spartacus

The Stash is a good 4-3 DC. He understands you need size upfront and speed at LB Unfortunately, he has never coached or implemented a 3-4 defense which requires a lot of experience to maximize teh zone blitzes to make it effective. If you run it straight up like Edwards did, you have 5 OL dominating your 3 DL - no matter how good they are. In any event, the totally inept Edwards is still the DC which is a true indicator of how dysfunctional the coaching staff is.

and with that stellar performance at GT, Chan brought all of those assistants with him to Buffalo I guess those are the guys that need a full season or two to evaluate whether a guy can actually play or not

As painfully bad as Dick's defensive scheme was, the defense under Gailey was far worse- primarily because Edwards was totally inept - yet remains the DC Anyone who thinks Chris Kelsay can play OLB and cover anyone in the NFL does not deserve to have a job (there is hope that Wannstadt will improve things behind the scene - but he has never fully impelemented and utilized a 3-4 scheme) and with a defense so bad, how is it that none of the top defensive draft picks made any impact whatsoever, let alone got on the field?

so by your own talent evaluation, the Bills are 4 years away from today from being a playoff contender that should be just about when Spiller's career will be over so how does it make any sense whatsoever to be drafting a jitterbug with a 4 year lifecycle at the beginning of a 5 year re-build project?? soldifying the OL to block for the RB drafted in 4 years as the last piece of the puzzle would be the smarter way to build a long term playoff contender but I guess Buddy needed to see the guys actually play for a couple years to figure out they all have to be replaced

of course they are not going to build it- it would interfere with the birds flying along the River.I guess they think the birds are as dumb as the politicians "While the authority had to abandon plans for Menn's dramatic cable-stayed bridge, for fear it would threaten the common tern as well as migratory birds flying along the Niagara River corridor . . ."

Cornell Green wasn't even good enough to sit on the bench

http://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2011/05/08/evaluating-the-evaluator/ This article describes the process typically used in the NFL to scout and evaluate talent. It seems the "process" of the scouting system and the lack of direction the scouts are given in evaluating talent for that specific team may be the root of the Bills problem in stocking their team with NFL quality talent

It's probably a good thing the Bills will not spend much on free agent because they are absolutely inept at talent evaluation. When Buddy spends big bucks on "talent" like Cornell Green - you can see why he would prefer to sleep thru the free agency signing period. Don't expect any talent to be added in free agency - Buddy brought in a boatload of scrubs lasts year who will magically be starting caliber after the lockout. The Bills have ignored the OL for 15 years - nothing indicates that it will change anytime soon

you know what you get with Hangartner He will consistently get thrown back in the QBs lap- whether he lines up at C or RG As a backup C he is filling the role he is capable of - no more, nor less

so the Buddy plan to tank last season to get better picks was not a good idea? because if they did not tank the season on purpose, these guys are totally incompetent

I also see very little evidence that the overaged "football guys" that Ralph is now relying on have any clue whatsoever about how to win in the NFL. taking a 7-9 team and turning it into a 4-12 doormat does not scream "legit " plan to any but the most avid Bills homer

It's hard to make trades in the NFL

won't survive long term? what's long term? 50 years? It's been Ralph's MO for most of that time except when he stumble on Polian He quickly corrected that problem and returned to his usual methodology of doing just enough to keep the fans paying (and collecting his portion of the TV money and revenue sharing) why do you think he bitched and moaned about the last CBA - his suibsidy from the big market teams was not addressed at the time of the vote

good thing they discounted the tickets for the extended pre-season they conducted last year but I guess why do that - when they have been dumping seasons for over a decade

you support my argument Bills are filling the stadium yet have a team of misfits (front offioce, coaches and players) which hasn't been to the playoffs in over a decade no star power anyway on the roster yet the fans keep coming to the stadium yeah- Ralph has a goldmine and it does not revolve around any irreplaceable players

"You see if teams were all that fans cared about, there would be no real reason to invest in star players because there would be no payoff." sure sounds like the Bills since Kelly left no money spent on replacing the stars - yet the fans keep selling out the stadium and putting big bucks in Ralph's pockets sure seems that Ralph figured out that it's about the charging Buffalo - and not about specific players

the showcasing worked so well that they got less in trade than the offer they turned down on draft day - when they could have gotten help for last season.

