Anticipated changes in philosophy/scheme in 2025?

[hondo in seattle]

My ideas are vague because it's hard to get into the heads of McD, Babich, and Brady.  

 

Offense.  I think Brady wants to grow and evolve.  I think he's probably generally happy with the run/pass mix and the run game in general.  I think Hawes is interesting because Brady clearly likes putting big blockers out in front of his backs which might give Hawes some playing time.

 

I think Brady's big hope is to create a more dynamic, chunk-play offense.  I think we'll see more from Samuel and Kincaid, obviously, because they'll (hopefully) be healthy this year.  I think Brady will try to get Moore involved to use his quickness & speed.  He'll have more yards receiving this year than last because he fills a niche on the Bills.  I hope for a better screen game but don't expect it.  I think Palmer has a typical Palmer year - good but not special.  

Defense.  I think it'll be much like any other year with slight differences.  I think, inevitably, we'll see rookies getting more playing time than usual.  I think there will be more of a focus on stopping the run but certainly not an abandonment of the nickel as the base D.  I wouldn't be surprised if we blitz more.  I'm interested to see if they do anything unconventional with Hoecht as a hybrid DE/LB.    

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

29 minutes ago, MJS said:

The Bills defense is already focused on turnovers. They have been excellent in that regard. Under McDermott they were a lot more aggressive with blitzing, sometimes too aggressive, but less so last year with Babich. We also didn't run as many stunts, which hurts Oliver's effectiveness. I'd like to see Babich move a little more towards McDermott's aggressiveness with blitzing and stunts.

 

The secondary issues were because of a lack of talent and experience, not because they were playing passive off coverage all the time. They weren't. With better talent this year and development of young players, the back 7 should be better.

 

But the Bills are going to give up rushing yards by design. Fans need to be ready for that. They choose to play light boxes and bring in penetrating d tackles instead of big bodies that can clog up running lanes. They choose to play linebackers who are fast and small and can cover the field instead of ones who can take on blockers and tackle runners. It's just what they choose to do. And they doubled down on that approach with TJ Sanders and even Deon Walker (who is big bodied, but plays more like a penetrating 3 tech).

 

Undoubtedly we force a lot of turnovers. We've been top 10 in forced turnovers every year of McD's tenure and top 5 every season since 2020. 

 

Our Def excels at exploiting mistakes typically made by bad QBs, or if we're already up big the other team feels the need to force the issue. If we're in a close game and/or playing a good QB the turnovers really dry up. 

 

When's the last time McD's defense dominated a good offense? Has that ever happened? Why can't our DEF put together a playoff game against KC like PHI did this year, TB in 2020, or CIN in 2021 (2nd half)? 

 

Going off on a tangent I wanted to bring up Dan Campbell. In the DET HOU game last year Goff threw 3 INTs by halftime and DET was trailing 23-7. Campbell had a quick little interview at the start of the 3rd Q and told the reporter "The defense needs to go out there and force some turnovers"

 

His DEF went out in the 2nd half and forced 2 turnovers, 4 punts, and a missed FG. DET won the game 26-23 despite Goff's 5 turnovers. 

 

Compare and contrast that to McD in the 2023 Jets season opener. 

 

 

 

[MJS]

2 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

Undoubtedly we force a lot of turnovers. We've been top 10 in forced turnovers every year of McD's tenure and top 5 every season since 2020. 

 

Our Def excels at exploiting mistakes typically made by bad QBs, or if we're already up big the other team feels the need to force the issue. If we're in a close game and/or playing a good QB the turnovers really dry up. 

 

When's the last time McD's defense dominated a good offense? Has that ever happened? Why can't our DEF put together a playoff game against KC like PHI did this year, TB in 2020, or CIN in 2021 (2nd half)? 

 

Going off on a tangent I wanted to bring up Dan Campbell. In the DET HOU game last year Goff threw 3 INTs by halftime and DET was trailing 23-7. Campbell had a quick little interview at the start of the 3rd Q and told the reporter "The defense needs to go out there and force some turnovers"

 

His DEF went out in the 2nd half and forced 2 turnovers, 4 punts, and a missed FG. DET won the game 26-23 despite Goff's 5 turnovers. 

 

Compare and contrast that to McD in the 2023 Jets season opener. 

Or we could compare games where the Bills defense played well and the Lions defense did not. If we are looking at 1 game samples between two teams, we can tell literally any story we want. Just pick the games you want to fit whatever narrative you want.

