot of respect for Tremaine Edmunds from watching this video. He is asked to do a lot and is very effective in coverage. He had a good game week 2 as well, with a sack, 2 tackles for loss, a QB hit, and a deflected pass that was intercepted by Poyer.

 

I keep saying this, but people are going to be shocked at the contract Edmunds gets from another team as a UFA.  He is exactly what most teams are DYING to find right now...a player that can compress windows in the middle of the field and make throws much more difficult than they normally should be with his size, wingspan, and ability to drop deep. Bills fans crying about his ability against the run, but other teams are watching themselves get shredded in the passing game week in and week out and could care less about stopping the run at this point.

 

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

Just watched the video. None of it is really changing how the NFL plays defense. Fairly typical stuff. Bills are just doing it at a very high level. Executing it nearly perfectly.

 

Yes, that is the problem...the Bills are so well coached on D and do execute it so well that even if you know exactly what they are going to do it STILL is very hard to actually beat it. Like Orlovsky said Monday night... "Nothing is easy against the Bills. Most times teams will give you some easy throws at times. Even 4 and 5 yard completions against the Bills are hard and they make you work for every yard you get."

Edited September 21, 2022 by Big Turk

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, HoofHearted said:

Yeah, nothing ground breaking here. We are one of the more simplistic teams defensively. We just execute at a very high level.

 

Similar to what Kelly said of the K-Gun offense...they only had like 15 plays, but they ran a lot of window dressing to make them look different out of different groupings, motions, etc, and then just executed them at a level so high it was nearly unstoppable.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

No doubt they are playing very well with better pass rush. I think even the most ardent fans would agree last years #1 defense was a mirage.  

This year's looks like the real deal. 

Edmunds is doing exaclty what us doubters hoped for. He is playing at a high level in a contract year. Good for him. If he keeps it up then go ahead and extend him. If the price is too steep longvterm then they can still tag him. 

[davefan66]

It helps when you have a great D-line. Takes pressure of the linebackers and in turn the defensive backfield.  Allows this players to worry about their assignments.

[boyst]

Amazing how little is understood by most fans. I get the disconnect between all of these rebrands of terms, and the philosophical aspects of offense. There are basically only 3 offenses, which is hard to understand. There are only so many effective NFL defenses, too. 

[MJS]

7 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No doubt they are playing very well with better pass rush. I think even the most ardent fans would agree last years #1 defense was a mirage.  

This year's looks like the real deal. 

Edmunds is doing exaclty what us doubters hoped for. He is playing at a high level in a contract year. Good for him. If he keeps it up then go ahead and extend him. If the price is too steep longvterm then they can still tag him. 

This is what McDermott and Frazier have wanted: getting pressure with only 4. That's why Beane has been so heavily investing on the line in both the draft and free agency, because it is such a weapon if you can get that organic pressure.

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, MJS said:

This is what McDermott and Frazier have wanted: getting pressure with only 4. That's why Beane has been so heavily investing on the line in both the draft and free agency, because it is such a weapon if you can get that organic pressure.

Pretty much every “dominant” defense that goes to the Super Bowl has followed this recipe. Denver, Seattle, etc.

[Scott7975]

OOooaaaaaa man.  Tua is so dead.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Scott7975

[MJS]

3 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Pretty much every “dominant” defense that goes to the Super Bowl has followed this recipe. Denver, Seattle, etc.

Both those teams blitzed quite a bit though.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

5 minutes ago, MJS said:

This is what McDermott and Frazier have wanted: getting pressure with only 4. That's why Beane has been so heavily investing on the line in both the draft and free agency, because it is such a weapon if you can get that organic pressure.

Agreed. Much harder to do than it seems and only a few select teams have been able to do it consistently.  

That's why many of us wanted Von last year. We missed a SB last season. Glad Beane is about as close to all in as he can be this year. Im a broken record at time. The only two moves Beane/McD have made I dont agree with this season are not bringing back Jerry and choosing Sweeney over Howard.  Many of us wanted a veteran CB, but judging how Benford has played they must have figured out early they had a late round gem.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, MJS said:

Both those teams blitzed quite a bit though.

