Terrel Bernard Appreciation Thread

[Chandler#81]

4 hours ago, Rigotz said:

How wrong were all of us about this guy??

 

- Led the team in tackles Week 1 and Week 2.

- Huge interception Week 2 and a nice PBU.

- Looked solid in coverage, redirecting routes and erasing short gains. 

- Surprisingly good in run fills both weeks. Quick trigger and getting downhill fast. Sure tackler.

 

I don’t think any of us saw this coming, but a HUGE development if what we’re seeing early continues.

Kyle Brandt called it on Draft night, actually.

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Post snap he's been way better than I expected. Takes good angles and actually makes tackles in the hole.

 

There have been a couple times presnap where I've seen him need help setting the defense. Been lined up wrong a couple times. But that's going to happen to an inexperienced MLB. He should get better there with more reps. Until then I would HOPE the more experienced Hyde/Poyer/ Milano can help him along.

 

But he's a playmaker. Excited to see how he develops.

 

Yep. Exactly this. Pre-snap, still concerned. Post-snap pleasantly surprised.

[John from Riverside]

He has been juice
 

Would still like to have Kirksey up here in the bullpen

[Beck Water]

6 hours ago, Andysplaylist said:

You forgot saving a touchdown against the Jets early that ended up not being important. Should have been

 

That was Christian Benford (CB) not Terrel Bernard (LB)

 

5 hours ago, Captain_Quint said:

For what it's worth, Belicheck is playing 3 safeties tonight against Miami. I think Bernard will have tough games on teams wanting to run on us, but against the pass he looks good so far. 

 

Didn't the Raiders want to run on us?  Some dude named Josh Jacobs lead the NFL in rushing yards last season?

 

5 hours ago, Simon said:

 

I thought he played much better than some people were giving him credit for.

A couple mental mistakes that are not unusual for a young guy in his first start but he led the team in both solo and total tackles and looked comfortable and aware in coverage.

 

 

I'm still concerned about his size.  Wish he'd come into the season looking stronger.  But looking way better than I thought he would so far.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Beck Water

[BillsMontreal]

5 hours ago, Drew21PA said:

Got a French dude and Italian in the middle 

 

(don’t know if Bernard is French j just always think French when I hear that name)

It is. Bernard is a common French First name here in Québec.

Older fans will remember Bernard Parent, the goalie of the 70's (Flyers).

Edited September 18, 2023 by BillsMontreal

[BillsFanForever19]

Everyone around here was begging for an injured vet switching teams and learning the playbook on the fly to be hoisted above him immediately without Bernard even given a shot. It was ridiculous.

 

Here's hoping Bernard keeps Kirksey in the "break glass in case of emergency" role he was signed for.

[bmur66]

Tremaine who?

[CNYfan]

I am guilty.   I was disappointed last preseason and continued to be disappointed until yesterday.  

 

I will gladly be wrong if TB43 continues to improve.  Have to agree with Gunner though TB43 was looking around confused when the ball was being snapped, instead of having everyone in place.  And that happened on a few occasions.  

 

 

[ProcessTruster]

Another great Beane draft choice that everyone on this board has been sh-t-ng on for 18 months.  

[No_Matter_What]

Like I said in another thread - imagine if Bernard actually turns out to be at least an average NFL MLB this year.

 

That would immediately improve Beane's 2022 draft results, give us one more good player on a rookie contract and one less position to care about next offseason.

 

Then if Cook, Kincaid and Torrence (and maybe Williams) prove them to be what they seem to be, then suddenly we have a new young core of good to great players drafted in these past 2 years.

Edited September 18, 2023 by No_Matter_What

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Need a bigger sample size but he played well yesterday. He had a couple run stuffs that were excellent. 

I'm still worried about his size. Maybe this is just the future of MLB.

[Doc Brown]

Pleasantly surprised so far.  It's rare for a late 3rd round pick to be even an adequate starter so hats off to Beane if he turns out.  He's shown more through two games at his position than Ford or Basham ever did at theirs.

[eball]

What is this place, Weight Watchers?  I’ve never seen a group of football fans so worried about a player’s size in my life.

 

[Captain_Quint]

20 minutes ago, eball said:

What is this place, Weight Watchers?  I’ve never seen a group of football fans so worried about a player’s size in my life.

