McDermott calling the D: what'd ya think?

[Success]

Sorry for the non-Josh Allen thread.

 

All offseason, we wondered how the D would be without Frazier, and w/ McD making the calls.  I've never been an x's & o's guy, but what I saw was pretty encouraging..  We were all over the passer, and our line was in the backfield all day.   The corners seemed to be playing a bit more press, and for the most part, locked it down. The only issue was giving up some big runs - but there were just a few of those lapses.

 

I think our personnel is better, so it's hard to gauge (Groot is clearly taking a next step, Oliver looks better, Floyd is a great addition, etc.).   There is also the consideration that the Jets O-line isn't good.

 

What did everyone think overall?

 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

The aggressiveness was awesome to see

 

But I think week one is tough to judge against a team that didn't have a QB and really couldn't do much

 

 

[SoonerBillsFan]

It was fine.  

 

[RiotAct]

our offense turned the ball over 4X, and yet our D still managed to only give up 13 “quality” points.

 

 

The Jets’ O ain’t the Dolphins, but still… I’d say our defense definitely did its job and then some

[sven233]

Not the best game to judge him on because of the offense we ended up having to play.  I will say this.....Rodgers was in for 4 plays, but if he was in longer, I think we would have sacked him a ton.  He can't move much anymore and our line would have been after him all night.  Not saying he wouldn't have made the Jets offense better.  We'll never know.  But the way the game started and the way our line was playing, I wasn't overly worried about what the Jets were doing.  More concerned about the way our offense played.

[NewEra]

I thought the D played pretty good minus the one run and couple Wilson catches (not the TD, that was good D, special catch).  
 

Leonard Floyd and Rousseau stood out on the DL, while I thought Ed played a very solid games. Watching Milano was a treat.  
 

I’m extremely worried about the S duo though.  Once the heart and soul of the team, they might now be a detriment.  🙏🏻 that’s not the case 

[K-9]

An encouraging start, but that’s all it was. 

[LabattBlue]

I will let you know when we play a top 10 QB and offense. 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

one game. too soon to get a real idea if the change was for the good?

 

mid season. we shall see

[Mr. WEO]

hard to tell vs an awful line.  

 

Wilson should have gotten destroyed all night.  1 TO, 3 sacks. 

[BBFL]

Interest to see how they handle Davante Adams now that Myers is listed as out… if he calls a competent defensive game against the Raiders tomorrow I’m a little less worried about Week 4 against the fish. 

[Gugny]

I normally hate when people say, “well, it was against ________ .”

 

But it was against an offense led by what’s his name.

 

They shut down an offense that they should have shut down.  
 

That’s a good thing. 

[Alphadawg7]

Week 1 - A grade.  ***No Rodgers makes it a situation where we can't take too much away off one game though.  But outside of a player mistake on the long run, the defense held its own quite well IMHO.  

[Augie]

42 minutes ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

The aggressiveness was awesome to see

 

But I think week one is tough to judge against a team that didn't have a QB and really couldn't do much

 

 

 

We had a defensive game plan to stop and NFL offense led by a future HOF QB. I think we were better prepared for that than the 14 OLinemen and a single WR we ended up facing. I liked our early pressure, but I don’t know what to make of the rest of that. 

[Gugny]

3 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

We had a defensive game plan to stop and NFL offense led by a future HOF QB. I think we were better prepared for that than the 14 OLinemen and a single WR we ended up facing. I liked our early pressure, but I don’t know what to make of the rest of that. 

 

 

[BuffaloBillyG]

19 minutes ago, NewEra said:

I thought the D played pretty good minus the one run and couple Wilson catches (not the TD, that was good D, special catch).  
 

Leonard Floyd and Rousseau stood out on the DL, while I thought Ed played a very solid games. Watching Milano was a treat.  
 

I’m extremely worried about the S duo though.  Once the heart and soul of the team, they might now be a detriment.  🙏🏻 that’s not the case 

This is my worry with the defense, more than even MLB. 

