Subtle Point on Defense Improvement - Setting up players from your MLB

[HoofHearted]

13 hours ago, PoundingDog said:

We all saw how Thompson improved our D when he played. The main argument is Thompson being bigger, maybe healthier. But Cover 1's Erik Turner brought up a good point. Maybe Thompson is better at recognizing all those eye candies/motions etc. and setting the players to the right places than Bernard. Recency may have bias, but I remeber we had a lot of defensive plays this season when a bunch of players were totally fooled or out of positions. Since the 2nd half of Houston game, it came down to almost zero. I don't recall once in the Steelers game we had a breakdown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inherent issue with the structure of our defense is that if the offense flips the offensive strength via motion/shifts than we also have to flip our personnel to match. That's why we see so much more movement from our defensive front than you see with other teams. All of this is necessary so that we aren't forcing our Nickel to be a box player whenever a team shifts the offensive strength. In large part our issues in the run game are on plays where there is backfield motion as the ball is being snapped. We get caught in movement and often over pursue or get reached because we are too slow with our movement. Largely though we have struggled to stop gap run schemes. Our first level defenders are getting washed far too often which is creating enormous gaps and our second level defenders have not been good (Shaq included) at recognizing pulls and fitting according (especially with fast flow motion going opposite the pulls). This is mostly your backside backers (Milano, Williams). Bernard's biggest issue has been fitting too wide which then compounds when he tries to take on blockers with athleticism rather than shocking for a stalemate (when he does do this is looks good, when he dips and rips he often just gets kicked).

 

I will say a lot of the blame being put on Bernard in the run game isn't justified. People see runs going his way and assume it's his fault. Often it's the fault of the backside backer not scraping over the top and fitting tight off the down/down and the play hits inside Bernard who has to set the edge when our ends spill the first puller (think Counter), or we are just completely getting washed down on the defensive line.

 

Our run game has looked better the past few weeks largely because of scheme. We've been pinching our 5's and 3's and bringing someone off the edge far more lately vs the run than we did in the beginning of the year which is forcing the ball to go more sideline to sideline than north and south. It also allows our backers to stay clean and work over top of the trash to clean things up.

 

As far as the two players - both Shaq and Bernard play with an edge. Neither are afraid to throw their bodies around or be physical. Shaq plays with his hands more which I personally like to see from a Linebacker standpoint, but ultimately what it comes down to is whether or not you can set an edge off a down/down and not allow the kick to widen you. Bernards key recognition is really good. His attack steps are quick and concise. His biggest weakness is he plays out of control at times. Shaq is a hair slower, but has fit things tighter (partly because he is a half step slower) and is more willing to use his hands to stalemate kicks. Last week the whole defense benefitted from the Steelers refusing to run an gap scheme which makes it easier on the fits as a whole (largely your gap pre-snap is your gap post-snap - unless there's movement from the DL or we play a crash 5 and plus the backers).

[26TrapDraw]

13 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I think Shaq is definitely reading schemes and being more decisive than Bernard. That sad, Bernard has caught a lot of sheet from fans for poor play when in reality there has been a revolving door of defensive lineman in front of him. 
 

The biggest issue I see when looking it the bills run defense is how teams effect our alignment and numbers presnap with motions and shifts, which often leads to bad fits or players coming from places that make it very difficult to play gap sound. This could be something Shaq is good at (handling these shifts) or just coaching. Bernard is very vocal too. His visible frustrations referenced in the video are usually on pass plays, not necessarily on run downs. 
 

Another factor here is that the recent Shaq play is likely coming under a closer watch from McDermott on D - whereas the beginning of the year was being constructed from Babich and often felt messy. 
 

I’d like to see Shaq stay at MLB and try Bernard at the Will. I think this would be a good game to try it, as I don’t think they’ll be using a bunch of 4-3 front against the Bengals (if he’s healthy). 

 

I think he fits better in regards to playing the weak side of the run game: he’s definitely a better clean up player than disruptor.

Whether this week or next, I think it could be a good litmus test to see if a permanent move could be beneficial. 

That said, Bernard got paid and will be here. I hope they find a way to maximize his skill set. He is no bum and can be very effective. He does it a bit differently than Shaq (speed vs power), and I get that people want to be better on the run but a LOT of our issues with the ground game are because of the revolving door at DT and the poor tackling from the secondary. 
 

This clip encapsulates Bernard in his strengths and weaknesses.  He’s decisive, downhill with appropriate leverage, gets across the face of the pulling center and is first in on the tackle for a minimal gain. Would you like to see him be more stout and not displaced? Of course. Does Shaq have the speed to beat the OL to edge? Idk. At the end of the day it isn’t pretty, job well done. 
 

Bernard will likely be back in the lineup at MLB sooner than later, because it gives them the ability to have Shaq at the Sam in 4-3 and McDermott and company loves Bernard’s pass coverage. 

Now that Milano looks like he’s getting back into playing shape, the trio of Milano Thompson and Bernard is not a bad LB corp if we get into the playoffs.

it could be much worse.