Despite all the negativity, this season's collapse boils down to

[ropeerasers]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but by my count the Bill's played eight games against opponents who use the 3-4 as their base defense. In those eight games (against SD, Cleveland, Miami, NYJ and NE) they had an unenviable 1-7 record. I think it's naive to discount that we were 6-2 against all of our other opponents.

 

Now it's not unheard of for something like this to happen. In fact, the Peyton Manning-led Colts have a bit of a history of struggling against the 3-4.

 

So I'm wondering...is this something that can be corrected with time? Does it have anything to do with the fact that we have a relatively young team with a young QB who needs to learn how to read and react to the myriad of different looks the 3-4 offers? Or is this the result of a flaw in our offensive philosophy?

 

Our offense is essentially a modified version of the Vermeil/Martz offense with more emphasis on the run, and that team ultimately fell to the Patriots' 3-4 in Super Bowl XXXVI. I'm not sure of that offense's overall record against 3-4 defenses, though.

 

Or maybe is it the type of players we're employing in our current offense? Should we go for the quicker, more nimble zone blocking type of lineman to combat mobile linebackers featured in a 3-4 defense? Do we need a more seasoned "true" fullback to keep linebackers from shooting the gap on running plays?

 

So without getting into the truly enthralling discussions about how Ralph Wilson eats babies and Dick Jauron has the personality of a baked potato, what do you think our team can do to get better against the 3-4, a.k.a. our Achilles heal?

[Lv-Bills]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but by my count the Bill's played eight games against opponents who use the 3-4 as their base defense. In those eight games (against SD, Cleveland, Miami, NYJ and NE) they had an unenviable 1-7 record. I think it's naive to discount that we were 6-2 against all of our other opponents.

 

Now it's not unheard of for something like this to happen. In fact, the Peyton Manning-led Colts have a bit of a history of struggling against the 3-4.

 

So I'm wondering...is this something that can be corrected with time? Does it have anything to do with the fact that we have a relatively young team with a young QB who needs to learn how to read and react to the myriad of different looks the 3-4 offers? Or is this the result of a flaw in our offensive philosophy?

 

Our offense is essentially a modified version of the Vermeil/Martz offense with more emphasis on the run, and that team ultimately fell to the Patriots' 3-4 in Super Bowl XXXVI. I'm not sure of that offense's overall record against 3-4 defenses, though.

 

Or maybe is it the type of players we're employing in our current offense? Should we go for the quicker, more nimble zone blocking type of lineman to combat mobile linebackers featured in a 3-4 defense? Do we need a more seasoned "true" fullback to keep linebackers from shooting the gap on running plays?

 

So without getting into the truly enthralling discussions about how Ralph Wilson eats babies and Dick Jauron has the personality of a baked potato, what do you think our team can do to get better against the 3-4, a.k.a. our Achilles heal?

And assuming your facts are correct here, most of the other 4-3 teams we played pretty much suck. So, maybe we just the best of the suckass group of NFL teams, no?

[DCbillsfan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but by my count the Bill's played eight games against opponents who use the 3-4 as their base defense. In those eight games (against SD, Cleveland, Miami, NYJ and NE) they had an unenviable 1-7 record. I think it's naive to discount that we were 6-2 against all of our other opponents.

 

Now it's not unheard of for something like this to happen. In fact, the Peyton Manning-led Colts have a bit of a history of struggling against the 3-4.

 

So I'm wondering...is this something that can be corrected with time? Does it have anything to do with the fact that we have a relatively young team with a young QB who needs to learn how to read and react to the myriad of different looks the 3-4 offers? Or is this the result of a flaw in our offensive philosophy?

 

Our offense is essentially a modified version of the Vermeil/Martz offense with more emphasis on the run, and that team ultimately fell to the Patriots' 3-4 in Super Bowl XXXVI. I'm not sure of that offense's overall record against 3-4 defenses, though.

 

Or maybe is it the type of players we're employing in our current offense? Should we go for the quicker, more nimble zone blocking type of lineman to combat mobile linebackers featured in a 3-4 defense? Do we need a more seasoned "true" fullback to keep linebackers from shooting the gap on running plays?

 

So without getting into the truly enthralling discussions about how Ralph Wilson eats babies and Dick Jauron has the personality of a baked potato, what do you think our team can do to get better against the 3-4, a.k.a. our Achilles heal?

They need to acquire a dominant center (either free agency or draft) to deal with the NT in a 3-4 defense. This would be a big step in the right direction. Remember Kent Hull. He was the last decent center for the Bills.

[lets_go_bills]

We played well against the Jets' 3-4 in our second meeting. And we put up some points against Cleveland's.