Denver beat Brady and the Pats in the AFCCG without blitzing once.

 

Hit him double digit times too.

Edited September 21, 2022 by FireChans

[Don Otreply]

36 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I keep saying this, but people are going to be shocked at the contract Edmunds gets from another team as a UFA.  He is exactly what most teams are DYING to find right now...a player that can compress windows in the middle of the field and make throws much more difficult than they normally should be with his size, wingspan, and ability to drop deep. Bills fans crying about his ability against the run, but other teams are watching themselves get shredded in the passing game week in and week out and could care less about stopping the run at this point.

 

Luckily, fans don’t make the decisions, this team would be total crap if the fans got to choose how things are done at OBD. 

[MJS]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

Denver beat Brady and the Pats in the AFCCG without blitzing once.

 

Hit him double digit times too.

But blitzed a lot in the superbowl.

[HoofHearted]

3 minutes ago, MJS said:

Both those teams blitzed quite a bit though.

Denver did. Seattle did not. We run the same Tampa 2 defense that Seattle was running at that time.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, MJS said:

But blitzed a lot in the superbowl.

Every game is different. We blitzed more last night than opening night.

[MJS]

8 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

Denver did. Seattle did not. We run the same Tampa 2 defense that Seattle was running at that time.

Hmm. Well I am not an expert at this. In the video he explained that Seattle used a lot of 1 high safety looks and started dominating, and the rest of the NFL kind of followed. Now the NFL is going back to two high safeties.

[HoofHearted]

Just now, MJS said:

Hmm. Well I am not an expert at this. In the video he explained that Seattle used a lot of 1 high safety looks and started dominating, and the rest of the NFL kind of followed. Now the NFL is going back to two high safeties.

Right, they were playing a ton of Cover 3 - still only rushing 4 though.

[NORWOODS FOOT]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

I keep saying this, but people are going to be shocked at the contract Edmunds gets from another team as a UFA.  He is exactly what most teams are DYING to find right now...a player that can compress windows in the middle of the field and make throws much more difficult than they normally should be with his size, wingspan, and ability to drop deep. Bills fans crying about his ability against the run, but other teams are watching themselves get shredded in the passing game week in and week out and could care less about stopping the run at this point.

 

You just opened my mind regarding Edmunds. I'm fairly football savvy and have been down on him for a few years, but your perspective has me reconsidering. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

 

I think what the bills are doing is being a great example of how the front four and the back seven complement each other.

 

You need a front four that can hurry the quarterback's decision making without help from a blitz.

 

You need a back seven disciplined and talented enough to make a quarterback delay as long as possible.

 

The Bills have both of those components right now and we're killing offenses because of it.

 

The only game plan I see to counter it well would be a strong run game with short passes to very explosive receivers.

 

That's why I'm so curious to see how the Dolphins hold up. I think the whole game may hinge on their O line giving Tua enough time to hit Hill and Waddle over and over again hoping they break something big. He can't make any mistakes either.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Norwoods Foot
Typo

[MJS]

2 hours ago, Norwoods Foot said:

You just opened my mind regarding Edmunds. I'm fairly football savvy and have been down on him for a few years, but your perspective has me reconsidering. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

 

I think what the bills are doing is being a great example of how the front four and the back seven complement each other.

 

You need a front four that can hurry the quarterback's decision making without help from a blitz.

 

You need a back seven disciplined and talented enough to make a quarterback delay as long as possible.

 

The Bills have both of those components right now and we're killing offenses because of it.

 

The only game plan I see to counter it well would be a strong run game with short passes to very explosive receivers.

 

That's why I'm so curious to see how the Dolphins hold up. I think the whole game may hinge on their O line giving Tua enough time to hit Hill and Waddle over and over again hoping they break something big. He can't make any mistakes either.

Let's also hope that the injuries to the defense don't become too much to overcome. If the Dolphins beat the Bills, injuries will have played a big factor in that I think.