what really hurts is that Edwards is still the DC - after proving he is totally inept running a 3-4 (and a 4-3)

here's some stats regarding Fitz's performance under pressure http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=594145 Beating the Blitz May 12th, 2011 | Author: Khaled Elsayed You want to be a quarterback in the NFL? Well you know you need to be gifted physically. You need to have the arm to zip the ball into tight spots, the accuracy to hit your man, and the mobility to avoid defenders that are crashing in around you. You also need to be smart. You need to recognize defenses and see what is coming. You need to process information quickly and make the right decision. Nowhere is that ability (or lack thereof) more apparent than in the face of a blitz. It doesn’t matter whether the defense is bringing everyone or dropping an end into coverage and overloading on the other side. You need to pick it up and get that ball somewhere. It’s what can separate a good quarterback from a truly great one and that begs the question: who are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with the blitz? Well, fortunately, Pro Football Focus tracks every blitz and every result of every blitz and we’re going share with you what the numbers say. It only took a spreadsheet with over two hundred columns to process it all. The qualifying minimum to be part of this study was being blitzed at least 100 times. Bullseyes On Their Backs I guess if you’re going to break down how quarterbacks deal with the blitz, it would be nice to look at which quarterbacks get blitzed most often. Something of particular interest to Raider fans, who will see two of their players in the top six. Having the house thrown at him more than any other was Bruce Gradkowski. The former Buc and Brown felt the blitz on 57.8% of all of his drop backs for Oakland in 2010 with the next in line, Joe Flacco, finishing a figurative mile behind, seeing blitzes on 49.51% of his drops from center. Just outside of the Top 5 was the aforementioned other Raider, Jason Campbell. Elite quarterbacks Matt Ryan (44% of plays) and Ben Roethlisberger (41.21%) both saw a lot of men coming their way as teams tried to slow them down. In less of a surprise, rookies Colt McCoy (45.59%), Sam Bradford (42.03%), and Jimmy Clausen (41.28%) all faced their share of blitzes, while defenses smelt blood with Ryan Fitzpatrick (45.95%) and those multiple receiver sets the Bills liked to use. Here’s a complete list of how much each quarterback was blitzed. Percentage of Pass Play Blitzed Rank (DropBack) (DropBack Blitzed) (Blitzed %) 1 Bruce GradkowskiOAK 173 100 57.80% 2 Joe Flacco BLT 618 306 49.51% 3 Ryan FitzpatrickBUF 494 227 45.95% 4 Colt McCoy CLV 261 119 45.59% 5 Matt Ryan ATL 650 286 44.00% 6 Jason Campbell OAK 388 168 43.30% 7 Sam Bradford SL 640 269 42.03% 8 Josh Freeman TB 544 225 41.36% 9 Jimmy Clausen CAR 344 142 41.28% 10 Ben RoethlisbergerPIT 546 225 41.21% 11 Alex D. Smith SF 375 153 40.80% 12 Brett Favre MIN 383 154 40.21% 13 Matt Schaub HST 611 244 39.93% 14 Mark Sanchez NYJ 640 251 39.22% 15 Carson Palmer CIN 620 243 39.19% 16 Derek Anderson ARZ 355 139 39.15% 17 Jay Cutler CHI 565 219 38.76% 18 Aaron Rodgers GB 695 266 38.27% 19 Donovan McNabb WAS 525 199 37.90% 20 Drew Brees NO 747 282 37.75% 21 Kyle Orton DEN 545 205 37.61% 22 Peyton Manning IND 724 271 37.43% 23 Eli Manning NYG 565 210 37.17% 24 Chad Henne MIA 540 199 36.85% 25 Michael Vick PHI 510 186 36.47% 26 Philip Rivers SD 591 209 35.36% 27 Tom Brady NE 572 200 34.97% 28 Matt Cassel KC 519 176 33.91% 29 David Garrard JAX 421 141 33.49% 30 Jon Kitna DAL 357 119 33.33% 31 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 566 181 31.98% 32 Shaun Hill DET 448 136 30.36% Down near the bottom, teams shied away from attacking the aging trio of Shaun Hill (30.36%), Matt Hasselbeck (31.98%), and Jon Kitna (33.33%). Meanwhile, it would appear teams were scared of sending more men after Tom Brady, for fear of leaving his receivers even more room to roam. One figure that did catch my attention was how low Michael Vick was on the list. Understandably, teams have to account for Vick’s mobility, but the Vikings showed