Damn, is our Defense THIS good?

[booya2]

Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Clause... and hecks yeah our D is this good. By year's end people will be talking about it as one of the most dominant units of all time, period. That's how good it is.

[mead107]

just think, 5 turnovers per game 5x16=

[VABills]

just think, 5 turnovers per game 5x16=

441679[/snapback]

16?????

 

Don't you mean 5 x 19?

[mead107]

that would be good .

[stuckincincy]

that would be good .

441691[/snapback]

 

Having 5 turnovers per game could put on some weight.

[mead107]

now you know why i weigh so much

[BuckeyeBill]

Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Clause...  and hecks yeah our D is this good. By year's end people will be talking about it as one of the most dominant units of all time, period. That's how good it is.

441674[/snapback]

 

I hope you're right... I think we have the talent and the coach, now we need the lucky bounces like the Ravens had a few years back.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I just think that no one can say anything definitively after week one. Good or bad. This greatest ever thing is stupid right now. Can they play a few games first? 

 

I hear this week that suddenly the Jets are one of the worst teams in the league. Week 1 evaluations and proclamations are almost as bad as preseason ones. We were 0-4 last season and were we the worst team? Record-wise yes, but reality proved we were a winning team after 17 weeks.

441266[/snapback]

 

One of the fun things about the NFL is that even AFTER the Super Bowl it is hard to be definitive about any team because the argument merely shifts to some theoretical comparison to were the SB winner compares to the best of all time.

 

While there is clearly nothing definitive which proves this Bills D is potentially one of the greats, there are some INDICATORS that this group may well be special based on real world occurences which IMHO opinion can easily be sited as an ASPIRATION that this D should try to become one of the greats.

 

As a Chicago native who watched the '85 Bears closely I really doubt this unit will achieve these lofty levels, but I wholeheatedly endorse Gray setting this as a goal for the D which they must have if they ever want to achieve greatness. The good news for us is that while their performance against 1 team (or even their performance against 16 teams) will not prove this, there are some indicators of real world achievements and facts that make this goal not only a necessary aspiration but there is even some real POTENTIAL of greatness that merely saying wait and see does not seem to recognize.

 

Specifically:

 

1. The D fell short badly in the final regular season game last year and though this invalidated the season as we did not even make the playoffs it did not make the reality that the Bills D performed well last season a non-reality. The Bills #2 statistical ranking last year does not mean at all that this unit was great (they need to show up each and every game which they did not do against Pitts, they need to get better on 3rd down, they need to improve in the redzone). However, the D proved to be a force to be reckoned with last year in almost all facets of the game.

 

2. 10 of 11 starters from this unit are back and the one who isn't Phat Pat though a good player was on the field for just under 60% of their D snaps last year. In PWs place they have a fomer DT starter Edwards who has put on the bulk you want from a run stopper but did not seem to lose any speed last year as his back-up duty saw him register some impressive sack numbers. Further, he is backed up by a 3rd round pick who though unproven did play a little last year and is well-regarded.

 

3. In addition to having a good strategy for replacing the one loss, last year's unit produced not simply due to good luck with injuries but the loss of some serious time from two key DBs lays a groundwork for this team not depending upon no injuries occuring (which will not happen) to continue producing. DB is th deepest unit on this squad and if one goes down I expect us to continue with some issues of course but no significant disruption. LB is probably the unit which has the largest drop-off from the starters to their back-ups so an injury to Spikes or Fletcher is my biggest worry, but the back-ups have been impressive on ST and also showed well in their pre-season outings so I feel that we can even absorb a short-term loss of one of these two. The DL has also historically not been a strenght of this unit and it actually only has 3 DEs on the roster, but i think this is actually a sign that the Bills D scheme is not a traditional 4-3 and that actually when we lose one of them to injury, the scheme will be shifted in such a way to take advantage of the things the players do best to stll allow it to function. This D is certainly built on paper to have adequate plan Bs for all starters. The game is played on the field rather than on paper so we will see, but things look OK even when the injuries which are bound to happen occur.

 

4. The reality is this that Jerry Gray after a horrendous start under GW ghas actually shown some good stuff in real life:

 

A. His Ds did not do the job in 2001 and 2002, but the acquisition of LeBeau, installation of the zone blitz, and acquisition of some far better player talent IAdams instead of Edwards, Spikes instead of Robinson, Milloy instead of Wire) coincided with far better production.

B. Gray was kept DC under LeBeau which looked at the time like a figleaf designed to save face. However, Gray called D plays in 2003 which demonstrated he took to and understood the zone blitz very qucikly as the D improved both statistically and by observation.

C. Gray demonstrated last year as the D once again improved statistically and based on the words of most observers with Gray not only calling the plays but dealing with strategy. In the real world one can see the impacts of half time adjustments as the team showed again and again adjustments which nipped in the bud and stopped cold successes the opposing offenses had in the first half the Maimi game in which Morris shredded the rush defense in the first half and was stopped in the second hald by a combo of D adjustment and the ST and O giving us a lead which made them abandon the run in the 4th quarter.