 

Look, the defense has to play better against the Chiefs in the playoffs. That's a fact. It has to happen. I agree with that.

[SoonerBillsFan]

6 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I only have 2 requests this season in defensive scheme. Play more man and find a way of making your blitzer more effective. If we accomplish this, we can beat Joe, Lamar and Patrick. These are the only teams that can challenge us in the AFC. 

I want to see a gol' danged  stunt!!!   We have bigger DT's now so he should be able to do one. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:58 PM by SoonerBillsFan

[MJS]

1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

I want to see a gol' dawned stunt!!!   We have bigger DT's now so he should be able to do one. 

They did stunts a lot when McDermott was the coordinator. That dried up a lot last year.

[TheWeatherMan]

Zero, just like the last 6 seasons.  

[MJS]

2 minutes ago, TheWeatherMan said:

Zero, just like the last 6 seasons.  

I don't think you understand what you are watching if you think that.

[TheWeatherMan]

36 minutes ago, MJS said:

I don't think you understand what you are watching if you think that.

I don’t think you understand what you are watching if you don’t think that. 

[Thrivefourfive]

Let’s be honest. On defense we re-signed, and signed a handful of one year question marks. If it doesn’t work I won’t be surprised. Oh the draft. It’s got the reputation as a crap shoot for thousands of reasons, so let’s not pretend we won the damn draft on defensive just yet.

 

Attitude? I think the whole roster balls out for the MVP Allen. I mean what’s not to LOVE about him as a teammate. If McDermott keeps blowing playoff games, the players should smarten up and suppose Josh no matter what. Know what I’m sayin. 

[Richard Noggin]

6 hours ago, MJS said:

But the Bills are going to give up rushing yards by design. Fans need to be ready for that. They choose to play light boxes and bring in penetrating d tackles instead of big bodies that can clog up running lanes. They choose to play linebackers who are fast and small and can cover the field instead of ones who can take on blockers and tackle runners. It's just what they choose to do. And they doubled down on that approach with TJ Sanders and even Deon Walker (who is big bodied, but plays more like a penetrating 3 tech).

 

TJ Sanders is not at all small for a DT. He's plenty tall, and he'll likely play at around 305-310 this season, and possibly end up heavier than that down the road. He's said so (about nis weight this season in particular) already.  

[SoonerBillsFan]

14 minutes ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

TJ Sanders is not at all small for a DT. He's plenty tall, and he'll likely play at around 305-310 this season, and possibly end up heavier than that down the road. He's said so (about nis weight this season in particular) already.  

From reports after the draft, he is already 305.

[Victory Formation]

I have not been this excited for football in a long time. I think the biggest change you’ll see is that our defense will be a force this year and Buffalo will have a balanced football team.

[MJS]

54 minutes ago, Richard Noggin said:

TJ Sanders is not at all small for a DT. He's plenty tall, and he'll likely play at around 305-310 this season, and possibly end up heavier than that down the road. He's said so (about nis weight this season in particular) already.  

He is a penetrating style DT, not a run stuffing DT.

[Victory Formation]

5 minutes ago, MJS said:

He is a penetrating style DT, not a run stuffing DT.

He’s not a 1T, he’s a 3T, but make no mistake, he can handle his business in run support too.

[Richard Noggin]

18 minutes ago, MJS said:

He is a penetrating style DT, not a run stuffing DT.

 

11 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

He’s not a 1T, he’s a 3T, but make no mistake, he can handle his business in run support too.

 

A 305+ lb DT with length, strength, and explosion can absolutely help against the run. The Bills don't do much 2-gapping overall, so the DTs can interchange at least a little. DaQuan Jones isn't much bigger tbh. We get so incredibly pedantic and prescriptive at times as observers and fans, when there is room for nuance and guys who can do more than the "pundits" proclaim. 

[MasterStrategist]

6 hours ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

Undoubtedly we force a lot of turnovers. We've been top 10 in forced turnovers every year of McD's tenure and top 5 every season since 2020. 

 

Our Def excels at exploiting mistakes typically made by bad QBs, or if we're already up big the other team feels the need to force the issue. If we're in a close game and/or playing a good QB the turnovers really dry up. 

 

When's the last time McD's defense dominated a good offense? Has that ever happened? Why can't our DEF put together a playoff game against KC like PHI did this year, TB in 2020, or CIN in 2021 (2nd half)? 

