We are now the worst defense in the league

[wnyguy]

Bottom line is we held the Bengals to 24 points. I will not lay this loss at the feet of the defense, the offense is the one to blame here. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Losing Jones, White, and Milano is even worse since none of their backups stepped up. 
 

Rapp has also been pretty bad. 

1 minute ago, wnyguy said:

Bottom line is we held the Bengals to 24 points. I will not lay this loss at the feet of the defense, the offense is the one to blame here. 

A defense that lost its MLB and FS to boot. 

[Chaos]

53 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

 

It's a sign that the Bengals took their foot off the gas.  It's nothing the Bills did.  They watched our geriatric secondary struggling to catch their breath and took mercy

The Bengals had complete control over our defense. They were happy to play conservative ball position game with a two td lead, and then when we got it to one td Just rolled over the defense again. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

2 minutes ago, Chaos said:

The Bengals had complete control over our defense. They were happy to play conservative ball position game with a two td lead, and then when we got it to one td Just rolled over the defense again. 

Correct. Dane Jackson put in 110% effort, but he and Benford were completely outmatched. Williams and Dodson… woof. 

Edited November 6, 2023 by TheyCallMeAndy

[dorquemada]

Just now, Chaos said:

The Bengals had complete control over our defense. They were happy to play conservative ball position game with a two td lead, and then when we got it to one td Just rolled over the defense again. 

 

Thanks, Chaos.  It would seem that a lot of posters here are seeing the final score and deluding themselves into thinking the game was actually that close.  It was not.  Even my 24 year old daughter said when we couldnt answer the second Cinci TD "This is going to be one of those games, isn't it?"  Yes honey, it sure will be.  We can whine all we like about injuries and referees but the reality is that Cinci manhandled the Bills AGAIN.  We're not tough enough to beat Cinci, or skilled enough to beat KC

[DrDawkinstein]

24 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Sure it does, but WLB is the least important position on the defense. I can't attribute all of the ineptitude to injuries. I think a lot of it is just McDermott's play calling to be honest. We gave up two quick TD drives to start the game. Most drives featured a 3rd down conversion that came off of a terrible play call. And then from there we mostly let the Bengals move the ball down the field. We would stop them at the 40-50 or so, but that meant we lost the field position battle for pretty much the entire game. When you're chasing a team and losing field position for an entire game, that is not a recipe for success.

 

Maybe scheme-wise, but not when that same WLB is the only All-Pro on the squad and playing lights out.

 

Agreed the rest of the way that our playcalling is atrocious. Especially on 3rd and Longs. Seems like if it is 3rd and 15 or more, they get it every time.

[Jauronimo]

22 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

How many teams won this week while allowing back to back 5+ minute TD drives to start a game? Zero

 

How many teams won this week while allowing back to back TDs (no TOP component) to start a game? Zero

 

Heck change it to the entire season.

 

There's not a single team that has won a game after allowing back to back 5+minute TD drives to start a game.

 

There's only 3 examples of teams allowing back to back TDs to start a game (no TOP component) and winning. Bills over Dolphins in week 4, Eagles over Commanders week 4, and Commanders over Broncos in week 2. 

 

How many games started with back to back 5+ minute TD drives this season?

[dave mcbride]

41 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

He's not as good as people are making him out to be.  

 

He was on pace to shatter his season best numbers, this single season, by five times over.  

 

He hit a streak.  He's a solid player, but everyone's making him out to be much much better than he was after he, and the team, ran a hot streak against a few cruddy teams.  

 

 

Don't focus on counting stats with him. Focus on his ability to anchor and allow other players to flow to the ball. He was a wrecking crew last season. I mean, that isn't even really debatable.

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Well, we were pretty adept at blitzing into the teeth of their blocking scheme.

[BananaB]

7 minutes ago, wnyguy said:

Bottom line is we held the Bengals to 24 points. I will not lay this loss at the feet of the defense, the offense is the one to blame here. 

Lol! How many turnovers they force? How many 3 and outs? How many sacks they get? How many times did they get abused on 3rd down? O played bad as well but if your D can’t get off the field there is a problem, and it’s been a problem for a number of weeks now. Yup the O deserves their blame as well but this D looks ***** terrible. 

[DCofNC]

10 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Don't hold your breath about major changes. 

Yeah we should completely fall apart and be worst in league. NOT!!!

We need a massive reset year.  I’d pull the plug on every single S on this team, just start over. On the DL, only Groot and Oliver by virtue of the contract would stay. If by chance I can get Jones back at a reasonable price, I’m in, but you gotta have another option, he can’t stay healthy.   Make Von a June 1 designation.  
 

On O, at very least, Davis is out.  Gotta try to do something with Knox, ask him to take less or whatever, but that contract vs the production and Kincaid in the picture, gotta make that better.  Morse.. ehh, Schnoman.. ehhh, probably gotta keep him.  Absolutely must go get a RT.  RB is STILL a mess.  Cook is not it, he’s what he was in college, a glorified WR, still a liability in pass pro.  Nobody on the roster deserves a spot next year, though Cook will be back bc of his cost. Still need 2 outside WRs, we have nothing outside of Diggs.  Oh and the most obvious, a new coordinator.

 

 

What I expect to happen, is Dorsey gets canned, they sign a mid-level #2WR, OL dumpster diving. 
 

Defense remains largely unchanged, just run it back healthy, without Floyd and Poyer.  
 