D. Gray has shown signs of progress in how the D operates in pre-season and in this first game which while it should not be claimed conclusively it will work for all 16 games, the results were real in how they praciced stifling opposing Os in the preseason and the way they dominated a bad team Sunday.

 

IMHO I will onlu judge the Bills D as being one of the greats when I feel the way I did in '85 that I began to see the Bears D taking the field the same way I normally felt when the O I was rooting for took the field. I felt the '95 Bears chances to score increased when the D took the field. Part of this was because the McMahin led offense was a pop-gun whose best weapons were a 1000 yard rusher which actually would only lead them to a score a couple of times a game at best as they had trouble sustaining drives and also if lightening struck and Wilie Gault got a big one. However, the best chance fpr a Bear score would be a defensive TD or a turnover or sacks leading to a short field for the O.

 

I suspect JP will struggle like any first year QB at times, but the reality of the last two seasons and this pre-season provides no definitive evidence but real hope that this D can be one of the greats.

[jarthur31]

I found this on Yahoo sports.

BEHIND EVERY GOOD COACH

A round of applause for Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, who hasn't gotten enough credit for molding the Bills' unit into one that could be one of the best in league history. That's precisely the kind of pressure Gray put on the Bills in the preseason, when he talked to his players about rivaling the 2000 Ravens and 1985 Bears. Last year, Gray's defense led the NFL in takeaways with 39. In Sunday's 22-7 win over Houston, the Bills forced the Texans into five turnovers and held them to 120 total yards.

441073[/snapback]

 

We'll see by week 8. It will only matter when the team is hoisting the Lombardi trophy in late January.

 

The question you should be asking is: Was Houston really that bad?

 

Ummm.....yes, they were. They have many issues particularly their O-line.

 

I'm with jester.

[KnightRider]

we had a chance to put ourselves in the playoffs by stuffing pghs. backups, and this defense could not do it.  until we respond differently in similar circumstances i will call this defense good, but not earthshattering.  i STILL have a bad taste in my mouth from game, and nothing i saw sunday has changed it.  houstons offense is terrible.

441088[/snapback]

 

 

I thought our D did stuff them pretty well until after the Lindell miss.

 

1st D Series: Started on Pit 23 goes for FG

2nd D Series: Started on Pit 43 Fumble (Nate forced) recovered by Schobel on first play

3rd D Series: Started on Buf 49 (awful kickoff and good return+penalty) goes for TD

4th D Series: Started on Buf 24 (Int on Bills first play) goes for FG

5th D Series: Started on 50 gets intercepted on Steelers first play

6th D Series: Started on Pit 18 goes for FG

7th D Series: Started on Pit 20 goes 3 and out

Halftime

8th D Series: Started on Pit 20 Nate returns Int for Bills TD

9th D Series: Started on Pit 20 Pit gets one 1st down due to 34 yard pass interference penalty. They punt from Pit 46 to Bills 5, plus facemask penalty and 2 Offensive procedural calls puts it on the Bills 1

 

This is where the Bills march it 91 yards to the Pit 11. Lindell misses

 

10th D Series: Started on Pit 20 the very next play after the miss, Parker goes for 58 yards. They then suck it up for three more plays and escape with a FG.

 

This is where Drew gets sacked and fumbles - Which is returned for a TD

The O then goes 3 and out (highlights bare another Bledsoe fumble)

 

11th D Series: Started on Pit 39 goes for FG

12th - kneel down.

 

I'm sorry, but the defense played very well that day with the exception of that 58 yard run. But the defense had already scored as many points as they offense at the time of the kick. If they had gone for it on the 11 when Lindell missed the kick and Drew had held on to the ball during that sack that was returned, he may still have been our QB /shudder and we probably would have been in the playoffs.

[Gambler]

I found this on Yahoo sports.

BEHIND EVERY GOOD COACH

A round of applause for Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, who hasn't gotten enough credit for molding the Bills' unit into one that could be one of the best in league history. That's precisely the kind of pressure Gray put on the Bills in the preseason, when he talked to his players about rivaling the 2000 Ravens and 1985 Bears. Last year, Gray's defense led the NFL in takeaways with 39. In Sunday's 22-7 win over Houston, the Bills forced the Texans into five turnovers and held them to 120 total yards.

441073[/snapback]

 

 

After 16 games we will know how good the defense is.

[Lori]

About that Pittsburgh game: the players spent the entire offseason ticked off because of it, and Mularkey has been drilling it into their heads that, "You've got to play every single play like it's going to be the difference in your season."

 

They know they came up small when it counted, and they're using that as a motivating factor for this season. Just like the end of the 1989 season...

 

Keep that in mind.