Was Defense Vanilla?

[Beast]

The defense, IMO, was the reason for this loss. They played way too conservative. Tom Brady doesn’t beat the blitz like he used to. The Bills, instead of making the 40 something year old guy move around and feel uncomfortable, gave him all day to throw and he found the open guy the majority of the time.

 

Then, our tackling was awful.

 

The Bills didn’t lose to the Patriots....the Bills beat themselves by playing scared football. That isn’t the defense I know.

[Happy]

The defense today was very vanilla, and frightened of Brady.  Marsha has struggled his entire career with pressure up the middle and the front seven putting their hands in the air when he throws.  We didn't do anything remotely aggressive, which is worse than being too aggressive.

[Big Blitz]

24 minutes ago, DJB said:

Brady typically picks apart teams that blitz because their entire offence is predicated on quick dinking and dunking passes. 

 

You need to get pressure with your front 4 to beat him

 

 

Especially the interior.  

[ILBillsfan]

our front four got no pressure vs their line 

 

Edelman wide open way to much to make excuses

 

night and day vs last game 

[HappyDays]

I thought the same thing, and I actually expected this before the game. I think the coaching staff knew Miami beating New England is extremely unlikely which essentially made this game meaningless. You don't pull out all the stops in that situation. Save it for the playoffs. I think this game proves the defensive talent is really not that outstanding, but our normal scheme makes the players look better. In a vanilla scheme with no wrinkles we were outmatched.

Edited December 22, 2019 by HappyDays

[Nuncha]

Defense was worn out by the 4th quarter...they were on the field WAY too long.

[Ray Finkel]

32 minutes ago, Hatszel said:

Is it just me or did it seem that our defense played very vanilla.  We didn't seem to create pressures like the last few games and stayed with 4 man rushes.  I wonder if we did not extend our game plan in preparation for the playoffs and not show too much seeing that even with a win we would more than likely be a 5th seed.

 

I thought we should have blitzed the crap out of Brady.  We made it easy for h8m

[whatdrought]

Our best defense has come down the stretch when we’ve trusted our coverage guys to do their job, and sent blitz. We didn’t do that today. We got scared of Brady, and scared of of the run. We looked soft. It was an unusual experience. If our defense from any game other than Philly shows up, we win this game. 

[Xwnyer]

54 minutes ago, Hatszel said:

Is it just me or did it seem that our defense played very vanilla.  We didn't seem to create pressures like the last few games and stayed with 4 man rushes.  I wonder if we did not extend our game plan in preparation for the playoffs and not show too much seeing that even with a win we would more than likely be a 5th seed.

 

Never saw any real pass rush beyond the front four.  You beat Brady by harrassing him

[DuckyBoys]

Just now, Xwnyer said:

Never saw any real pass rush beyond the front four.  You beat Brady by harrassing him

only rushed four and to be honest we cant generate pressure without bring extra bodies or running stunts  Only true edge rusher we have is Hughes and not sure what he has left  Interior guys get pressure from stunts or missed assignments  Plus they dont have Cody Ford playing tackle (hard to believe Marshall newhouse  was in and played  better

[Boatdrinks]

I agree as far as the gameplan goes. This game was much more important for the Pats* than the Bills. A Bills win wouldn’t have improved their seeding on its own, and a long shot win by MIA Vs NE next week was required to win the division. Everyone knows at this point the best way to beat this version of the Patriots is to pressure Brady, as he will throw the ball away and take sacks. I surmised that the Bills might not show too many of their best pressures today, and they did not. With next week a virtual bye week, teams will be looking at today’s film. It seemed that the Bills played very conservatively on defense, and that allowed Brady to stand back there. The lack of aggression also helped their running game. The Bills coaches have moved into playoff mode and went with a simple gameplan today.They need their best defensive work for the playoffs, especially if they see this team again.  It was enough to keep the game close, but also just enough to lose. If they made Brady play today like he did at BUF, they’d probably have walked out with a win. 

[34-78-83]

I agree with the OP. I felt disappointed that they didn't come after Brady more tonight.