The Pack game-planned this one

[socalfan]

You watch what the Pack offense is doing and it becomes obvious that their staff went into this scrimmage with a specific plan to attack the weak points of the Bills defense. Seeing them repeatedly go after same spots in the Buffalo defense over and over again is not a co-incidence.

Offensively the Bills look a bit indecisive and at times even a little disinterested. Unfortunately they are going against a very good unit that is not going through the typical preseason motions. The Pack defense is frequently blitzing, stunting and running zonedawgs all over the place.

The sky is falling crowd that has ruled the roost for the last 20 hours is embarrassing itself.

 

 

I kind of wondered about that....

 

It seems to me several years ago when the head coach wasw Williams or Mularkey, we had gone to GB for two days of scrimmage work. And on the first day, we threw in a ton of biltze packages that seemed to embarass GB in front of their fans. On the second day, GB came back better prepared.

 

I don't think if I were GB, that I would have forgotten it.

[TheChimp]

This thread seems shorter than it should for some reason.

[Simon]

This thread seems shorter than it should for some reason.

since your PM is disabled I'll tell you this here before I delete these too.

This is a football thread and if you continue spamming it you will be leaving.

[Simon]

This is a good thread, better than the game.

 

I for one don't mind that they're getting their asses handed to them in preseason games. I want this team terrified, or at least on edge, coming into the season. The worst thing that could happen to this squad is complacency. See: last year's 5-1 start. See: last year's Detroit Lions' perfect preseason. Let them get beat up, embarassed, utterly humiliated. Whether this is by design or by this coaching staff's complete incompetence, I don't care. I want this team to have its nose rubbed into the dirt, to be broken, to be written off, so that they start the season cornered, angry, and hungry. In other words, this is good.

 

A unique perspective.

But I think I like it.

[Kipers Hair]

You watch what the Pack offense is doing and it becomes obvious that their staff went into this scrimmage with a specific plan to attack the weak points of the Bills defense. Seeing them repeatedly go after same spots in the Buffalo defense over and over again is not a co-incidence.

Offensively the Bills look a bit indecisive and at times even a little disinterested. Unfortunately they are going against a very good unit that is not going through the typical preseason motions. The Pack defense is frequently blitzing, stunting and running zonedawgs all over the place.

The sky is falling crowd that has ruled the roost for the last 20 hours is embarrassing itself.

The Pack is plain and simple a better team. We were outmanned and outcoached. Be a homer if you wish - but the truth will play out over the next 2 months. Nothing wrong with listening to your heart, but everyone's eye's are not deceiving them....Sorry - the only embarrassing thing here is out team.

[K-9]

This is a good thread, better than the game.

 

I for one don't mind that they're getting their asses handed to them in preseason games. I want this team terrified, or at least on edge, coming into the season. The worst thing that could happen to this squad is complacency. See: last year's 5-1 start. See: last year's Detroit Lions' perfect preseason. Let them get beat up, embarassed, utterly humiliated. Whether this is by design or by this coaching staff's complete incompetence, I don't care. I want this team to have its nose rubbed into the dirt, to be broken, to be written off, so that they start the season cornered, angry, and hungry. In other words, this is good.

 

Excellent points all across the board.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Mike in Syracuse]

You really think the Pack game planned? It will only be worse during the season. Perhaps the reasons why it was so easy to pick up on the Bills weak spots is because they are the same as they were last year.

 

I was in Green Bay for the game and on the local pregame show they were talking about how long the starters were going to play for and how they SPECIFICALLY wanted to treat this like a regular season game INCLUDING set packages and game planning.

 

So...uh...yeah!

[Mr. WEO]

I don't think it's a matter of should or shouldn't. Some coaches do it sometimes and others don't.

When they do the differences are tangible; just trying to point out this was one of those times.

So what? (Can I ask without getting tossed?)

 

These are not scrimmages, they are games. WHy isn't our coach gameplannig? What IS DJs plan heading into that game?

[ans4e64]

I'd guess it was primarily last year.

It doesn't take long to figure out that we can be run on over Kelsay and Ellison.

Or to figure out that BScott is a tough-nosed player but can't cover TE's.

 

I think we've made some improvements and could still make others:

 

- The emergence of Reggie Corner may have solidified the nickel position where we've had some troubles the last few years.

- Plugging in Nic Harris could be a positive step forward in shoring up that part of the Front7.

- Moving Whitner to the Free means teams will probably not be able to attack that position freely like they have been seemingly forever (although it's created a potential mismatch at the Strong now)

 

Woah woah woah. Didn't he shut down Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Kellen Winslow last year? He was almost one on one with them the entire game.

[colin]

The Pack is plain and simple a better team. We were outmanned and outcoached. Be a homer if you wish - but the truth will play out over the next 2 months. Nothing wrong with listening to your heart, but everyone's eye's are not deceiving them....Sorry - the only embarrassing thing here is out team.

 

ok, but we beat chicago, and chicago beat up the NYG bad, so by extention the pack are way way better than the giants?

 

nah, i don't think so either.

 

i think simon makes some points, but also we sucked and the "bad coaching" i think was in part intentional kind of hanging our guys out to dry a bit. no matter what, we NEED to figure out a way to attack the 34 more than anything else. TO would be a big help.