 

Hyde seemed ok. Didn't notice him a ton good or bad which isn't always a bad thing. But Poyer was not at his best Monday. The lack of speed on our back end is really going to present an issue against Miami IMO. 

 

Overall, I thought the defense was solid. Milano was his normal self...plus some personality. The DL got a lot of pressure. And Benford held his own on the outside. Looking forward to seeing what McDermott has dialed up to stop a Raider team with lower speed but a lot of physical players on offense.

[Punching Bag]

51 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

We had a defensive game plan to stop and NFL offense led by a future HOF QB. I think we were better prepared for that than the 14 OLinemen and a single WR we ended up facing. I liked our early pressure, but I don’t know what to make of the rest of that. 

 

Clearly Nathaniel Hackett is better coach than we gave him credit for with many calling him a pawn of Doug Marrone especially when he got job with Jaguars.

Personally I thought he was at least as good as coach as Ronnie Jones,

[dpberr]

I thought Game 1 went well.  Had to adjust the entire defensive plan after four snaps. 

 

I think that if it was Wilson behind center a week prior to the game, they would have shut down the run game and make Wilson win it with his arm.  

 

 

[frostbitmic]

Give up long runs ... check

Giving up numerous 3rd and 10+ yards ... check

 

It was nice seeing them being more aggressive rushing the QB and all, but in the end, they couldn't hold a 10 point lead vs Zach Wilson. Of course that job was made more difficult by our QB playing Santa Claus for the night.

 

It was only one game, lets see what they've got vs the Raiders tomorrow.

[newcam2012]

2 hours ago, RiotAct said:

our offense turned the ball over 4X, and yet our D still managed to only give up 13 “quality” points.

 

 

The Jets’ O ain’t the Dolphins, but still… I’d say our defense definitely did its job and then some

I agree. The defense more than held their own. They did enough to win the game. 

 

The pass rush was very good. Can't give up huge runs like that. Despite that the D held them to 3 points. I was pleasantly surprised by Bernard. I thought he held his own.

 

Like others said hard to really gauge the D vs a back up QB and poor oline. But they did what they had to do. 

 

There are bigger tests ahead for the D. I'm interested in seeing how they stop or contain Jacobs and Adams. 

[PBF81]

2 hours ago, Success said:

What did everyone think overall?

 

I think give him half a season to settle in.  

 

Preparing for Rodgers and ending up playing Wilson was a curve ball. 

 

Also, tough to comment until at least as semblance of steady-state is there to analyze.  

 

Unless our D is simply low-end for the next three or four games, let's give him a couple months.  

 

That's not to say I'm optimistic, but in fairness ... 

 

 

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

Overall, I thought the D played well.  Bernard took some bad angles on a couple of runs but was better than I expected.  I did notice that on many plays, there was an obvious effort to avoid giving the tight end and slot receivers a clean release.  This is a significant improvement from previous seasons.

[Cheektowaga Chad]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

We had a defensive game plan to stop and NFL offense led by a future HOF QB. I think we were better prepared for that than the 14 OLinemen and a single WR we ended up facing. I liked our early pressure, but I don’t know what to make of the rest of that. 

Minus the first run play, the defense looked prepared for what Rodgers likes to do and did seem to be frustrate him. To the point my initial reaction to Rodgers sitting down wasn't injury 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Cheektowaga Chad

[Augie]

Just now, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Minus the first run play, the defense looked prepared for what Rodgers likes to do and did seem to be frustrated. To the point my initial reaction to Rodgers sitting down wasn't injury 

 

I thought the look on his face was resignation to the worst having happened. He immediately knew what the injury was and that he was done for the year. As much as I generally don’t like him, I respected that and felt badly for the guy. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, Success said:

Sorry for the non-Josh Allen thread.