The same loser coaching gets us the same ***** results and I sit here saying “I told you all McDermott is just this generations Marv Lewis” for about 4 more years, then Allen will eventually get dinged up and be done, we have the Cam Newton Carolina Panthers all over again.   Wasted time/talent/resources on defense and rely on a QB to be Super Man for offense.   

[H2o]

The defense hasn't been good at all since the loss of Milano, Tre, and DaQuan. And they happened all at the same time. We looked to be firing on all cylinders before that. It's not an excuse, it is the truth. Do I hate this Zone defense that most experienced QB's can pick apart? Yes. Even sub-par QB's like Zach, Mac, and Tyrod were successful against us. Our Safeties' ages are clearly showing this year as well. I'm also at a point where I would rather Von not play at all. He does NOT look anything like the player he was prior to the injury last season. Let Floyd, Rousseau, Epenesa, and Jonathan get their run. With us handing the early games to NY and the Pats, it really puts us in a hole. Josh will have to be dang near flawless for us to even have a chance at a WC spot. But if we manage to get in, anything can happen from there. Another problem with that is no one really gets open outside of Diggs and Kincaid. Cook gets open underneath quite a bit too, but even his usage has dipped due to the fact our OL is constantly needing supplemental help from additional blockers. I'm not sure what the answer is. Clean house and start a rebuild in the prime of our QB's career? Do we trust anyone to be able to do that? Is Beane in on this cleansing, or is it just the entire coaching staff? Does anyone think Terry has the sack to do that? I hope that something changes over the next few weeks and we get hot for the stretch run.  But hopefully we aren't already out of it by then as well. 

[Donuts and Doritos]

Held Bengals to 3 pts in 2nd half & the offense put them in bad spots in the 1st half. The healthy anemic O is the issue.

[C.Biscuit97]

Wait, I thought Leslie Frazier and Edmonds were the problems & our top 3 defense with them wasn’t really that good????

[Buffalo03]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

This isn't a hot take. It's supported by analytics:

 

I understand the injuries. But we have a defensive head coach and we are literally the worst defense in the league since the Jaguars game.

 

And I get why fans are focusing on the offense, but none of that matters to our Super Bowl aspirations if the defense doesn't get back to at least the top half of the league.

And you just said yourself the reason for that. It's injuries. But I see you clearly wanna make this a McDermott thing

[C.Biscuit97]

2 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Held Bengals to 3 pts in 2nd half & the offense put them in bad spots in the 1st half. The healthy anemic O is the issue.

I do agree with this. Offense (which is basically completely healthy) is a bigger issue than the defense. 

[Chicken Boo]

1 hour ago, dorquemada said:

certainly matches the eye test.  They can't stop anybody, especially when it counts.  Thank God we spent most of our draft capital on the D so we can watch opponents march up and down the field

 

Wait till we draft that 1st round safety in 2024.

 

Championship!

[Scott7975]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

This isn't a hot take. It's supported by analytics:

 

I understand the injuries. But we have a defensive head coach and we are literally the worst defense in the league since the Jaguars game.

 

And I get why fans are focusing on the offense, but none of that matters to our Super Bowl aspirations if the defense doesn't get back to at least the top half of the league.

 

Screw DVOA.  Our D has done enough, with exception of the Pats game, to win. Our best players have been out during that entire stretch.  Our O has ***** the bed.  Scoring 20 points a game is not getting it done.  It puts them in tough spots and bad field position.  Last night this D made a lot of stops against a team that just torched the 49ers. Time after time our O went 3 and out or just 1 first down or it turned the ball over.  Use your eyes man.  Not some stupid DVOA or EPA crap.  This D did have some sloppy play last night but they still played well over all and would have looked even better had the O actually put points on the board.  The Bengals score 3 points all second half, while the Bills only put up 10 points until a late TD drive in the 4th qtr.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Scott7975

[Rigotz]

Prior to this year, Sean McDermott has done the following in the first 3 rounds of the draft:

 

2022:

Round 1: Defense

Round 2: Offense - James Cook

Round 3: Defense

 

2021:

Round 1: Defense

Round 2: Defense

Round 3: Offense - Spencer Brown

 

2020: 

Round 2: Defense

Round 3: Offense - Zack Moss

 

2019: 

Round 1: Defense

Round 2: Offense - Cody Ford

Round 3: Offense - Devin Singletary

Round 3: Offense - Dawson Knox

 

Big free agent dollars:

DaQuan Jones

Von Miller

 

Expensive defensive re-signings:

Jordan Poyer

Micah Hyde 

Taron Johnson

Ed Oliver

 

People might want to give McDermott a pass on injuries? Ok ... well the Bills spent a TON of draft capital on defense and a TON of free agent dollars on defense as well. For such a defensive genius, you'd think we wouldn't be ranked bottom in the league.

[HappyDays]

1 minute ago, Buffalo03 said:

And you just said yourself the reason for that. It's injuries. But I see you clearly wanna make this a McDermott thing

 

Because his play calling and personnel usage has absolutely been an issue. He has put his defense in bad spots at the end of games against the Jaguars, Pats, and Bengals. Poor blitz timing has led to backbreaking conversions on multiple 3rd downs.

 

I mean you really think the only reason that our defense is the worst in the league is injuries? No way we have the worst defensive roster in the league, I refuse to believe that even with the injuries. So that leaves coaching as a major issue.