Coach Tuesday Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 11 of 18 of Nix's draft picks have been on defense, along with his three biggest free agent signings (Edwards, Merriman and Barnett). He has GOT to be pissed with the way his talent has been utilized by these coaches.
NoSaint Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 You know, defenses have been struggling this year WRT how much the league/rules committee has tilted the tables toward offense and scoring. Like him or not, James Harrison was correct; they're not being allowed to play defense anymore and soon it will be tantamount to flag football. But even with that in mind, our D has taken some serious beat-downs from guys who had no business putting up numbers like they did (see: Andy Dalton). I don't have insider knowledge, but he primarily coaches ILB. The ass't head coach title is something that definitely does make the guys look up to you and he has Gailey's ear more than another position coach, but it generally only means that he runs the team if/when the coach isn't there. I think the rules contribute but Harrison is an idiot. McGee(?) showed textbook D and separating the ball last week. Maybe he can't play defense but it can be played. I also would point out that guys like Dalton make good defenses look bad sometimes. They are talented, dont have a lot of film and sometimes those chances they take (that often lead to turnovers) pay off. 100% of teams in the league will lay down a bad game against a "lesser" opponent this year. As for wannstadt- he's in on decisions like "blitz heavy this week and on most 3rds drop 8" even if he's not calling plays gameday. I'm about certain he's a little more involves than portrayed. Last- and i think this goes beyond Harrison learning how to tackle- what defense isn't struggling some this year? Offenses could practice routes, timing etc.... Defenses could practice hitting about 10 times at practice plus the half game they chalk up in preseason. I'd have to think if we had our lineup set in April we would have had more time to teach complex schemes too. The ravens D looks REALLY good but Theyve been together forever.
CardinalScotts Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 my only complaint so far is the Bengals with a rookie qb we didnt even try to blitz him- very odd.
ganesh Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 The fact that Wannstedt is in the mix now and yet the defense is still getting torched is even more baffling. Exactly what is Wannstedt doing? He's not having much effect up to this point. He is just the MLB Coach.
hondo in seattle Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 He is just the MLB Coach. And the Assistant Head Coach (so Edwards boss in that regard) and, presumably, Edwards' older mentor.
BillsVet Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Not to make excuses for Edwards but... Kyle Williams and Shawne Merriman were supposed to be the veteran stars of this defense. We've learned that both have been playing hurt all year and not as effective as hoped. Dareus is still learning. McGee has been hurt as well. Few NFL people thought Merriman would make any sort of impact this season. He is physically a shell of what he used to be and that's why other teams weren't offering guaranteed money like Buffalo did. And as excellent a player as Williams is, he's just not a 30 front guy, 0, 5 tech, or shaded over. Last year with him Buffalo still yielded 170 rypg, but it certainly doesn't help for him to be out of the lineup in 2011. This season, Buffalo adds Dareus, Barnett, they're getting better play at safety, and still not much better than their first rebuilding season last year. It stands to reason there'd be improvement, but it's middling especially when compared to the offense. Perhaps there's a reason Edwards had 1 year as a DC (in Washington) and from 04-09 was back as a LB coach. He just looks completely overmatched on the sidelines when the cameras inevitably show him.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Buddy Nixon asked Mr. Brown a question about Edwards. Here's what he said: Chris Brown Responds unfortunately
DrFishfinder Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 The fact that Wannstedt is in the mix now and yet the defense is still getting torched is even more baffling. Exactly what is Wannstedt doing? He's not having much effect up to this point. I don't have insider knowledge, but he primarily coaches ILB. The ass't head coach title is something that definitely does make the guys look up to you and he has Gailey's ear more than another position coach, but it generally only means that he runs the team if/when the coach isn't there. Well if the powers that be brought in Wannstedt to have no impact on the defense, they seem to have nailed it. Yay for that. I can't see Wannstedt languishing around like this next season.
John Cocktosten Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 They were relying on Merriman? Wow, a guy who's previous 3 seasons were ruined by injury and this is the guy that you were counting on? Buddy's refusal to draft a legit edge rusher in his first 2 drafts has baffled me (among other things that he'd done). The great defensive rebuild by Buddy seems to be more of a myth than anything. Luckily he had Fitz, SJ, FJ on the roster or we'd be a train wreck. Hopefully, he gets his head right on draft day and realizes the thing that made those SD defenses so good were Merriman and Phillips disrupting every pass play. No more waterbugs Buddy.
Doc Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Looks like Chan is quicker/more willing to blame the players and make changes, than the coaches. Hopefully that doesn't bite him/us in the ass.
Saint Doug Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 I'm surprised no one is commenting on Nix's Merriman comment "he's not the same guy". Earlier on, Nix was talking like he just an injured superstar and as soon as gets healthy, and he will, he'll be Lights Out again. Now we are hearing "he's not the same guy"? Looks like the Bills have made their final assessment of this situation. He's damaged goods and we've seen the best of him.
BillsVet Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 I'm surprised no one is commenting on Nix's Merriman comment "he's not the same guy". Earlier on, Nix was talking like he just an injured superstar and as soon as gets healthy, and he will, he'll be Lights Out again. Now we are hearing "he's not the same guy"? Looks like the Bills have made their final assessment of this situation. He's damaged goods and we've seen the best of him. Good point. That's quite telling coming from the GM, but something I would think he'd have known long before signing him to an extension. It's also interesting considering that the GM went out of his way to say Merriman was the pass-rushing answer before the season. I chalk that up to Buddy being Buddy and BS'ing people again.