how susceptible he could be to pressure off the edge as Antoine Winfield got the zone blitz working. Furthermore, Vick wasn’t exactly seeing the whole field, with just 15.55% of his throws going to the right side. Philadelphia can expect more of this. If you want to know why, you need only look at Vick’s completion percentage when blitzed as it dropped to 52.98%. Accuracy Impacted At the top of this next list – completion percentage when blitzed – it’s no real surprise that Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers are securely among the best, but there may be a small shock in store for some with Chad Henne ranking so highly. When you consider Miami’s preference for keeping extra guys in to protect, some explanation is offered. With 5.84 men kept in on average, Miami’s number was third highest in the league. Comparatively, teams like New Orleans and San Diego keep in a relatively low 5.51 men per pass play. Completion Percentage When Blitzed Rank Blitzed Attempts Completions Completion% 1 Drew Brees NO 282 267 176 65.92% 2 Chad Henne MIA 199 179 114 63.69% 3 Aaron Rodgers GB 266 245 154 62.86% 4 Philip Rivers SD 209 190 118 62.11% 5 Matt Schaub HST 244 226 140 61.95% 6 Matt Ryan ATL 286 268 165 61.57% 7 Jon Kitna DAL 119 104 64 61.54% 8 Eli Manning NYG 210 198 121 61.11% 9 Carson Palmer CIN 243 223 136 60.99% 10 Peyton Manning IND 271 261 159 60.92% 11 Josh Freeman TB 225 200 121 60.50% 12 Shaun Hill DET 136 124 75 60.48% 13 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 181 166 100 60.24% 14 Joe Flacco BLT 306 276 162 58.70% 15 Matt Cassel KC 176 158 92 58.23% 16 Jay Cutler CHI 219 188 108 57.45% 17 Tom Brady NE 200 190 109 57.37% 18 Alex D. Smith SF 153 137 78 56.93% 19 Ryan FitzpatrickBUF 227 203 115 56.65% 20 Sam Bradford SL 269 246 139 56.50% 21 David Garrard JAX 141 119 67 56.30% 22 Jason Campbell OAK 168 139 78 56.12% 23 Colt McCoy CLV 119 100 56 56.00% 24 Brett Favre MIN 154 148 82 55.41% 25 Ben RoethlisbergerPIT 225 194 106 54.64% 26 Michael Vick PHI 186 151 80 52.98% 27 Donovan McNabb WAS 199 182 96 52.75% 28 Mark Sanchez NYJ 251 231 120 51.95% 29 Kyle Orton DEN 205 191 93 48.69% 30 Bruce GradkowskiOAK 100 88 41 46.59% 31 Jimmy Clausen CAR 142 116 51 43.97% 32 Derek Anderson ARZ 139 127 52 40.94% Down where you don’t want to be, you get a little bit of numbers to back up what we already know when it comes to Derek Anderson. After our deep ball article looked favorably at his accuracy going downfield, you see the true problem with him. He gets flustered in stressful situations. While others excel against the blitz, he’s completing just 40.94% of his passes. When you’re ranked lower than Jimmy Clausen you got some explaining to do. Points Not Picks So we’ve looked at accuracy, but what about the plays that show up on highlight reels? Which players are using the blitz to put up points, and which ones are feeling the heat and turning it over? In a shocking result, Peyton Manning is at the top. Turning the sarcasm off for a second, it is a surprise to have him joined by Mark Sanchez. For all his faults (and he has a few), Sanchez tends to work best when teams give him more of the field to exploit, handling the teams that go after him. Touchdown to Interception Ratio When BlitzedRank Blitzed TDs INTs TD / INT 1t Peyton Manning IND 271 13 3 4.3 1t Mark Sanchez NYJ 251 13 3 4.3 3 Joe Flacco BLT 306 12 4 3.0 4 Matt Ryan ATL 286 14 5 2.8 5 Michael Vick PHI 186 8 3 2.7 6 Sam Bradford SL 269 10 4 2.5 7t Eli Manning NYG 210 16 7 2.3 7t Jon Kitna DAL 119 9 4 2.3 7t Ben RoethlisbergerPIT 225 9 4 2.3 10t Josh Freeman TB 225 11 5 2.2 10t Aaron Rodgers GB 266 13 6 2.2 12t Carson Palmer CIN 243 10 5 2.0 12t Tom Brady NE 200 8 4 2.0 14t Matt Cassel KC 176 9 5 1.8 14t Kyle Orton DEN 205 7 4 1.8 16 Philip Rivers SD 209 10 6 1.7 17 Matt Schaub HST 244 8 5 1.6 18 Jason Campbell OAK 168 6 4 1.5 19t Ryan FitzpatrickBUF 227 12 9 1.3 19t Donovan McNabb WAS 199 8 6 1.3 21t Chad Henne MIA 199 7 6 1.2 21t David Garrard JAX 141 7 6 1.2 23t Drew Brees NO 282 6 6 1.0 23t Matt Hasselbeck SEA 181 5 5 1.0 23t Alex D. Smith SF 153 4 4 1.0 23t Jimmy Clausen CAR 142 2 2 1.0 27t Jay Cutler CHI 219 5 6 0.8 27t Bruce GradkowskiOAK 