If Only They Could Tackle..It's Not Just the Coaching

[Governor]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Agree with this and again, this hasn't been a big issue for the Bills in the past and I think that is fair to put at the defensive coordinator's door. 

 

I don't think firing Babich fixes everything, and as I said last night, I don't love any of the alternative options very much.... but the confusion pre-snap and the plummeting of the 3rd down defense are new on this DC's watch. I think firing him gives you a chance to at least get that fixed. I don't think it will magically fix our run defense (which has been an issue to some degree most years of this regime) or make our pass rush more dynamic (which again has been a recurring weakness) but I DO think it can help fix the two specific issues we have seen crop up under this coordinator. 

Yeah, I pretty much agree. We have to try something here.

[947]

33 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

Cam Lewis missed tackle on the opening drive was pretty bad.  I believe this is two weeks in a row the bills have missed a tackle on the opening drive that would have forced a punt!

 

 

I love how Cam Lewis does the McClappy after completely whiffing on that tackle. You just gave a up a 3rd & long? Let's clap it up!!

Edited Monday at 02:06 PM by 947

[CirclnWagons]

Someone please tell me what I’m missing with Hoecht and Ogunjobi. In almost everything I’m seeing/hearing, the grand consensus is we’ll be just fine when they get off suspension but the small sample size I’ve seen out of each hasn’t shown anything special at all. Mid tier DL who have bounced around a bit supposed to save a defense that can’t tackle, can’t play the run and hasn’t been great in pass coverage? I got absolutely torn to shreds for saying it in the preseason but this will be yet another season Josh has to score 40+ a game to beat legit contenders.  4-0 is great in the NFL and I’m not complaining but a porous defense and questionable play calling on offense doesn’t bode well for late in the year. 

[sunshynman]

14 hours ago, billybob71 said:

Damn what this thread is telling me is that its all gonna end badly in playoffs due to the defense, another year of wasting JA. Oh well at least that big comet isn't gonna hit us

Are you 100% sure!?

[strive_for_five_guy]

I said during the game it looked like the Saints had greased up their jerseys with the way they were slipping away from our “defense”.

[Big Turk]

15 hours ago, Peace Frog said:

#27 is a liability (sorry, Tre)

 

Except watching the games he has made pivotal plays in key moments almost every game?  You actually watching the games or are you on your phone and message board the whole gmae?

Edited Monday at 02:41 PM by Big Turk

[DJB]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Ultimately it falls on McDermott, sure. But the 3rd down issues are very specific to this coordinator. Leslie consistently had top 10 3rd down defenses, McDermott had a middle of the pack 3rd down defense. The Bills were 4th worst in the league last year and are 8th worst through four games despite giving up none in 11 vs the Jets. That is a Babich issue and the tape tells a tale, his design on 3rd down is utter trash. 

You won’t win this with me Gunner. Ultimately all final decisions rest with McDermott. 
 

He needs to fix it . 

[Augie]

24 minutes ago, sunshynman said:

Are you 100% sure!?

 

Sometimes this place makes me pray for the comet.

 

 

[TurfToeJam]

A couple points I haven't read on forum about defense affecting the offense.....

 

1)The bills offense practices against our own defense.  So if the bills defense is poor tackling it can affect our offensive play calls.  For example...I did not like that 4th and 2 run with shakir.  It looked like it had no chance.  But maybe in practice it was working well against our own D?

 

2) Also, the Bills run a unique defense which is base nickel.  Again, Bills offense is practicing against this.  How much practice do they get if any against typical 4-3/3-4 defenses?

 

So how much does the bills defense affect the offense and offensive play calling?  

 

 

 

 

[mjt328]

58 minutes ago, CirclnWagons said:

Someone please tell me what I’m missing with Hoecht and Ogunjobi. In almost everything I’m seeing/hearing, the grand consensus is we’ll be just fine when they get off suspension but the small sample size I’ve seen out of each hasn’t shown anything special at all. Mid tier DL who have bounced around a bit supposed to save a defense that can’t tackle, can’t play the run and hasn’t been great in pass coverage? I got absolutely torn to shreds for saying it in the preseason but this will be yet another season Josh has to score 40+ a game to beat legit contenders.  4-0 is great in the NFL and I’m not complaining but a porous defense and questionable play calling on offense doesn’t bode well for late in the year. 

