Buddy and the 46: 85 Bears

[Mikie2times]

I just watched the 30 for 30 on the 85 Bears. Found it interesting that the Bears defense came to Buddy a couple years prior to the 85 season and asked him to shrink the playbook. Most players commented that they knew this wasn't what Buddy wanted, but the next day they came to practice the playbook was more than cut in half. It becomes very interesting to now see Rex facing a what would appear to be a similar situation his father did. In his dads situation the players unified and requested that the playbook be reduced with the expectations that it would allow them to play faster and improve as a team. The defense was united and wrote a letter to Buddy and Buddy was smart enough to listen. I don't know if a modern NFL team has the stones or ability to be unified like teams did of that era. I wouldn't expect Bills players to ask Rex to change, it will come more in the form of what we have already seen. Player complaints in the media, etc. His father was smart enough to listen to his players and it eventually led to the greatest defensive season in NFL history. It gives me hope for next season that Rex has seen what simplification can provide. Perhaps we just didn't see it on a wide scale level last year as we already found ourselves too invested in the initial strategy.

Edited March 12, 2016 by KzooMike

[ALF]

Players today are so rich, they don't have incentive to learn a massive playbook.

 

They can move on and still make a fortune in free agency.

[nucci]

Why make football so complicated? It's not like these guys are graduating with Masters degrees....It's football!!

[Mikie2times]

Players today are so rich, they don't have incentive to learn a massive playbook.

 

They can move on and still make a fortune in free agency.

Hard to disagree but can't be applied across the board. Seattle is the best defense of 2010's and registers in a top 10 discussion all time when looking at defensive performance over a couple years when factoring in scoring/yard differences in eras. One thing Seattle defenders discuss across the board is just how straight forward the scheme is. I thought that was illustrated well in the Super Bowl against the Pats. They play man on just about everything and want to force teams to drive 3-4 yards downfield per play with no big plays and emphasis punishing eliminating YAC and hitting WR's. They had a pretty good degree of success against Brady even in allowing 300 yards passing. You could just see how much it took to beat them in that game with one of the games all time best QB's forced to execute on 50 pass attempts as Seattle defenders just pummeled New England's WR's all game. We also saw Buffalo do it's thing with Schwartz in a different scheme than Seattle but similar in it's approach to players not thinking. On the flip side you have the Broncos defense this year. Wade might not run something as complex as Rex but his defense isn't exactly run of mill. Personally, that Denver defense is the kind I love seeing with pressure being it's hallmark.

 

Common theme in all situations is good players in good scheme fits. Seattle has a roster which is very unique as far as how physical it's DB's are. Denver had great edge rushing LB's, outstanding corners. Just a great all around defense.

We still have a very good DL, bordering on great if Kyle returns to form. Marcell and Kyle should be at DE, and we need to add a true NT. Hughes is a very solid edge guy who should be a primary rusher, but can drop. We have outstanding corners which is mandatory.I think Lawson is a wild card. Very talented? No, but one thing a Rex defense can do when it clicks is make average players look very talented, specifically at LB. Lawson was moving around a lot at the end of the year and it seemed to work. He played a lot of MLB against the Jets. We can have a good scheme fit with this defense and this roster in 2016 with a couple additions, players buying in, and simplification.

Edited March 12, 2016 by KzooMike

[Marty McFly]

I just watched the 30 for 30 on the 85 Bears. Found it interesting that the Bears defense came to Buddy a couple years prior to the 85 season and asked him to shrink the playbook. Most players commented that they knew this wasn't what Buddy wanted, but the next day they came to practice the playbook was more than cut in half. It becomes very interesting to now see Rex facing a what would appear to be a similar situation his father did. In his dads situation the players unified and requested that the playbook be reduced with the expectations that it would allow them to play faster and improve as a team. The defense was united and wrote a letter to Buddy and Buddy was smart enough to listen. I don't know if a modern NFL team has the stones or ability to be unified like teams did of that era. I wouldn't expect Bills players to ask Rex to change, it will come more in the form of what we have already seen. Player complaints in the media, etc. His father was smart enough to listen to his players and it eventually led to the greatest defensive season in NFL history. It gives me hope for next season that Rex has seen what simplification can provide. Perhaps we just didn't see it on a wide scale level last year as we already found ourselves too invested in the initial strategy.

That a cool observation, is Buddy still alive tho? Somebody should send Rex the link to that 30 for 30. That strategy would help even though we dont have anything close to the talent on that bears team rite now.

[vincec]

What I see is that offenses have become much better at dealing with complex schemes.

