kitchen sink Posted April 29 Posted April 29 I have been think about this for about a month now, when has our run defense cost us where it really mattered? We lose a game or two every year because of it, but I do not think that has cost us a Superbowl. Based on this I am thinking there is too much concern about this, but am interested if you agree. 1 Quote
Gregg Posted April 29 Posted April 29 It's the defense as a whole that is the problem. Mostly against Mahomes and Burrow in that one playoff game. I would say our lack of pass rush is the biggest reason more so than the run defense. 5 10 1 3 Quote
TheBrownBear Posted April 29 Posted April 29 It's our inability to get home with our pass rush. Also, in all honesty, much of our failures come down to incredibly untimely injuries to key defensive starters before our elimination games. We've handled Mahomes multiple times in the regular season with a relatively healthy defensive roster. 4 Quote
eSJayDee Posted April 29 Posted April 29 In the playoffs, I think it's far more the case that our pass dee craps the bed. Ineffective pass rush contributes to that as does injuries as mentioned above, but basically when the going gets tough, our defense folds. 1 Quote
ngbills Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Bingo - Its the pass rush. A good pass rush can cover up other issues in the secondary etc. Especially come playoff time, any decent qb will carve you up if you dont get enough pressure. Quote
BillsPride12 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Defense as a whole Lack of receiving weapons the last couple years Quote
frostbitmic Posted April 29 Posted April 29 In the last 5 playoff losses the Defense has given up 27x3, 32 and 42. In those 5 games the Offense scored 36, 29, 24 and 10x2. Looks like you can blame the Defense for two losses and the Offense for two games with the other game a bit of both to blame. Quote
Alphadawg7 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Its been the defenses in ability to get off the field on 3rd in key moments of games. This is the single biggest issue, and it has not mattered if a team ran or passed on the play, we gave up 3rd and down, often even 3rd and long, with utter ease. 2 5 Quote
billsfan89 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 It’s been a problem but not thee problem in the playoffs. 1 Quote
Alphadawg7 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 1 minute ago, frostbitmic said: In the last 5 playoff losses the Defense has given up 27x3, 32 and 42. In those 5 games the Offense scored 36, 29, 24 and 10x2. Looks like you can blame the Defense for two losses and the Offense for two games with the other game a bit of both to blame. You got an error in there bud. Bills have not scored 10 points twice in losses in the playoffs the past 5 years. We scored 30 in 2026, 29 in 2025, 24 in 2024, 10 in 2023 (Hamlin season), 36 in 2022 (13 seconds). Our average PPG the past 5 losses was 25.8 and if you take out the weird Hamlin season game where the whole team seemed spent in bad weather, the other 4 games our average was 29.75 PPG Defense was to blame in all 5, and one exception is the offense was equally as bad in one of them (Cincy). 5 1 Quote
frostbitmic Posted April 29 Posted April 29 My bad ... I had 2020's 27-10 loss to the Colts instead of this past years score. Quote
BuffaloBillsGospel2014 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Lack of pass rush has been our achiles heel, they leave the secondary out to dry consistently. If we get a pass rush I thoink we will vastly improve and I'm hoping Leonhard can bring it out of this group. 1 Quote
SoonerBillsFan Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Its all of it. Its fact the defense has flat out failed in the playoffs and many times during the season. That failure has cost us home field advantage. And yes, the run defense has cost us. Leonhard said its his priority with this defense. Also, look at the way the league is trending again. Smart QB play,Run the ball and play great defense. 1 Quote
billsfan714 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 2 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said: Lack of pass rush has been our achiles heel, they leave the secondary out to dry consistently. If we get a pass rush I thoink we will vastly improve and I'm hoping Leonhard can bring it out of this group. This time a thousand. The elite teams bring the heat in the big game, see the last 2 superbowl champs and their 12 sacks in the superbowl. 2 Quote
GunnerBill Posted April 29 Posted April 29 23 minutes ago, frostbitmic said: My bad ... I had 2020's 27-10 loss to the Colts instead of this past years score. We didnt lose to the Colts.... 2 minutes ago, billsfan714 said: This time a thousand. The elite teams bring the heat in the big game, see the last 2 superbowl champs and their 12 sacks in the superbowl. They do but by rushing 4. Philly didn't blitz in the 2024 Superbowl until the game was over. MacDonald did blitz a bit more this past year but a lot of their sacks came on 4 man pressures. 1 Quote
billsfan714 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 7 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: We didnt lose to the Colts.... They do but by rushing 4. Philly didn't blitz in the 2024 Superbowl until the game was over. MacDonald did blitz a bit more this past year but a lot of their sacks came on 4 man pressures. I never said the word blitz, did I. Yes they brought the heat with their front four and my point about not having much of a pass rush in the big games stands. Quote
GunnerBill Posted April 29 Posted April 29 5 minutes ago, billsfan714 said: I never said the word blitz, did I. Yes they brought the heat with their front four and my point about not having much of a pass rush in the big games stands. No and I wasn't trying to disagree with your post. Just add context. 1 Quote
Evansfan322 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 In my opinion it’s missed pass catches. The Diggs drop, Daltons missed catch, last years missed catch against Denver (you can make a case for why it was or wasn’t a catch). Missed opportunities on offense have also been as big a reason 2 1 Quote
DaBillsFanSince1973 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 Was or is? I would say it was, but we're not going to know until the season moves on whether the defensive line got better and in return able to take some pressure off Josh Allen and the offense? As far as Super Bowl. Looks to me like it's a reset and and we'll have to see if this new coaching staff along with the additions to the team through the draft and free agency will give them as much of a chance to reach the Super Bowl? I do believe the possibility is there to reach the Super Bowl but I do believe the defense has to obviously perform at a much higher level, especially the line, than it has in the past. I like what they did in free agency and in the draft. I'm looking forward to the new opportunity ahead for this team going into the 2026 season. Quote
billsfan714 Posted April 29 Posted April 29 10 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: No and I wasn't trying to disagree with your post. Just add context. Thats cool, and I'll add both teams added a defensive touchdown. 1 Quote
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