Game week thread - Pats at Bills SNF

[Mango]

On 9/29/2025 at 9:19 PM, Simon said:

 

Every bit of this is 100% true and I cannot even remember I saw these guys so unprepared and out of synch.

McD has got to be seeing the same thing and I have ot wonder how long he can tolerate it before he makes a move.

 

I've definitely noticed a tendency for them to break down too early.

That leads to guys lunging and when you do that you have no base and no power to work with.

I'm guessing the union would have a fit if McD circled them up, put a bunch of Gazoo helmets on them and spent an hour every day having them run the tackling version of Oklahomas.

 

 

We were a couple of third down stops from 6-45 last week. A huge part of the problem with the offense is we can't get off the field on defense.

 

It's gotten to the point this year that when we break a big offensive play early I think "oh shirt, we scored too quick, defense has to go right back out there"

 

It's kind of crazy to see an offense have to protect our defense the way we do.

23 hours ago, Rockinon said:

The last game, Tre was playing a few snaps at safety. Not sure if that's the beginning of a new trend, but he does have some good traits for the position. Could be a sneakily good move...

 

I watched a lot of Tre last week. Despite a few missed tackles I thought he was very good in coverage. 

Edited Wednesday at 11:53 AM by Mango

[YattaOkasan]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

We were a couple of their down stops from 6-45 last week. A huge part of the problem with the offense is we can't get off the field on defense.

 

It's gotten to the point this year that when we break a big offensive play early I think "oh shirt, we scored too quick, defense has to go right back out there"

 

It's kind of crazy to see an offense have to protect our defense the way we do.

Was definitely a problem last year and why I thought Josh deserved MVP.  He carried the offense and the defense.  

[Fan in Chicago]

4 hours ago, Simon said:

 

I'm not tuned in enough to the rest of the league to have a valid opinion on a replacement, but your points are 100% valid.

At the very least I would consider leaving Babich in charge of calling the D on Sundays so McDermott can focus on managing the game, but during the week have McDermott take on a much larger role in regards to preparation in hopes of eliminating much of the confusion we're regularly seeing out there.

Agreed. 

After I posted, I thought of Frazier but then @Sierra Foothills pre-emptively pointed out he is already employed with the Seahawks. 

 

Hope the D gets its act together. Either via Babich learning quickly or that unit coming together after everyone is back. 

 

With that, I will stop this tangent in the GWT. 

Go Bills !

[fergie's ire]

2 hours ago, YattaOkasan said:

Miami was funny cause that was a game I didnt want the new scheme.  Our old approach of spinning coverage post snap has always been effective against Tua.  Thought we should have stuck with that versus going man and getting gashed on mesh or trying to keep up with the cheetah.  Corner blitz against the run was def a new wrinkle that i love.  Its interesting because its a more high risk high reward strategy.  I think that makes sense given how good our offense is.  We can make up for the risk when were on offense by scoring.  Also the high risk involves getting us the ball back quicker which gives more opportunity to overcome those issues.  I agree we are not great at it yet and am hopeful we settle in.  I also agree the bye is big for us to reflect on performance in different roles as well as get players back.  

I agree...but I don't think the Bills coaching staff cares, and good for them.  The Patriots used to do this where they would work on stuff in September as if it were pre-season.  Often, they would lose a game early in the season and look bad in some close wins.  Media and wishful opposing fans would trumpet the end of the Patriot era...and then they were great come December and January.  McDermott said that he sat Codrington because he wanted to look at Samual and Strong.  I think players are being sat who COULD play but want to heal them up.  It's almost like load management.  The focus is on winning in the playoffs not winning now.  They're doing that and still undefeated?  That's awesome.  If they can keep it up until the bye, they will be in great shape.

[rjbbills]

19 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah week 1 I almost want to just flush because every single player other than Oliver put out a career-worst type of performance. But I said at the time it is on Babich to have his guys prepared and he didn't. I criticized some of Leslie Frazier's predictable scheme and play calling against playoff opponents, but he had his guys playing like synchronized swimmers. The all-22 on some of those regular season performances was beautiful to watch back. Watching this defense back you frequently see a couple defenders frantically waving their arms or pointing all over the place as the ball is being snapped. Entire gaps are abandoned. After pass completions you see coverage defenders looking around like they were expecting help that never came. We went from Swan Lake to the Truffle Shuffle. It's very frustrating and I don't have any confidence that Babich can fix it.