 

They work quickly, giving the defense less time to make changes and adjust to offensive formations. This strategy alone was so effective in the late 80s when the Bengals started using it that many teams just sat in their base defenses rather than try to make substitutions and adjustments. Can't get more simple than that. Now it seems like half the teams in the league go twice as fast as the Bengals or Bills ever did. That makes it really hard on the defense.

 

Also, they use spread formations, making it harder for defenses to disguise what they're doing and they use quick, short passes to minimize the effectiveness of complex blitzing.

 

So it's harder than ever for defenses to matchup with the offense, create pressure and disguise what they're doing.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Hard to disagree but can't be applied across the board. Seattle is the best defense of 2010's and registers in a top 10 discussion all time when looking at defensive performance over a couple years when factoring in scoring/yard differences in eras. One thing Seattle defenders discuss across the board is just how straight forward the scheme is. I thought that was illustrated well in the Super Bowl against the Pats. They play man on just about everything and want to force teams to drive 3-4 yards downfield per play with no big plays and emphasis punishing eliminating YAC and hitting WR's. They had a pretty good degree of success against Brady even in allowing 300 yards passing. You could just see how much it took to beat them in that game with one of the games all time best QB's forced to execute on 50 pass attempts as Seattle defenders just pummeled New England's WR's all game. We also saw Buffalo do it's thing with Schwartz in a different scheme than Seattle but similar in it's approach to players not thinking. On the flip side you have the Broncos defense this year. Wade might not run something as complex as Rex but his defense isn't exactly run of mill. Personally, that Denver defense is the kind I love seeing with pressure being it's hallmark.

 

Common theme in all situations is good players in good scheme fits. Seattle has a roster which is very unique as far as how physical it's DB's are. Denver had great edge rushing LB's, outstanding corners. Just a great all around defense.

We still have a very good DL, bordering on great if Kyle returns to form. Marcell and Kyle should be at DE, and we need to add a true NT. Hughes is a very solid edge guy who should be a primary rusher, but can drop. We have outstanding corners which is mandatory.I think Lawson is a wild card. Very talented? No, but one thing a Rex defense can do when it clicks is make average players look very talented, specifically at LB. Lawson was moving around a lot at the end of the year and it seemed to work. He played a lot of MLB against the Jets. We can have a good scheme fit with this defense and this roster in 2016 with a couple additions, players buying in, and simplification.

Seattle doesn't play man, they play press cover 3.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Well the only problem with this thought is for all we know, Rex has a already cut the play book in half.

 

 

I just watched the 30 for 30 on the 85 Bears. Found it interesting that the Bears defense came to Buddy a couple years prior to the 85 season and asked him to shrink the playbook. Most players commented that they knew this wasn't what Buddy wanted, but the next day they came to practice the playbook was more than cut in half. It becomes very interesting to now see Rex facing a what would appear to be a similar situation his father did. In his dads situation the players unified and requested that the playbook be reduced with the expectations that it would allow them to play faster and improve as a team. The defense was united and wrote a letter to Buddy and Buddy was smart enough to listen. I don't know if a modern NFL team has the stones or ability to be unified like teams did of that era. I wouldn't expect Bills players to ask Rex to change, it will come more in the form of what we have already seen. Player complaints in the media, etc. His father was smart enough to listen to his players and it eventually led to the greatest defensive season in NFL history. It gives me hope for next season that Rex has seen what simplification can provide. Perhaps we just didn't see it on a wide scale level last year as we already found ourselves too invested in the initial strategy.

[BarleyNY]

I just watched the 30 for 30 on the 85 Bears. Found it interesting that the Bears defense came to Buddy a couple years prior to the 85 season and asked him to shrink the playbook. Most players commented that they knew this wasn't what Buddy wanted, but the next day they came to practice the playbook was more than cut in half. It becomes very interesting to now see Rex facing a what would appear to be a similar situation his father did. In his dads situation the players unified and requested that the playbook be reduced with the expectations that it would allow them to play faster and improve as a team. The defense was united and wrote a letter to Buddy and Buddy was smart enough to listen. I don't know if a modern NFL team has the stones or ability to be unified like teams did of that era. I wouldn't expect Bills players to ask Rex to change, it will come more in the form of what we have already seen. Player complaints in the media, etc. His father was smart enough to listen to his players and it eventually led to the greatest defensive season in NFL history. It gives me hope for next season that Rex has seen what simplification can provide. Perhaps we just didn't see it on a wide scale level last year as we already found ourselves too invested in the initial strategy.

 

A big change in how the defense is schemed is really the only chance for a big improvement on that side of the ball. I'm not optimistic of it happening, especially with the hiring of Rob Ryan, but I'm still hoping it does.