100 3 4 0.8 29t Shaun Hill DET 136 2 3 0.7 29t Colt McCoy CLV 119 2 3 0.7 31 Brett Favre MIN 154 4 8 0.5 32 Derek Anderson ARZ 139 1 5 0.2 Again it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Derek Anderson, and it gives some numbers to the widely held feeling that Brett Favre should never have come back. A more surprising figure sees Drew Brees towards the bottom at 23rd. Given how many times he threw the ball when blitzed you can understand the six interceptions to a degree, but it’s slightly stunning there weren’t more touchdowns. Grading Lastly, as everyone knows, we grade plays on a certain scale. Some of that was explained briefly in this article. I reviewed our grades specifically for blitz situations. Things that won’t astound are how well our the top three in this list did, but Eli Manning probably doesn’t spring to mind as a guy expected to rank well. The same goes for Carson Palmer, who may not be coming off his best year, but there’s something left in the tank if the Bengals are prepared to let him go. Pro Football Focus Grade When Blitzed QB Rating When Blitzed Grade When Blitzed 1 Aaron Rodgers GB 60.9 39.0 2 Matt Ryan ATL 86.5 34.0 3 Philip Rivers SD 74.3 23.5 4 Eli Manning NYG 61.0 22.0 5 Carson Palmer CIN 63.9 22.0 6 Joe Flacco BLT 64.0 21.5 7 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 81.1 19.0 8 Peyton Manning IND 67.4 18.0 9 Matt Schaub HST 58.7 17.5 10 Drew Brees NO 64.3 16.0 11 Shaun Hill DET 52.0 14.5 12 Sam Bradford SL 51.0 14.0 13 Josh Freeman TB 79.4 13.5 14 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 67.7 12.5 15 Mark Sanchez NYJ 51.9 11.5 16 Chad Henne MIA 48.8 11.5 17 Tom Brady NE 84.5 11.0 18 Jason Campbell OAK 60.6 9.5 19 Michael Vick PHI 65.3 9.0 20 Jay Cutler CHI 68.9 9.0 21 Jon Kitna DAL 78.7 8.0 22 Ryan Fitzpatrick BUF 44.0 6.5 23 Brett Favre MIN 43.2 6.0 24 Alex D. Smith SF 66.1 4.0 25 David Garrard JAX 67.2 3.5 26 Colt McCoy CLV 53.8 2.5 27 Kyle Orton DEN 62.4 1.0 28 Matt Cassel KC 63.2 0.5 29 Jimmy Clausen CAR 50.3 0.5 30 Donovan McNabb WAS 46.7 -1.0 31 Bruce GradkowskiOAK 64.8 -2.0 32 Derek Anderson ARZ 56.1 -11.0 That brings to a close our look at the quarterbacks against the blitz. With metrics there are always mitigating circumstances and it’s so with our grading: players who are blitzed more are rewarded with more opportunities to make plays. Such is life that things are rarely perfect, but there’s plenty of food for thought here as you wonder why some quarterbacks make it look so easy, and others seem like they’re playing a different game. That’s what the blitz can do to quarterbacks.

That lack of interest also led to blackouts in the past - which are totally avoided in the 2nd largest TV market without a team in LA Networks actually pay more for rights fees with no team in LA since they are guaranteed no blackouts

The NFL is better off without a team in LA. Now they can use the threat of moving a team to extort new stadium deals for any team needing improvements. In addition, the networks are free to televise whatever games they want in LA - without being forced to televise games of a crappy LA team back to its home market.

yeah - I agree really annoying how one side can spin the story to fit their interpretation. something like the NFLPA constantly asserting that the NFL violated the CBA by contesting the de-certification - even though the players clearly jumped the gun and decertified before the CBA expired good thing this litigation is only a negotiating tactic

if there is no draft, there is no salary cap since both are anti-trust violations which can not exist without a CBA. there would be no level playing field, big money teams would dominate the league

Buddy already retired He's on borrowed time

the players have not started to negotiate yet of course they want to continue to get paid while they wait for their anti-trust to conclude in 5 years you do realize that "playing under the old contracts" will result in anti-trust violations for the league from the owners perspective, continuing to operate without a CBA under the very rules that the players are bringing treble damage claims for anti-trust violations is just a bit problematic.