 

There are some real size queens floating around this board lately. 

[Kmart128]

I think a lot of people forget he was a 3rd round pick... its not like we put out some no name undrafted free agent or late round draft pick. We invested in him early and let him sit and learn his first year... not sure how the notion came about that he wasnt good and cant compete against the run when he sat behind Matt Milano all year. He did struggle in his only start last year but that was his first ever game. He will only get better with reps and experience 

[mjt328]

Josh Jacobs led the NFL in rushing last year.  He had -2 yards yesterday.

 

When a team gets smaller at linebacker, it's supposed to be a liability in the run game.

[Freddie's Dead]

Too small, gets washed, no instincts, he sucks.  Does that about cover it, haterz?  I know, take the line that the Edmunds haterz are throwing out, that he's made more plays in two weeks than Edmunds ever made in four years.  Will that get you on board?

Edited September 18, 2023 by Freddie's Dead

[oldmanfan]

One of the virtues us senior fans have is patience.  We recall the days before social media and the Internet when everything had to be at your fingertips immediately and opinions had to be formed immediately.  I just wanted to see the kid play before opining, and this far he looks OK.  He has to still do a lot with mentally processing things, getting the D in correct position, and such but he is very athletic, tackles well, and is pretty good in pass coverage.  Look forward to watching him more.

[FireChans]

2 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

Too small, gets washed, no instincts, he sucks.  Does that about cover it, haterz?

What haterz are out there? 
 

feel like almost everyone has been pleasantly surprised at his play, even if it hasn’t been necessarily perfect

[SoonerBillsFan]

Ill just keep the popcorn ready for when he has a crap game and the torches, pitchforks etc. come out in full force.

[Freddie's Dead]

Just now, FireChans said:

What haterz are out there? 
 

feel like almost everyone has been pleasantly surprised at his play, even if it hasn’t been necessarily perfect

 

They're out there.  I can feel them...

[Kmart128]

4 minutes ago, mjt328 said:

Josh Jacobs led the NFL in rushing last year.  He had -2 yards yesterday.

 

When a team gets smaller at linebacker, it's supposed to be a liability in the run game.

Not necessarily a lot of college teams are going smaller and having success stopping the run. It just the future of the sport... NFL is a passing league. Its better to have speed to help in coverage. And with such speed linebackers can hit holes faster before they close up. And the more experience Bernard gets the more faster he will play when he starts to recognize things and play more instinctively. 

[Doc]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Yep. Exactly this. Pre-snap, still concerned. Post-snap pleasantly surprised.

 

We knew there would be this/growing pains.  But we were also worried that along with that, he'd also be a concern post-snap.  The first will work itself out with more playing time.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Doc

[finn]

13 minutes ago, FireChans said:

What haterz are out there? 

I'm not a hater, but Buffalo Rumblings did a piece last week that showed his leading the team in tackles was a deceptive stat in that he was making most of them way behind the line of scrimmage after being destroyed by blockers, including tight ends. 

 

I think the lesson is that he could be special IF he's kept clean by the DL. 

[FireChans]

17 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

They're out there.  I can feel them...

I may end up hating Bernard but I’m having too much fun hating Edmunds from afar. He gets at least a two year grace period.

[DeltaDigital]

Nobody listens... you need JAG performance to replace Edmunds... as it stands Bernard has the same amount of INT's as edmunds did all last year. Depth of tackle is superior to edmunds also. Remember kids, just because something looks dangerous, and freakish, doesn't mean they can play. 

[Warriorspikes51]

Well, he certainly hasn't been a liability at least!   His int of being in the right place at the right time and securing the ball really changed the momentum of the game in a huge way 

[BillnutinHouston]

13 minutes ago, DeltaDigital said:

Nobody listens... you need JAG performance to replace Edmunds... as it stands Bernard has the same amount of INT's as edmunds did all last year. Depth of tackle is superior to edmunds also. Remember kids, just because something looks dangerous, and freakish, doesn't mean they can play. 

 

What was it that Chuck Dickerson used to say - "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane".

[Airseven]

He’s been decent. I just wish he wasn’t looking around confused with his back to the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.

[NewEra]

10 minutes ago, Airseven said:

He’s been decent. I just wish he wasn’t looking around confused with his back to the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.

