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

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

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[PauleeeWalnuts]

11 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

If only they had Oliver, Milano, Hoecht, Ogunjobi, and Hairston.  I wonder if nearly 50% of the intended starting defense had something to do with our issues against the run?  

To be fair, they had Oliver and Milano against the Ravens and Henry ran through them. We have no idea what the other three are going to bring to the defense 

[DJB]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

You think the Head Coach is to blame for tackling? 

 

I am not sure I agree with could "easily have lost" I never felt we would lose yesterday or vs Miami. Baltimore, sure. But the defense does suck. It has made some exceptional plays - Oliver in the opener, Bishop last night.... but it's fundamentals have been woeful. And some of the defensive playcalling is mystifying. I'm not saying it is all on Bobby Babich but the Bills have never had this level of 3rd down issue until he became DC. At some point you have to hold him accountable. 

Can’t keep blaming the coordinators Gunner. McDermott has handpicked the last 3 or 4 of them. He also has a big say in which players get drafted and how he develops them

 

Mcdermott is the HC ultimately it falls directly on him. 

[Dillenger4]

14 hours ago, Peace Frog said:

#27 is a liability (sorry, Tre)

Yep - been saying it all off season. He IS a liability. Should have kept Strong out there when McD benched Tre for one series yesterday.

Benford is looking pedestrian too. Our CB's are the issue.

[Roundybout]

 

 

 

This simply is not a scheme problem IMO. The players are in position, they’re not executing. 

[MikePJ76]

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!

 

 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 minute ago, Roundybout said:

 

 

 

This simply is not a scheme problem IMO. The players are in position, they’re not executing. 

 

And while yes - you can drill and teach players to tackle.  Its not typically what you're working on in camp.  Your ability to tackle was what got you here.  

[Buffalo4Life01]

1 minute ago, Dillenger4 said:

Yep - been saying it all off season. He IS a liability. Should have kept Strong out there when McD benched Tre for one series yesterday.

Benford is looking pedestrian too. Our CB's are the issue.

Tre doesn't have the speed to keep up with quicker receivers but he's actually made several good tackles the last 2 games.  He isn't playing great at this point in his career but we've seen a lot worse.  One of the two pass interference/holding calls against him yesterday was ridiculous.  Benford hasn't had a dominate start to the season but it's hard to really put a lot of stock into his performance when the d.line isn't generating pressure on the QB for large stretches of the game.  Hoping Hairston is able to come back and play at some point and he will replace tre and add a speedier guy on the perimeter.  

[T master]

15 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

Say what you like about the defensive scheme and play calling, but these stats courtesy of NextGen and the NFL review of the game show in many (but not all cases) the defense was in position but just couldn't make the play.

 

Courtesy NFL.com:

Yielding 189 yards on the ground, Buffalo allowed 165 yards rushing after contact, the third-most by a team in a game since at least 2018, according to Next Gen Stats

OMG NO - It's all McD & Beane they just don't know what they are doing and they need to be fired immediately, the players have absolutely nothing to do with this just ask some of those here they will tell you !!! 🤪

[GunnerBill]

13 minutes ago, DJB said:

Can’t keep blaming the coordinators Gunner. McDermott has handpicked the last 3 or 4 of them. He also has a big say in which players get drafted and how he develops them

 

Mcdermott is the HC ultimately it falls directly on him. 

 

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. 

[BeastMaster]

25 minutes ago, PauleeeWalnuts said:

To be fair, they had Oliver and Milano against the Ravens and Henry ran through them. We have no idea what the other three are going to bring to the defense 

Not just what you said, but Hoecht and Ogunjobi are not starters.

 

So really you have three potential starters (I assume Hairston starts) that are missing, so it's really about just over a quarter of the starting defense as opposed to that posters claim of nearly half

[GunnerBill]

9 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!

 

 

 

There was that one and one going the other way that Williams missed where the Bills absolutely whiffed on Rattler scrambles.

[MikePJ76]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

There was that one and one going the other way that Williams missed where the Bills absolutely whiffed on Rattler scrambles.

im watching it now for some fun before I get to work this morning and the pass rush is just a bunch of guys stuck to the lineman in front of them, especially everyones savior.

 

this has to improve.  The run defense is the run defense but they will not win against good teams later in the year with this pass rush.

[nosejob]

15 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Bosa got worked in the run game today. 

They need to stick with the 4-3 longer and when Milano comes back they need to play Shaq over Dorian. 

Stop with the man coverage. There is no speed at all in the back 7. No idea why you would want to play man. Play zone. Keep Maye contained. Hope you stay undefeated the next two weeks to give Oliver time to heal and get Hoecht back. 

 

 

To me the problem with zone is if you don't get quick pressure, you're gonna give up big chunks....kinda like what I was about to hurl yesterday.

Rattler had time to make a samich and tie his shoes at times. Playing zone is really asking for it IMO.

[Governor]

There’s no talent on this defense and a few returning suspended players won’t change that. Brutally slow also, tons of confusion still happening before plays.

[Big Turk]

Are there things to improve?  Of course...especially on the run D, and namely with allowing QB's wide open rush lanes which has hurt us a lot this year, even with QBs that don't run much like Tua.

 

What I am not going to sit here and listen to is some "doom and gloom" nonsense when over the last 3 weeks the D has allowed an average of 16.5 PPG and 243 yards of offense and no team has even hit 300 yards.

 

Have some freaking perspective and watch other games to have it.  If your only argument is The Bills D sucks but you don't watch any other games to see what it looks like in comparison to other teams, your opinion isn't worth much.

Edited September 29 by Big Turk

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Governor said:

There’s no talent on this defense and a few returning suspended players won’t change that. Brutally slow also, tons of confusion still happening before plays.

 

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. 

[gonzo1105]

Most teams in the NFL can’t tackle now , just look around the league. Most teams, if they are practicing it are just drilling and thudding, their not taking people to the ground because their trying to stay healthy. 
 

The better athletes in the NFL now play offense in a league skewed to offense. It’s hard to stop other teams from scoring. The ball gets placed at the 35 yard line when kickers can now kick 55+ like it’s nothing. 
 

On paper I’m fine with what the Bills defense has done. They’ve given up 10,19, and 21 points in 3 of their 4 games. I think the annoyance like many others is the big chunks in the run game and the amount of other teams offenses stay in the field. 
 

The Ravens are a good football team. When healthy they are going to score points. The Chiefs seem to know how to stop them but not many teams are going to hold them down offensively unless injuries catch up to them. 
 

I think your hoping the return of two of your best defenses players , Hoecht replacing Epenesa, a steady veteran presence in Ogunjobi, and a healthy Hairston replacing a rapidly declining Tre White had to show at least some positive return 

[GASabresIUFan]

39 minutes ago, PauleeeWalnuts said:

To be fair, they had Oliver and Milano against the Ravens and Henry ran through them. We have no idea what the other three are going to bring to the defense 

That's fair, but it was also the first game of the season and the Ravens are an incredibly tough matchup for the Bills.  

 

That said their return coupled with the return of the others will help. One of the side benefits for injuries and suspension is that it has given PT to players we needed to evaluate short and long-term.  Some have stepped up (Bishop, Thompson and Walker) and others not so much (Sanders & Solomon).  This PT allow Babich to rotate more players and hopefully keep the defense healthier and strong throughout the game.

 

I also agree that certain guys need to tackle batter (Bosa?)

[Roundybout]

1 minute 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. 

This I do agree with, especially the ridiculous 12 men/10 men on the field problems that we saw yesterday