 

Not sure you're missing anything.  Neither guy was anything special on their previous teams.

 

People also seem to be very optimistic that Ed Oliver will suddenly become a consistent force in his 7th season, despite always being the type of player to be awesome for one game and then disappear for multiple weeks...

 

And that Matt Milano will return and stay healthy for the first time since 2022...

 

And that Maxwell Hairston will become an impact player as a rookie, even though he missed most of training camp/preseason and hasn't played a single snap yet...

 

Personally, I'm hoping we can figure out why Greg Rousseau, Terrell Bernard, Taron Johnson, Christian Benford and Taylor Rapp have all massively regressed over the first month of the season.

[GunnerBill]

34 minutes ago, DJB said:

You won’t win this with me Gunner. Ultimately all final decisions rest with McDermott. 
 

He needs to fix it . 

 

I don't care about winning it. I'm talking about the reality. There are bita of this defense that I don't think you can fix by swapping out coordinators. But there are bits that I think you can. Because Babich has performed objectively and measurably worse than his predecessors in those areas and it is reasonable to lay that at his door.

[Peace Frog]

7 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Except watching the games he has made pivotal plays in key moments almost every game?  You actually watching the games or are you on your phone and message board the whole gmae?

Who are you?

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, Peace Frog said:

Who are you?

 

A person who watches the games.

[Rew]

7 hours ago, CirclnWagons said:

Someone please tell me what I’m missing with Hoecht and Ogunjobi. In almost everything I’m seeing/hearing, the grand consensus is we’ll be just fine when they get off suspension but the small sample size I’ve seen out of each hasn’t shown anything special at all. Mid tier DL who have bounced around a bit supposed to save a defense that can’t tackle, can’t play the run and hasn’t been great in pass coverage? I got absolutely torn to shreds for saying it in the preseason but this will be yet another season Josh has to score 40+ a game to beat legit contenders.  4-0 is great in the NFL and I’m not complaining but a porous defense and questionable play calling on offense doesn’t bode well for late in the year. 

I think the general feeling is more about the volume of individuals, as opposed to any single skill set.  The combination of Oliver, Milano, Hoe, Ogun, and Hair were all supposed to be starters or significant contributors.  When you are out 5/15 top defenders, 5/15 are regressing, and the last 5/15 are meh to begin with you are in a bad spot. 

 

There is no silver bullet in here, but it will likely be better.

[BigAl2526]

Whiffs all over the place yesterday.   I assume the players will be seeing a lot of film that makes them groan.  Hopefully, they can fix it.

[26TrapDraw]

23 hours ago, DeltaDigital said:

Championship level O with nobody on defense that can change the game

that's been the case for 5 years. How many championships do we have?

Yeah it might be a problem.

[ColoradoBills]

Dump McDermott for Coach Saunders.

Git'r done.

 

 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

23 hours ago, DeltaDigital said:

Championship level O with nobody on defense that can change the game

I’ve seen Terrell Bernard make plenty of game changing plays. 

[Peace Frog]

10 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

A person who watches the games.

I watch them as well. Have been for decades. I meant who are you to criticize someone for posting something as obvious as Tre's fall from Pro Bowl player to JAG. He plays too far off the line to be effective most of the time. The TD to Waddle last week was because of his poor play. I love the guy, but he's fallen off tremendously and has become a liability to the secondary, any non-Homer can see it. He makes the occasional 'big play' but overall, he's a backup CB, at best. Mahomes will target him a dozen times when we play the loathsome Chiefs and it'll be ugly.

[billsfan89]

12 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

I’ve seen Terrell Bernard make plenty of game changing plays. 

 

The Bills defense as a collection of talent isn't bad and if they need a starting caliber piece somewhere they can add it esp in the secondary or at LB. And they make some fantastic big plays. They are a "clutch" defense certainly but there's very clearly something missing from the defense either they are really holding back scheme wise or they just are being sloppy...