To add to this, I feel (and could be wrong) that the Bills Babich Bad defense go with the same defensive game plan for every team\game. So there's no surprise to the Bills opponents. Their (the opponent) thinking, "oh we've seen this movie before, no problem. Just what we expected". I don't think they plan for each opponent differently. That's why they always have to make adjustments in the second half. I can just picture the discussion and what Babich is thinking at halftime, "do they have our defensive game plan?". Yea you dumb ass. 

[Chandler#81]

The Legend of..

 

[rjbbills]

7 hours ago, Low Positive said:

So, this is the 20th "complain about the Bills' defense" thread?  Where are we supposed to talk about the Pats game?

Because the Bills defensive play sticks out like a extra big zit. 🤣

Got First Things First on in the background. I know, not the sharpest tools in the shed. But guess what they're talking about? The poor play from the Bills defense. Common denominator here. 

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, fergie's ire said:

Yes, I have been trying to find stats on blitz rates...this year vs last.  Seems they are doing more, but for some reason fans don't seem to notice a difference.  It might be because those blitzes are not getting home.  I even remember someone on this board posting that he wishes Bills would blitz corners like other teams do.  Well, I remember that Tre blitzed Tua...and whiffed.  I also seem to remember that there were several corner blitzes that were effective vs the run against the Jets.  The Bills are doing these things. It's just that they are bad at them and they are often out of position (particularly against Baltimore).  The hope is that they will learn and get better throughout the year.  The bye will help...as will getting players back.  So WILL they get better?  Hard to say and it might be really bad if they don't, but I don't think the Bills are playing it safe and doing the same old thing, which I appreciate.

 

Pro football reference is a good site for advanced stats like that.  It shows we have blitzed 47 times so far. 

Link: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2025_advanced.htm

Edited Tuesday at 09:40 PM by Scott7975

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, boyst said:

i will clarify that Frazier got the blame for the confusion on the final drive in KC. this was despite rumors (and what i have heard) persisting that mcdermott had been making play calls in that game when it was near the end. he took a very hands on approach to his coaching in that game, including the ST which caused the gaffe of the kicker and cover team not being on the same page.

 

fraziers teams were always vanilla defense with hyde and poyer locking it down. edmunds athletic ability was part of his success and helped cover those warts on his game but it was how frazier used everyone and tapped their potential to get the most out of them. especially our corners - which mcdermott got credit for.

 

Personally I put it on McD either way. Pretty sure I seen McD with a play sheet covering his mouth so it seems he was calling stuff. Even if he wasn't, there was timeouts so you can't tell me he didn't have time each play to let the defense know exactly what he wanted.

 

I think at the time the players all thought the game was in the bag and were not focused. The thrill of that last Josh TD to take the lead at 13 seconds is just something you know adrenally they were feeling. It was unheard of for a team to march a field in 13 seconds and ***** a game. So it's on them too.

[uninja]

10 hours ago, Rockinon said:

The last game, Tre was playing a few snaps at safety. Not sure if that's the beginning of a new trend, but he does have some good traits for the position. Could be a sneakily good move...

 

Always thought he'd make a pretty good safety if age/injuries caught up to him

[finn]

6 hours ago, YattaOkasan said:

Definitely a risk.  Full mastery seems unlikely in a single season.  Im mostly just hoping they find some identity and settle into an above average defense rather than the average to slightly below average defense they are now.  Few years ago they had a similar situation with Milano being out and they did find the identity as a team that uses dime more often.  I dont think were going with more dime (though not sure our dime usage rate), but gives me hope this staff can figure out how to find an identity for the defense in time for the playoffs.

Agree. They play like wolverines, hustling to the ball, and they force turnovers at an impressive rate, so those are two traits to build on, along with selflessness. But the tackling is abysmal. Hard to be a "physical football team" when you're whiffing on tackles every game. 

[PetermansRedemption]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

The Legend of..

 

5 INTs and only win the game by 3 points. It’s almost impressive to score 23 points when you were gifted the ball 5 times. 