 

All offseason, we wondered how the D would be without Frazier, and w/ McD making the calls.  I've never been an x's & o's guy, but what I saw was pretty encouraging..  We were all over the passer, and our line was in the backfield all day.   The corners seemed to be playing a bit more press, and for the most part, locked it down. The only issue was giving up some big runs - but there were just a few of those lapses.

 

I think our personnel is better, so it's hard to gauge (Groot is clearly taking a next step, Oliver looks better, Floyd is a great addition, etc.).   There is also the consideration that the Jets O-line isn't good.

 

What did everyone think overall?

 

It’s too bad Buffalo lost because if they somehow pulled it off we would be talking about the great performance of the defense. I was on the Leonard Floyd bandwagon as soon as he signed and he proved me right with 1.5 sacks. This is without Von Miller so u can only imagine how nasty this front will be when he returns. Rousseau played great as well and Tre White looks to be back to form. I am honestly very excited. I hope the offense gets it together because this team can really do some damage if they stay healthy and play to their potential. 

[PBF81]

16 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

I agree. The defense more than held their own. They did enough to win the game. 

 

The pass rush was very good. Can't give up huge runs like that. Despite that the D held them to 3 points. I was pleasantly surprised by Bernard. I thought he held his own.

 

Like others said hard to really gauge the D vs a back up QB and poor oline. But they did what they had to do. 

 

There are bigger tests ahead for the D. I'm interested in seeing how they stop or contain Jacobs and Adams. 

 

The only problem with that is that the Jets' OL isn't ranked very well by anyone.  Few rankings have it above 20th, most have it in the bottom quartile.  

 

This week will be a much biggest test as you laid out.  

 

Bernard was good in pass coverage.  But we knew that.  

 

 

[PBF81]

9 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

It’s too bad Buffalo lost because if they somehow pulled it off we would be talking about the great performance of the defense. I was on the Leonard Floyd bandwagon as soon as he signed and he proved me right with 1.5 sacks. This is without Von Miller so u can only imagine how nasty this front will be when he returns. Rousseau played great as well and Tre White looks to be back to form. I am honestly very excited. I hope the offense gets it together because this team can really do some damage if they stay healthy and play to their potential. 

 

Well, we'll see, again, the Jets' OL isn't good and Zach Wilson was their QB.  

 

Let's not forget last season when we whupped up on the Rams and Titans early on and everyone had us going to and winning the Super Bowl.  Our D played even better than against better competition and offenses.  

 

We had 7 sacks, 7 TFLs, and 16 QBHits in our first game last season against Stafford and the SB winning Rams, then played another outstanding game against the Titans, and everyone said we were unstoppable.  

 

Let's see how we're sitting after the Raiders, MIami, and Jags.  They're not going to be the Jets.  

 

 

[Utah John]

2 hours ago, sven233 said:

Not the best game to judge him on because of the offense we ended up having to play.  I will say this.....Rodgers was in for 4 plays, but if he was in longer, I think we would have sacked him a ton.  He can't move much anymore and our line would have been after him all night.  Not saying he wouldn't have made the Jets offense better.  We'll never know.  But the way the game started and the way our line was playing, I wasn't overly worried about what the Jets were doing.  More concerned about the way our offense played.

I agree completely.  Everyone's saying the Bills caught a break when Rodgers went out.  I am not sure that's right.  The D line got into the backfield over and over, but usually Wilson evaded the rush. He's a good athlete and the number 2 overall pick in his year's draft.  Rodgers used to be a very mobile QB back in the day but these aren't those days.  I can easily see the Bills getting 5 or more sacks of Rodgers.  

 

The Bills D game plan was set to counter quick passes from Rodgers, and having a mobile QB back there was a different challenge.  Most of the passes Wilson did complete were after he was flushed and ran around while his receivers got finally got open.  

 

 

[balln]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

hard to tell vs an awful line.  

 

Wilson should have gotten destroyed all night.  1 TO, 3 sacks. 