 

Going off on a tangent I wanted to bring up Dan Campbell. In the DET HOU game last year Goff threw 3 INTs by halftime and DET was trailing 23-7. Campbell had a quick little interview at the start of the 3rd Q and told the reporter "The defense needs to go out there and force some turnovers"

 

His DEF went out in the 2nd half and forced 2 turnovers, 4 punts, and a missed FG. DET won the game 26-23 despite Goff's 5 turnovers. 

 

Compare and contrast that to McD in the 2023 Jets season opener. 

 

 

 

Speaking of 2nd halves, this Coach you b-word about happened to give up just 11 points and forced 2 punts to start the 3rd qtr--- this was just this year.

 

This is after Benford went down, and we're already down Rapp and Taron banged up.  On top of a DL that has shed Phillips, Von, Jefferson, Smoot, Rasul - and Elam traded for a bag of footballs.  This was an average talented defense, at best.  2 boundary CBs who played entire 2nd half, won't be playing much this year.

 

I'd say our defense did what it needed in 2nd half- Benford going down was too much to overcome.  Our offense came out flat, and just didnt make the plays we needed down the stretch.

 

There's a reason our offseason was dedicated to finding more talent on defense- people love to hate on McD, when have we had legitimate talented defense?  Seems to me, he has covered up a lot of flaws - that tend to get exposed against better QBs.  Talent is the ultimate differentiator, I'd say Philly can attest to that 

[Richard Noggin]

25 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Speaking of 2nd halves, this Coach you b-word about happened to give up just 11 points and forced 2 punts to start the 3rd qtr--- this was just this year.

 

This is after Benford went down, and we're already down Rapp and Taron banged up.  On top of a DL that has shed Phillips, Von, Jefferson, Smoot, Rasul - and Elam traded for a bag of footballs.  This was an average talented defense, at best.  2 boundary CBs who played entire 2nd half, won't be playing much this year.

 

I'd say our defense did what it needed in 2nd half- Benford going down was too much to overcome.  Our offense came out flat, and just didnt make the plays we needed down the stretch.

 

There's a reason our offseason was dedicated to finding more talent on defense- people love to hate on McD, when have we had legitimate talented defense?  Seems to me, he has covered up a lot of flaws - that tend to get exposed against better QBs.  Talent is the ultimate differentiator, I'd say Philly can attest to that 

 

So you'd argue it's more a dearth of defensive talent, especially up front, that has doomed the Bills in the playoffs? (Minus 13 seconds, because obviously no one can reasonably defend the situational and special teams/defensive coaching at the end of that one.) So, more Beane than McD and his staff? 

 

I wonder, though, if it can't be both? Sure, the 2023 playoffs were a nightmare of defensive injuries, BUT...the coaches just CANNOT leave a retired AJ Klein manned up on Travis effing Kelce. That's criminal. They needed a better plan than that. I don't care how limited the practice snaps were gonna be in Klein's leadup. You just don't let that happen. 

[Beck Water]

11 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

McDermott agreed that what they were doing wasn't working.  I think we will see more 4-3 which can adjust to a 5-2 or big nickle. 

 

We saw size and power added to our defense esp. The DL.  McDermott has always needed a lot out of the front 4 to make his D sceme work. He had more talent on the DL now,so let's see if he can properly use is.

 

Personally I feel good about the talent added on defense and even at WR.

 

OK, let's think about this a minute.  

 

We still have Taron Johnson, our nickel, who is one of the most consistent players on defense.

 

If we're playing more 4-3, that means we're taking Taron Johnson off the field for...who?

[YattaOkasan]

12 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

OK, let's think about this a minute.  

 

We still have Taron Johnson, our nickel, who is one of the most consistent players on defense.

 

If we're playing more 4-3, that means we're taking Taron Johnson off the field for...who?

I agree with your general sentiment cause he’s so important to the defense. But would also note I’m fine with tarons snaps to come down a little to load manage him some. Especially against run heavy teams. With his importance and age I grimace when I see him take on a block from Ricard.  Not because I worry he’s gonna get blown out of the hole but rather cause he’ll get injured standing his ground.  I want him full health for the playoffs and he’s getting on in years.  To answer your question for who, Dorian or hoecht are the two answers for me against 13 or 22 packages that we’ll see. 

Edited yesterday at 04:12 AM by YattaOkasan

[Aussie Joe]

12 hours ago, mushypeaches said:

I'd love to see this team actually sniff a QB on 3rd down

I would even take getting a stop on third down occasionally