Doc Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 I'm surprised no one is commenting on Nix's Merriman comment "he's not the same guy". Earlier on, Nix was talking like he just an injured superstar and as soon as gets healthy, and he will, he'll be Lights Out again. Now we are hearing "he's not the same guy"? Looks like the Bills have made their final assessment of this situation. He's damaged goods and we've seen the best of him. Brown actually made that assessment, and Merriman injured his shoulder against the Chefs. But it's interesting to note that he doesn't make mention of Kyle Williams' decreased level of play, which like Merriman's, is due to injury.
thewildrabbit Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) First of all, even the Blitzburg Steelers who are notoriously good at stopping the run on first, and second down, then forcing the opponent into a passing mode where they can blitz from any angle...were even having a difficult time stopping the run at the start of the season. So their entire philosophy of stopping the run on first and second down, then blitzing on third and long went out the window. That also made for very few turnovers for them as it makes them last in the NFL in turnover ratio, where they are usually in the top 10 every year. Although now the Steelers are ranked # one overall in total defense, #1 against the pass, and 15th against the run, so they have made up some ground. Even Green Bay is having difficulty this year without Cullen Jenkins, so I have to wonder is it injuries, players playing poorly or just teams finally catching up on how to defeat that 3-4 scheme? Anyway, I look at this Bills team and player personnel and have to think, why are they attempting a 3-4 defense when they clearly don't have the LB's for it... they simply don't have that dominate pass rushing LB. This was supposed to be Shawne Merriman's job and he had been basically invisible, still injured? The top 14-16 teams the best at stopping the run all play a 4-3 and I would like to see KW & MD in the middle wreaking havoc and putting pressure up the middle consistently, that is when KW is healthy again This might be the biggest reason the Bills are not showing improvement in yardage allowed as KW has been playing with a foot injury....still, one player shouldn't make or break any team. Being an old school run and stop the run type of guy, I'd rather see the Bills work on stopping the run with Kelsay at DE- KW & MD at DT- Dwan Edwards DE, Sheppard-Barnett- Moats at LB and let wannstache set it up and run it for George Edwards...show him how. I'm surprised no one is commenting on Nix's Merriman comment "he's not the same guy". Earlier on, Nix was talking like he just an injured superstar and as soon as gets healthy, and he will, he'll be Lights Out again. Now we are hearing "he's not the same guy"? Looks like the Bills have made their final assessment of this situation. He's damaged goods and we've seen the best of him. Ok first of all that was Chris Brown who said that, ""he's not the same guy"" not Buddy Nix! Plus the Nix people are referring to is Buddy Nixon who has some -----website and asked Chris Brown a question and posted it on his site....not Buddy Nix the GM of the Buffalo Bills Chan Gailey must have faith in George Edwards and the 3-4 to keep running it, or perhaps he simply doesn't know defense like Jauron didn't know offense. A lot of season left to play and if the defense doesn't improve after everyone is healthy, then he should make a change at DC. Edited October 22, 2011 by Fear the Beard
Malazan Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 I hope Nix and Gailey hold Edwards accountable because there should not be a double standard within any organization. The defense either sucks or has underachieved. Someone has to be accountable. The interesting dynamic is that if Nix forgives Edwards' defense, it becomes a tacit acknowledgement that Nix himself has not done well enough to upgrade the talent level on defense. If they feel like Edwards is doing a good job, then firing him would simply be scapegoating him. Wait, what? We knew the defense was going to be a problem which is exactly why they have been upgrading it. You expected the defense to be solid this season? If that is the case, I think you may want to dwell on what lead you to believe this..
starrymessenger Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Now that he is healthy I wonder why we are not seeing more of Kirk Morrison? Supposed to be good against the run.
DrFishfinder Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 He is just the MLB Coach. Does that make any sense to anyone? Bring in Wannstedt with all his credentials as MLB coach? Let's hire Bill Cowher to be the ST coach, next.
John Cocktosten Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Now that he is healthy I wonder why we are not seeing more of Kirk Morrison? Supposed to be good against the run. He was a street FA until the last game of the preseason.
Sniper Posted October 22, 2011 Author Posted October 22, 2011 Does that make any sense to anyone? Bring in Wannstedt with all his credentials as MLB coach? Let's hire Bill Cowher to be the ST coach, next. Yeah, he at least is Assistant Head Coach.
Mr_Blizzard Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Looks like the type of reply that one would expect from a pretty objective guy… but one who works for the Buffalo Bills. Chris is in a tough spot answering questions like this but thanks for asking. Chris seemed to dwell on the DBs when in fact they were towards the end of your short list of problems… and you'd already prefaced your DB comments with the (non) pass rush issue. I hope Nix and Gailey hold Edwards accountable because there should not be a double standard within any organization. The defense either sucks or has underachieved. Someone has to be accountable. The interesting dynamic is that if Nix forgives Edwards' defense, it becomes a tacit acknowledgement that Nix himself has not done well enough to upgrade the talent level on defense. If they feel like Edwards is doing a good job, then firing him would simply be scapegoating him. Put another way, if Gailey/Nix think that Edwards is doing a good job, then it means that the talent level is poor which, like you pointed out, is lamentable in that the Bills have invested heavily in defense over the past two years. I think that if anyone takes a good look at the state of the Bills 18 months ago versus now, we are a much better team. Let's face it - we were terrible last year. It's takes more than 2 drafts to build a team, and the talent cupboard was pretty bare when Chan and buddy inherited the team. I give them one more off-season to get the talent level to where it should be. We need better starters at LB, and quality depth. We are lacking in those areas, and the recent injuries have made the problem more visible.
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