Yea - there was a lot of lack of finish and missed sacks and TFL by the DL. And STILL giving up 3 and long conversions. AND still giving up huge massive runs.

 

it looked exactly the same as last 4 years to be honest

[K-9]

2 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

I will let you know when we play a top 10 QB and offense. 

That’s a fair point, but we didn’t give them much all night in the secondary. Both Rodgers before he was hurt and Wilson afterwards weren’t finding open guys with any regularity. Couple of busted run fits prevented it from being a totally dominant defensive performance. A performance better than the Jets’ vaunted D gave.

[balln]

2 minutes ago, K-9 said:

That’s a fair point, but we didn’t give them much all night in the secondary. Both Rodgers before he was hurt and Wilson afterwards weren’t finding open guys with any regularity. Couple of busted run fits prevented it from being a totally dominant defensive performance. A performance better than the Jets’ vaunted D gave.

That’s how they look every season. These busted run fits result in HUGE chunk plays.

 

End of game was a disgrace. McD keeps team in a prevent / light box D when jets trying to run out the clock while tie it up and then take the lead. My god. Put 6 ppl on the line and run blitz and play coverage against a horrible backup Qb! For the love of god put 5 on the line! 
 

the jets OL is awful. And against a backup qb. How about the D holds jets to under 10? How about the defensive genius wins a game for us ?

[John from Riverside]

I think it was good on Monday night and I think it’s going to get better as the season goes along

[jethro_tull]

Not perfect but definitely reasons to be encouraged.   Still early but it seems like the right move.  

[K-9]

30 minutes ago, balln said:

That’s how they look every season. These busted run fits result in HUGE chunk plays.

 

End of game was a disgrace. McD keeps team in a prevent / light box D when jets trying to run out the clock while tie it up and then take the lead. My god. Put 6 ppl on the line and run blitz and play coverage against a horrible backup Qb! For the love of god put 5 on the line! 
 

the jets OL is awful. And against a backup qb. How about the D holds jets to under 10? How about the defensive genius wins a game for us ?

I didn’t claim McD was a genius. I claimed our pass coverage was good all night. 

[JerseyBills]

Liked it alot. Minus 2 big runs. Expect a few sacks and cpl turnovers tmrw

[stevestojan]

So far, so good. 

[GunnerBill]

I am not gonna call the defense good until they can line up properly. Both the big runs the Bills were misaligned.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, PBF81 said:

 

Well, we'll see, again, the Jets' OL isn't good and Zach Wilson was their QB.  

 

Let's not forget last season when we whupped up on the Rams and Titans early on and everyone had us going to and winning the Super Bowl.  Our D played even better than against better competition and offenses.  

 

We had 7 sacks, 7 TFLs, and 16 QBHits in our first game last season against Stafford and the SB winning Rams, then played another outstanding game against the Titans, and everyone said we were unstoppable.  

 

Let's see how we're sitting after the Raiders, MIami, and Jags.  They're not going to be the Jets.  

 

 

The Bills probably had to change their whole defense when Rodgers went out so I give them credit for holding them to 16 points of offense and adapting. Von Miller was healthy during those games last season so I think it’s extremely encouraging that they were getting consistent pressure without him last Sunday. The Bengals were supposed to have a crap O-line during the playoffs and the Bills got man-handled. You are right though. We need to see more games. 

[MJS]

5 hours ago, NewEra said:

I thought the D played pretty good minus the one run and couple Wilson catches (not the TD, that was good D, special catch).  
 

Leonard Floyd and Rousseau stood out on the DL, while I thought Ed played a very solid games. Watching Milano was a treat.  
 

I’m extremely worried about the S duo though.  Once the heart and soul of the team, they might now be a detriment.  🙏🏻 that’s not the case 

Micah Hyde played well. Poyer did not play well.

[Scott7975]

Other than the big run by Hall, I thought our D did fantastic.  It's just one game against a bad QB though.  Have to see what happens when we face someone like Miami.