After rewatching the game, that would be my only negative regarding his game.  Many of the times he wasn’t confused though, he was barking orders and communicating.  I just thought it was strange how often he basically turned around when the ball was snapped  

[DeltaDigital]

28 minutes ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

What was it that Chuck Dickerson used to say - "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane".

100%

 

[ngbills]

Nobody is wrong about him. MLB is still a need for the Bills. He did less to hurt them this week than last. That was mostly because the DL dominated not him.
He had 6 tackles as a MLB. It’s not like he was flying all over and had 20 tackles. Not all interceptions are created equal - unlike Milano his was luck and just right place right time. 
Bills one. The D played well. So his play is noticed less. That is good. But I doubt anyone was watching saying wow, look at that 43, he is baller. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

41 minutes ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

What was it that Chuck Dickerson used to say - "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane".

Mario Williams was 6’8’’ 288

Jerry Hughes was 6’2’’ 250 

 

Tremaine Edmunds 6’5 250 

Matt Milano 6’0’’ 220

 

Marcel Dareus 6’3” 331

Kyle Williams 6’0” 301

 

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…

[Brand J]

21 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Nobody is wrong about him. MLB is still a need for the Bills. He did less to hurt them this week than last. That was mostly because the DL dominated not him.
He had 6 tackles as a MLB. It’s not like he was flying all over and had 20 tackles. Not all interceptions are created equal - unlike Milano his was luck and just right place right time. 
Bills one. The D played well. So his play is noticed less. That is good. But I doubt anyone was watching saying wow, look at that 43, he is baller. 

They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I wouldn’t call his INT luck though, he had great awareness of the play. If you go back and watch, he was crashing the line of scrimmage, recognized the RB, put the brakes on to cover him and kept his head up, catching and securing the ball. I’m 78% sure Edmunds doesn’t make that play because he would’ve kept crashing in with zero awareness of the RB, or he wouldn’t have caught it. Bernard showed some nimbleness to put the brakes on and move to the ball there. 

[JDHillFan]

1 hour ago, ngbills said:

Nobody is wrong about him. MLB is still a need for the Bills. He did less to hurt them this week than last. That was mostly because the DL dominated not him.
He had 6 tackles as a MLB. It’s not like he was flying all over and had 20 tackles. Not all interceptions are created equal - unlike Milano his was luck and just right place right time. 
Bills one. The D played well. So his play is noticed less. That is good. But I doubt anyone was watching saying wow, look at that 43, he is baller. 

He was on the field for 34 plays. The remaining 5 plays LV ran were against backups. How many tackles should he have racked up?

[HOUSE]

Trumaine Edmunds had 8 tackles yesterday and he has lots of money 

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, ngbills said:

Nobody is wrong about him. MLB is still a need for the Bills. He did less to hurt them this week than last. That was mostly because the DL dominated not him.
He had 6 tackles as a MLB. It’s not like he was flying all over and had 20 tackles. Not all interceptions are created equal - unlike Milano his was luck and just right place right time. 
Bills one. The D played well. So his play is noticed less. That is good. But I doubt anyone was watching saying wow, look at that 43, he is baller. 

That interception was not simply right place, right time.  
 

He had to show ball skills to secure that.. and did.   Something in his second game, that we rarely ever saw from our “pro-bowl” MLB of the past five years. 

[Big Turk]

Just now, SCBills said:

That interception was not simply right place, right time.  
 

He had to show ball skills to secure that.. and did.   Something in his second game, that we rarely ever saw from our “pro-bowl” MLB of the past five years. 

 

Bernard has been a revelation through 2 games...is this why the Bills seemingly with no hesitation named him starter after training camp?

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Mario Williams was 6’8’’ 288

Jerry Hughes was 6’2’’ 250 

 

Tremaine Edmunds 6’5 250 

Matt Milano 6’0’’ 220

 

Marcel Dareus 6’3” 331

Kyle Williams 6’0” 301

 

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…

Mario Williams had a way better career than Jerry Hughes, turrible example for a solid point.

[Nephilim17]

I was hoping whoever mans the middle will not be great, even good, just merely competent. So far so good (competent game 1) for Bernard...

 

Miami should be a big test. If Bernard can help ensure Mostert doesn't have a big day that will go a lot further to convince me he's the guy (the secondary will have its hands full with the WRs). But it's not the crap show many predicted. At least not yet.