[GG]

Because they have been doing this for a few years now. Just about every other game in pre-season they look terrible or they look pretty good. Like last year when their first two drives against the Steelers in the pre-season were long ones for touchdowns.

 

.. which was the third preseason game last year ...

 

As for game-planning excuse, it's a weak one. Seeing an opponent run at Kelsay/Ellison or isolating a TE on Scott, or throwing slants at distant CBs isn't game-planning - it's laughing out loud at Jauron.

 

If you gave me a pad & pencil, those would be the first plays I'd draw up.

[Simon]

Woah woah woah. Didn't he shut down Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Kellen Winslow last year? He was almost one on one with them the entire game.

It's not to say that it didn't but I don't recall it shaking out like that. I looked at some boxscores from those games and see that Whitner played against both SD and Cleveland so he probably had most of the responsibility for the TE in those games where Gates and Winslow only had a handful of catches.

The one game Whitner did not play was against KC and Gonzales was the leading receiver in the game with 10 catches for 100+ yards and a TD.

I really like Bryan Scott but I don't get the sense he matches up favorably with athletic TE's.

[Simon]

If you gave me a pad & pencil, those would be the first plays I'd draw up.

 

So that would be your game plan too?

[GG]

So that would be your game plan too?

 

Yup, and pretty pathetic if a professional defense can't defend a "game plan" drawn up by an internet nerd.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Yup, and pretty pathetic if a professional defense can't defend a "game plan" drawn up by an internet nerd.

Game planning doesn't explain away losing one on one matchups. Nor does it explain why the Bills coaching staff didn't use the situation as an opportunity to make their own game time adjustments. If an internet nerd can tell they are beating Kelsay like a drum... Like you said, these guys are professionals.

[K-9]

So what? (Can I ask without getting tossed?)

 

These are not scrimmages, they are games. WHy isn't our coach gameplannig? What IS DJs plan heading into that game?

 

To evaluate players. Period. End of story.

 

If Jauron and Co. are devoting ONE minute to gama-planning (and I mean that in the TRUE sense of the word) a pre-season game, I'll lose a bit more of the diminishing respect I currently hold.

 

ALL of their game-planning is going to their opener against NE at this point. Just as it should be.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[eball]

I'm on the fence here. This is a good thread, and I certainly respect Simon's opinions -- that said, I'm still disheartened by the continuous "we don't do well against a 3-4" mantra coming out of Edwards' mouth. It simply doesn't make any sense to me.

[Simon]

To evaluate players. Period. End of story.

 

If Jauron and Co. are devoting ONE minute to gama-planning (and I mean that in the TRUE sense of the word) a pre-season game, I'll lose a bit more of the diminishing respect I currently hold.

 

ALL of their game-planning is going to their opener against NE at this point. Just as it should be.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

What he said. "To evaluate players. Period. End of story."

Game planning and in game adjustments are pointless and potentially counterproductive in the preseason.

If I have any distress following this game, it's not because the Bills got beat by a team that was more motivated with a staff that was more intent on "winning" this scrimmage. It's because they have seemingly taken no time to work against the kind of defenses they'll be frequently seeing in the regular season.

[ans4e64]

What he said. "To evaluate players. Period. End of story."

Game planning and in game adjustments are pointless and potentially counterproductive in the preseason.

If I have any distress following this game, it's not because the Bills got beat by a team that was more motivated with a staff that was more intent on "winning" this scrimmage. It's because they have seemingly taken no time to work against the kind of defenses they'll be frequently seeing in the regular season.

 

Going a little off topic, I think this could generate some legitimate discussion.

 

Wouldn't game planning and adjustments be a worth while tool to use when evaluating a player in the preseason? IMO, it would. Right now, they pretty much just go out there and run plays, and evaluate how the player does. But during the regular season, that's not what happens at all.

 

Wouldn't it be favorable to a coaching staff to design gameplans and configure adjustments in the preseason to watch how well the player can carry out those orders? Can they stick with their assignments? Do they freelance? Do they have the mental makeup to be able to not just act on talent alone, and instead be able to read-and-react while simultaneously processing their assignment(s)?

 

I think that would be a very important factor, especially for the Bills, who claim to value how smart they want their players to be. On the other hand, if this was actually an effective method, I'd think coaches around the league would actually be doing it.

[Dan]

What he said. "To evaluate players. Period. End of story."

Game planning and in game adjustments are pointless and potentially counterproductive in the preseason.

If I have any distress following this game, it's not because the Bills got beat by a team that was more motivated with a staff that was more intent on "winning" this scrimmage. It's because they have seemingly taken no time to work against the kind of defenses they'll be frequently seeing in the regular season.

Very much as I see it as well. I could care less that they lost the game. Or even that they looked disinterested. However, when Trent comes out afterward and says, in essence, we looked so bad because we haven't played against a 3-4 defense since last December and that's a hard defense to play against; well, that makes me more than concerned for the season.

 

My only hope is that he and the team are sandbagging it, intentionally, to try and gain some edge over the Pats* in week 1. Because, if they're not spending at least some of their practice time going against 3-4 defensive alignments, then I think it's entirely worthwhile to ask just what the heck they're doing with all this practice time. Its absolutely unthinkable that they haven't, at this point in the offseason, practiced or prepared for the defensive alignment that every other team in our division utilizes.

 

Maybe they're content with just winning the AFC west. I don't really know. It just defies all logic and common sense.