Riddle me this Mafia?

[Jistafan]

Did we not put a spy on Lamar during playoffs to limit his mobility.  Don’t get me wrong he’s still going to make some plays. And our containment of Henry was exponentially better during that game. Was our defensive plan wrong or just not executed. Or both..

[zow2]

As Bobby Babich said in his presser,  would you rather peak now as a defense or in January?!?   They missed some assignments and failed to execute on several plays.

[BuffaloBillyG]

3 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

Did we not put a spy on Lamar during playoffs to limit his mobility.  Don’t get me wrong he’s still going to make some plays. And our containment of Henry was exponentially better during that game. Was our defensive plan wrong or just not executed. Or both..

To be honest, we won. Couldn't care less about knowing why we had more difficulty this game than the playoff game. 

 

Let them tune it up and bring on the Jets 

[Low Positive]

1. Flowers playing really changes things. If you sell out to stop the run, Lamar throws it over the top. If you try to defend everything, you get a steady diet of Derrick Henry. They present problems.
2. It might have felt like a playoff game to us and the Ravens might have treated it like it was a playoff game, but to the Bills it was week one. Teams tend to increase the complexity of both their defenses and offenses as the season goes on. If we see them again, I expect a much more targeted gameplan. 

[Matt_In_NH]

10 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

Did we not put a spy on Lamar during playoffs to limit his mobility.  Don’t get me wrong he’s still going to make some plays. And our containment of Henry was exponentially better during that game. Was our defensive plan wrong or just not executed. Or both..

Lots of factors.  
 

1.  Henry never got going in the playoff game and the ravens got behind.  Game script was advantage bills.  Once Henry has a couple big runs it gets harder.  

 

2.   Lots of new people on this defense and it was game one.  Ogunjobi, Hoecht Hairston and White were not available.  

 

3.  The ravens have one of the best offenses ever assembled where the addition of Henry to what Lamar does is lethal.   Their EPA/ DVOA. numbers are historic

 

4.  Zay flowers did not play in the playoffs

 

5.   We won anyways!

Edited 4 hours ago by Matt_In_NH

[Fleezoid]

The containment of Henry I thought was deplorable. They've done better in past games. Lots of football left, but if they don't tighten up the D, the Bills will lose a game or 2 they absolutely shouldn't. 

[henry jones]

Definitely both.  Babich sucks and the personnel we currently have doesn't seem to mesh with whatever the hell defense he is implementing.  Hopefully they clean it up quickly.  Not saying Justin Fields is Lamar Jackson, but he plays a similar game and Breece Hall put up good numbers against a decent Steelers defense.  

[K-9]

I look forward to some All 22 analysis, but just watching the game you can see the big issue was execution, particularly with our back seven, particularly by Dorian Williams. He continues to play undisciplined instead of sticking to his fits. Ton of athletic ability, but he tends to overrun plays and bites on fakes too easily. 

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

9 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

Did we not put a spy on Lamar during playoffs to limit his mobility.  Don’t get me wrong he’s still going to make some plays. And our containment of Henry was exponentially better during that game. Was our defensive plan wrong or just not executed. Or both..

There's a bunch of things unfortunately.

 

First is that the Ravens intrinsically play a style that's a natural counter to McDermott's defense. Our philosophy is aggressive single gapping up front and playing zone, where the idea is that the priority is to shut down the pass first. Runs are stopped by rolling the dice and stopping plays in the backfield until game script & Josh Allen can build a lead and make them pass. Lamar & Henry are so dangerous on the read option that our aggression works against us. If you add a spy that's one less person getting pressure or in coverage and if you sell out to stop the run Lamar is good enough to beat you in the air.

 

There are multiple things that made it worse:

-Lamar & Henry rested and motivated

-Ojenjobi and Hoecht suspended

-Our rookie D-line players needing time to develop

-Injuries to Hairston and Tre pushing a 6th round rookie (Strong) into the role

 

Those things could get better over the season but we don't know yet

[WeckMonster]

27 minutes ago, zow2 said:

As Bobby Babich said in his presser,  would you rather peak now as a defense or in January?!?   They missed some assignments and failed to execute on several plays.

Did I miss when we peaked? We didn’t make anyone punt last year. Either scores or turnovers… which is not sustainable and won’t win championships. Sunday was more of the same.

