Zone Defense = #1 Problem? Or Zero Pass Rush?

[That's No Moon]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

I didn't see him play today but Mr. Big Stuff had 5 tackles.

 

He was a huge disappointment for the money but he's one of those dudes who are simply too powerful to be dominated at the LOS.

 

Sometimes you gotta' realize the money is spent and live with what you are getting for it and hope for the best.

 

Aside from the ultra-spirited defensive effort in Jax and a successful game against a KC team in a malaise(they subsequently lost to the Jets the following week) this defense has hovered between bad and atrocious since he was traded.

But he wasn't buying into what we are trying to do here...  I'm not sure what that is exactly but Dareus wasn't all in that I know for sure because Happyclaps told us so.

1 minute ago, VW82 said:

 

No, they did not average five yards per carry. They averaged 3.4 and if you take away Lamar Jackson's scrambles they only rushed for 78 yards on 27 carries, so 2.88 ypc. Most teams don't have Jackson (who looks like Michael Vick running around out there) bumping their rush numbers for the better part of a half. Again, the rush D wasn't that bad. 

47 points.  47.  Parse out the averages how ever you want.  They couldn't stop a Girl Scout Troop armed with sleeves of Thin Mints today.

[VW82]

12 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

47 points.  47.  Parse out the averages how ever you want.  They couldn't stop a Girl Scout Troop armed with sleeves of Thin Mints today.

 

Yes 47 points. You know how many total yards we surrendered? 369. Last year our average yards allowed was 355. So not good but not exactly an abomination either. 

 

The real problem was Peterman's two INTs near our end zone, and our punt fumble which gave them the ball inside the 20. We couldn't move the ball all game and badly lost the field position battle. Add in all our penalties and inability to get a stop in the red zone and it ended up being the disaster it was. But putting 47 all on the D is more than a little disingenuous.  

Edited September 10, 2018 by VW82

[That's No Moon]

2 minutes ago, VW82 said:

 

Yes 47 points. You know how many total yards we surrendered? 369. Last year our average yards allowed was 355. So not good but not exactly an abomination either. 

 

The real problem was Peterman's two INTs near our end zone, and our punt fumble which gave them the ball inside the 20. We couldn't move the ball all game and badly lost the field position battle. Add in all our penalties and inability to get a stop in the red zone and it ended up being the disaster it was. But putting 47 all on the D is more than a little disingenuous.  

At any point did they give you the impression that they were able to stop Baltimore at all?

[BADOLBILZ]

12 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

But he wasn't buying into what we are trying to do here...  I'm not sure what that is exactly but Dareus wasn't all in that I know for sure because Happyclaps told us so.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

Dareus wasn't playing at the All Pro level expected but his impact against the run was immense.

 

 

[That's No Moon]

Just now, BADOLBILZ said:

Dareus wasn't playing at the All Pro level expected but his impact against the run was immense.

 

 

Yeah, so now we are eating his cap hit AND Loutulei's cap hit to do a worse job of stopping the run.

[VW82]

31 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

At any point did they give you the impression that they were able to stop Baltimore at all?

 

Actually yes. Their first drive wasn't great for us. 80 yrds in 6+ mins. They came in with a good game plan and it wore us down but we recovered fairly well. The problem is we never got a rest after that. Take a look.

 

Buff: 3 plays, -4 yrds, punt

Balt: 3 plays, 1 yrd, punt

Buff: 3 plays, 3 yrds, punt

Balt: 10 plays, 66 yrds, TD

Buff: 3 plays, -3 yrds, punt

Balt: 4 plays, -3 yrds, FG

Buff: 4 plays, -4 yrds, punt

Balt: 4 plays, 5 yrds, Fumble

Buff: 4 plays, 1 yrd, Missed FG

Balt: 3 plays, -2 yrs, punt

Buff: 3 plays, 2 yrds, INT

Balt: 4 plays, 8 yrds, FG

Buff: 3 plays, 2 yrds, punt

 

So at this point we're down 20-0 and our D is absolutely gassed. They've had little to no break despite the fact they'd forced FIVE three and outs (two of which resulted in FGs because we gave them the ball on our doorstep) and four in a row out of the first seven possessions. We know what happened next. They marched 85 yrds and scored. Game over. I'm sorry but you can't pin all that on the D. 

Edited September 10, 2018 by VW82

[MJS]

When Murphy was in there I felt like they were getting a decent rush. Flacco was forced out of the pocket many times and just barely escaped sacks.

[BillsFan4]

I think it’s a combination of things. 

 

McDermott needs good LB’s and a good pass rush for his defensive scheme to work as well as it did in Carolina. 

 

As of now, this D line doesn’t look like they could sack a QB to save their lives. Struggling to get pressure and sacks is going to hurt any defense. It’s a major area of needed improvement. Hopefully Trent Murphy can help improve that as he gets back to form, but 8m not holding my breath... 

 

We also look like we need a #2 CB and possibly a nickel CB as well. Gaines was pretty bad today. But McDermott has shown an ability to develop mid/late round CBs in the past, so we will see what happens there. A better pass rush could also improve the entire secondary alone. 

 

Lets not write the D off yet though. It took Carolina’s defense a while to come together too. They struggled for the first season and a half McDermott was there. Then the last 6 games of McD’s second season, the defense took a good step forward. Then they were the #2 defense in the NFL the following season.

Now, the timeline is probably different in Buffalo because Carolina wasn’t in the initial stages of a rebuild like the Billls are. But I do expect this defense to show improvements as the season goes on. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by BillsFan4

[Buffalo Barbarian]

4 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Fraiser needs to be fired tonight. This defense is not going to get better until another guy is coaching it. McDermott should take the DC over.

 

So wish we had Schwartz, that was one of the best Bills defenses we ever had.

 

 

[ALF]

I hate zone coverage after watching the 1st half. This changing D systems with every coaching change is a disaster.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

8 minutes ago, ALF said:

I hate zone coverage after watching the 1st half. This changing D systems with every coaching change is a disaster.

 

Zone is good but like anything it has to be executed properly. Minus that 3 game stretch last year our defense kept teams out of the endzone. Look at what we did to the jays in the playoffs and the next week they roll up the steelers. We get a TD in that game we win.

 

 

[StrikeParry]

Playing 2 high, 3 high zone will never work if the opposing QB has 5 seconds to throw. Man D probably wouldn’t fare much better though with our current roster. 

 

But hey guys Trent Murphy is fully healthy right? Right?