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Not everyone at ESPN is pessimistic about the Bills...


eball

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I found this nugget this morning...posted after the recent injury news.

 

Counting the seconds before ScottLaw gives us the much needed counter-perspective.

 

Edit: despite containing a fair share of optimism, the article should make the "we don't need Shady" crowd happy as well

Edited by eball
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I love the optimism yet...

 

Joyner talks a lot about how excellent the Bills were last year. We we're 8-8 last year.

 

He very specifically says, "That leaves rush defense as the only area where Buffalo needs an upgrade."

 

So the right side of our line doesn't need to improve? Nor our sack totals? Nor TT's ability to throw over the middle? Nor our FG/EP kicking? Nor our TE utilization/production? Nor our...

Edited by hondo in seattle
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I love the optimism yet...

 

Joyner talks a lot about how excellent the Bills were last year. We we're 8-8 last year.

 

He very specifically says, "That leaves rush defense as the only area where Buffalo needs an upgrade."

 

So the right side of our line doesn't need to improve? Nor our sack totals? Nor TT's ability to throw over the middle? Nor our FG/EP kicking? Nor our TE utilization/production? Nor our...

 

How the heck they ever won eight games is beyond me.

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I love the optimism yet...

 

Joyner talks a lot about how excellent the Bills were last year. We we're 8-8 last year.

 

He very specifically says, "That leaves rush defense as the only area where Buffalo needs an upgrade."

 

So the right side of our line doesn't need to improve? Nor our sack totals? Nor TT's ability to throw over the middle? Nor our FG/EP kicking? Nor our TE utilization/production? Nor our...

Good points. On paper, the Bills have some of the best player talent in the league and should have been playoff bound last year!

 

Last year wasn't just about injuries or bad luck like it used to be with head coaches like Jauron and Gailey. This team swept the Jets and Dolphins and has enough talent to give the Patriots a serious run. And yet they didn't! If only the team was motivated and prepared enough to beat teams with good QB's out of the AFC East.

 

That first game against the Patriots in week two the defense looked like it was in a "prevent defense" most of the game and with no pressure on Brady he set a Bills franchise worst 466 passing yards allowed ever! That bad defensive scheme with such a total lack of QB pressure wouldn't be the only thing to define the 2015 Buffalo Bills. It was all the penalties on both sides of the ball. It was the noticeable lack of defensive team preparation against non-AFC East opponents. It was defensive play calls coming in late and the late player substitutions. The defensive players not looking ready when the ball was snapped.

 

If this new head coach hire was his first year as an NFL head coach then some of those things can be forgiven. But this hire with an experienced NFL Head coach who was supposed to be a defensive guru who wouldn't try and put square pegs into round holes... then went ahead and did just that with the defensive line. That 2015 front seven was not built to run zone blitzes or two-gap run stopping and yet we saw quite a bit of those all last year.

 

Yes, the 2016 Buffalo Bills have the player talent to reach the playoffs! Sadly though it looks like they don't have the defensive coaching talent to even come close and wasn't that the biggest reason as to why this current coach was hired?

 

Like a fool I bought into Rex Ryan's promises last offseason to see the Bills in the playoffs and have the number one defense in the league. Not this year!

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How the heck they ever won eight games is beyond me.

 

I hear ya, 26CB. I was a little negative there. I'm just trying to paint the side of the story that Joyner's simplistic article leaves out.

 

I really hope he's right. The Bills did indeed do some good things in '15. Hopefully, we sustain those strengths and add some new ones in '16.

 

But to make a Super Bowl run this season we need to do more than shore up the run defense.

 

Last year was Rex's first year running the team and the D, Roman's first running the O, TT's first as a starting QB. It'll be interesting to see what they all do this season with a year under their belts.

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I hear ya, 26CB. I was a little negative there. I'm just trying to paint the side of the story that Joyner's simplistic article leaves out.

 

I really hope he's right. The Bills did indeed do some good things in '15. Hopefully, we sustain those strengths and add some new ones in '16.

 

But to make a Super Bowl run this season we need to do more than shore up the run defense.

 

Last year was Rex's first year running the team and the D, Roman's first running the O, TT's first as a starting QB. It'll be interesting to see what they all do this season with a year under their belts.

 

The points you highlighted are perfectly legitimate, but there are zero teams in today's salary cap NFL that have every position covered.

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I'll continue to beat the dead horse. It is a shame what has happened to the defense. Although for whatever reason some argue the defense was overrated and small in big spots.

 

With that said, I expect Rex to be motivated this year to show everyone he still knows defense and wouldn't shock me to see the defense improve. I hope this is the case.

 

That reason would include facts.

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The Bills can also lay claim to a very good pass defense, as the team ranked 12th in Total QBR allowed (50.4), ninth in Total QBR on vertical passes (66.3) and ninth in yards allowed per attempt (6.8).

 

 

WTH?? I thought Rex destroyed our defense and is on his way out?

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The Bills can also lay claim to a very good pass defense, as the team ranked 12th in Total QBR allowed (50.4), ninth in Total QBR on vertical passes (66.3) and ninth in yards allowed per attempt (6.8).

 

 

WTH?? I thought Rex destroyed our defense and is on his way out?

Very good = 12th and 9th?

 

I'd consider 12th to be middle of the pack, and 9th to be 'good', leaving 'very good' for top 3-5 rankings.

 

But I'm nitpicking.

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