[JaBu]

23 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I look forward to some All 22 analysis, but just watching the game you can see the big issue was execution, particularly with our back seven, particularly by Dorian Williams. He continues to play undisciplined instead of sticking to his fits. Ton of athletic ability, but he tends to overrun plays and bites on fakes too easily. 

 

That's interesting you point out Dorian Williams as a factor in this game because McDermott was uncharacteristically praising him in his presser yesterday.

[Nephilim17]

Hoecht should help significantly against the run the next time we play the Ravens. As should a healthy Hairston in coverage. The D will get better, thanks to better players and improved play from the players who were out Sunday night.

[K-9]

Just now, JaBu said:

 

That's interesting you point out Dorian Williams as a factor in this game because McDermott was uncharacteristically praising him in his presser yesterday.

One would expect a coach to buck up a player so it’s no surprise to me. Williams had a couple good moments so it wasn’t all bad. But he took himself out of position on too many occasions imho.

[Simon]

The best way to stop Henry is to slow him before he can get his feet moving, preferably before or at teh LOS.

I thought the Bills were tentative and unsure of themselves, particularly in the back 7, and that allowed Henry to get rolling downhill instead of hesitating and looking for holes.

Babich needs to do a better job of getting them to be more proactive and attack their reads instead of dancing around in space waiting for the play to come to them. If it costs them the occasional big play, fine, we've got Josh Allen to answer with. That's infinitely preferable to death by 1000 cuts.

[JP51]

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

The best way to stop Henry is to slow him before he can get his feet moving, preferably before or at teh LOS.

I thought the Bills were tentative and unsure of themselves, particularly in the back 7, and that allowed Henry to get rolling downhill instead of hesitating and looking for holes.

Babich needs to do a better job of getting them to be more proactive and attack their reads instead of dancing around in space waiting for the play to come to them. If it costs them the occasional big play, fine, we've got Josh Allen to answer with. That's infinitely preferable to death by 1000 cuts.

100 fold this^^ in fact we need to build a team that can disrupt gaps or scheme it... we do not have DL who are disruptors most of the time and our LBs are not either, Milano was one but he looks like a bit of a shell... that's why we match up poorly with the Ravens... as for Babich, he couldnt scheme a two year old out of a sucker... 

[appoo]

1 hour ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Lots of factors.  
 

1.  Henry never got going in the playoff game and the ravens got behind.  Game script was advantage bills.  Once Henry has a couple big runs it gets harder.  

 

2.   Lots of new people on this defense and it was game one.  Ogunjobi, Hoecht Hairston and White were not available.  

 

3.  The ravens have one of the best offenses ever assembled where the addition of Henry to what Lamar does is lethal.   Their EPA/ DVOA. numbers are historic

 

4.  Zay flowers did not play in the playoffs

 

5.   We won anyways!

White would not have helped on the mesh that Flowers got free on. In fact that’s always been his kryptonite.

 

some times you just tip the hat and flush the play 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, Jistafan said:

Did we not put a spy on Lamar during playoffs to limit his mobility.  Don’t get me wrong he’s still going to make some plays. And our containment of Henry was exponentially better during that game. Was our defensive plan wrong or just not executed. Or both..

You don't beat Lamar by spying him. 

 

You beat Lamar accepting that he is going to beat you with his legs sometimes and you try to stop the run on early downs. 

Edited 3 hours ago by FireChans

[zow2]

2 hours ago, WeckMonster said:

Did I miss when we peaked? We didn’t make anyone punt last year. Either scores or turnovers… which is not sustainable and won’t win championships. Sunday was more of the same.

 

I don't know.  But they are working in some new pieces and opened up against the worst matchup they will face all regular season.  I'm bullish on the unit getting better and better.

 

I think the Bills may have led the league in fumble recoveries last season and were pretty high in INT's including 3 TDs.  That's the secret sauce for this D.  Not sure if Babich can will that to happen again or if it's just luck.  We shall see....but they did force the big Henry fumble which gave us a chance for victory.

Edited 1 hour ago by zow2

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

2 hours ago, zow2 said:

As Bobby Babich said in his presser,  would you rather peak now as a defense or in January?!?   They missed some assignments and failed to execute on several plays.

Start really bad, so the only way to go is up! I like it! 
 

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, zow2 said:

As Bobby Babich said in his presser,  would you rather peak now as a defense or in January?!?   They missed some assignments and failed to execute on several plays.

When have we ever peaked on defense in January?  Usually half our players are injured.