[Dopey]

3 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No doubt they are playing very well with better pass rush. I think even the most ardent fans would agree last years #1 defense was a mirage.  

This year's looks like the real deal. 

Edmunds is doing exaclty what us doubters hoped for. He is playing at a high level in a contract year. Good for him. If he keeps it up then go ahead and extend him. If the price is too steep longvterm then they can still tag him. 

Edmunds has been playing well for a few years now. He's been doing exactly what the coaching staff wants from that position. Doubters be damned. If you watch the game waiting for him to make a mistake, you'll find it. Every player makes mistakes out there, even Josh. Just enjoy this defense as a whole, even if you don't see how valuable he is to what we do out there.

[TBBills]

If they beat Tua on Sunday it will be the greatest achievement ever to have happened...

Edited September 21, 2022 by TBBills

[Captain_Quint]

5 hours ago, HoofHearted said:

Yeah, nothing ground breaking here. We are one of the more simplistic teams defensively. We just execute at a very high level.

 

It'd be nice if we had a Rex Ryan type defense with a 100+ page playback again.

Then we'd be UNSTOPPABLE! 

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

43 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Edmunds has been playing well for a few years now. He's been doing exactly what the coaching staff wants from that position. Doubters be damned. If you watch the game waiting for him to make a mistake, you'll find it. Every player makes mistakes out there, even Josh. Just enjoy this defense as a whole, even if you don't see how valuable he is to what we do out there.

If he was they would have extended him already. 

I'm done arguing about the past and I vowed weeks ago to just evaluate his play this year.  That's what I'm doing. He is playing well. On to Miami

[wjag]

5 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No doubt they are playing very well with better pass rush. I think even the most ardent fans would agree last years #1 defense was a mirage.  

This year's looks like the real deal. 

Edmunds is doing exaclty what us doubters hoped for. He is playing at a high level in a contract year. Good for him. If he keeps it up then go ahead and extend him. If the price is too steep longvterm then they can still tag him. 

This is a fascinating start to the NFL season.  I don't think you could script a more challenging start.  Each of the first seven that get played stresses a different style of the defense

 

1. Rams -- On Road with all the world watching.  Cupp and the emotional hangovers of the superbowl won and one not attained.

2. Titans -- MNF.  Run defense with one of the best smash mouth type teams

3. Fins -- On Road with likely the two most challenging WRs to cover

4. Baltimore -- On Road against a run heavy RPO team and a QB that can throw or run 80 yards.

5. Steelers -- Home against a defense first team.  Pass rush diminished without Watt, but still dangerous

6 Chiefs -- On Road,  again 4th time in 6 games, national window.  Scene of the crime and the devil himself (the game everyone will be hyping.  Hell we will probably finally get Romo)

7. GB -- SNF. Home after bye and a 4 time MVP high on life.

 

Come out of this gauntlet with a 5-2, 6-1 record and the rest of the season looks so much easier.  This team will have been tested like few others and it will just be Halloween.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by wjag

[MJS]

36 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Edmunds has been playing well for a few years now. He's been doing exactly what the coaching staff wants from that position. Doubters be damned. If you watch the game waiting for him to make a mistake, you'll find it. Every player makes mistakes out there, even Josh. Just enjoy this defense as a whole, even if you don't see how valuable he is to what we do out there.

He certainly gets scrutinized. It had to be him who hurt Dane Jackson too, didn't it? Any other player and it just would have been an unfortunate accident. Since Edmunds did it lots of fans were really trashing him.

[HoofHearted]

4 hours ago, Captain_Quint said:

 

It'd be nice if we had a Rex Ryan type defense with a 100+ page playback again.

Then we'd be UNSTOPPABLE! 

 

Is that the tone you got from my response? I love our defense. Keep it simple. The less thinking the faster we can play.

[uninja]

4 hours ago, Captain_Quint said:

 

It'd be nice if we had a Rex Ryan type defense with a 100+ page playback again.

Then we'd be UNSTOPPABLE! 

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

SavMaine - he’s good. Was dominant in run a as bad pass defense vs Titans