[ColoradoBills]

18 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

My most frustrating example of this lack of in-game play-calling anticipation/countering, is actually from the offense: every single time Brady (and/or Allen, depending on pre-snap reads and checks) runs Cook repeatedly until the defense finally stuffs one. That predictable, stuffed run play, several times each game, is a wasted down that could have been at least a look at an explosive play-action throw downfield. Why not stay a step AHEAD, rather than waiting for the opposing DC to catch up? I know the cliche of "run it 'till they stop it" but that doesn't have to mean consecutively all at once! Gotta keep defenders off balance and in conflict as much as possible to give your guys every little advantage available. 

 

After a couple of great Cook runs I find myself yelling it's a perfect time for play action.

It doesn't even need to be a big pass way down field.  

Brady is a good OC and has some great plays, he just needs to mix them up better.

 

On 9/29/2025 at 9:18 AM, PoundingDog said:

Please don't use this argument. There are people all over question what the Bills have beat. The Bills are 4-0 and their opponents have 1 win TOTAL so far. 1  WIN. if not for the respect of Josh Allen, Bills would be treated like the Colts prior yesterday.

 

It's 2.  KCs wins are against teams with 2 wins.  They lost the other 2.

[MiltonWaddams]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

They do have an excellent School of Architecture. 

It was a quote from the office.. 

[Chandler#81]

 

[Chandler#81]

 

[MasterStrategist]

3 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

To be above average in red zone conversion rate and 3rd down conversion rate. Currently we rank 21st (63.64%) and 25th (42.00%) respectively in those metrics. Given the level of experience in the defensive coaching staff and the quantity of investments, I think it's reasonable to expect something like 50% and 35% respectively. Especially if our defense is designed to be bend don't break and intentionally allow rushing yards to defend against the big play. In a vacuum I'm fine with that philosophy but it needs to be complemented by strong situational defense. The timely turnovers are the one saving grace, I'll give them that.

💯 

 

I expect we see a vastly improved defense once Ed and Matt are both back on field together.

 

Couple that with:

1.  Rookie DTs getting more experience/more consistent

2. Hoecht and Oji return - Hoecht more so. I think he will have a valuable role and take some snaps from Groot/Bosa, giving them more juice for late game closer roles. Oji gives us another DT option rushing the passer, at very least some depth

3. Bishop getting more confidence.  I think he is on the cusp of big things for our defense

 

Dorian has been a disappointment to start the year.  Im fairly certain that Shaq will be taking more snaps from him, if Milano continues to miss time.

 

[Pokebball]

2 hours ago, Mango said:

 

We were a couple of their down stops from 6-45 last week. A huge part of the problem with the offense is we can't get off the field on defense.

 

It's gotten to the point this year that when we break a big offensive play early I think "oh shirt, we scored too quick, defense has to go right back out there"

 

It's kind of crazy to see an offense have to protect our defense the way we do.

 

I watched a lot of Tre last week. Despite a few missed tackles I thought he was very good in coverage. 

The Bills aren't playing complimentary football now. The defense knows it. They've owned it.

[Chandler#81]

 

[stevewin]

7 hours ago, PaattMaann said:

 

They are 100% going into each gameplan with the idea that its OK if they give up yards on the ground. No they arent saying "lets let them gash us in the run" they are saying "if we are going to give up yards, lets let it be on the ground". Without a doubt. Thats why they normally present light boxes and play in nickel. They would LOVE to stop the run, but only if that means stopping the run with 5/6 guys. They will live with it if they cant stop the run with 5/6 guys. 

 

In the NFL you cannot stop everything the offense is going to do, so you make choices, we choose to live with rushing yards against. 

 

They absolutely plan to get negative plays and create turnovers, that is why they game plan and call the game they do. I don't know how anyone can see how we have played defense and think that is not the case. They absolutely plan on creating negative plays and turnovers, they practice it, they call the game that way, it is true. 

 

Yes they want to fix their deficiencies, but that does not mean they will load the box with heavy guys and load up to stop the run. It means they need to fill gaps and have better gap integrity, thats the ideal defensive world they create by their choices, but if that fails, the result is giving up 186 rushing yards to the Saints. Oh well, we won. 

One thing I've been thinking with the talk of how they are willing to let teams run, is how a season full of opponents bludgeoning you in the run game might contribute to wear/injuries on defensive players