The defense is missing an emotional leader

[Chandler#81]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

So by "dampened enthusiasm for him" you mean in the Bills PR department which sets up the texts hearts and flowers cute PR films, and with fans who made him a local hero?

 

Because none of that says a thing about the internal team leadership dynamics or in the locker room, or about the coaches enthusiasm for Horrible Harry.

You don’t know this anymore than I do. But EVERYBODY -from ‘deep within’ to 2 Moderators living thousands of miles away and every Bills fan the world over -including the original poster DOES know that ‘something’ is missing. We think it’s internal motivation and what has been made public in years past has been fiery leadership from Defensive players. Assuredly, that’s missing. Whether that’s the only thing is subject to discussion.

[Mr. WEO]

8 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

How can we know that?  Even with Covid-empty stadiums, we can't hear what players are saying to each other on the field, on the sidelines, in the locker room.  

 

My sense of player leadership always comes from what the players themselves are saying because they actually know what's going on.  And I just haven't heard enough about the leadership dynamic this year from the players to confidently form an opinion.  

 

I can see that the defense isn't playing as well this year so far as last year.  But I don't see players missing assignments as much as I see players getting beat.  That's a talent problem more than a leadership problem.  

the talent from last year is gone?

[Rigotz]

8 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Win now or you may not get another chance

This is the mentality that didn’t work for 20 years. Build a young core and let it grow.

 

At this point, you should just recognize you were wrong and move forward. 

[hemma]

I blame Edmunds for not waving his arms & getting the crowd into a frenzy.

[ILBillsfan]

5 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Keep in mind in Miami we were also playing without two key players, two starting LB.

 

3 players, not 2 - we lost Phillips and Lawson to FA but we also lost Lotulelei to Covid opt-out

Interesting note there on Lotuleiei the resident whooping boy of the BBMB, an early season missed player as teams are running fairly consistently up the middle on the Bills

[Warcodered]

 

[BillsPride12]

I'm not so sure the issue is a lack of having an emotional leader.  I think a lot of these guys play the game with a passion and as McDermott would say "Do the right things" but as I watch this Defense it is becoming more apparent to me that we have a defense filled with a bunch of good players but what we are lacking is a Bonafide playmaker wrecking Havoc along the lines of a Luke Keuchly, JJ or TJ Watt, Aaron Donald, Von Miller in his prime and so on and so on.  I was desperately hoping Ed Oliver could be that guy but he certainly hasn't arrived to that level yet.  Whether he is being affected by injury or not Edmunds hasn't even been close to that guy yet(not saying he sucks but just saying he hasn't proven to be our Playmaker yet).  McDermott has really built the ultimate bend but don't break defense but the problem is we are starting to bend too much this season.  I really think a stud edge rusher would bring so much to this defense and make the entire unit so much more dangerous but I have no idea where that piece is acquired at the moment as we won't be drafting very high anymore going forward.

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

1 hour ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm not so sure the issue is a lack of having an emotional leader.  I think a lot of these guys play the game with a passion and as McDermott would say "Do the right things" but as I watch this Defense it is becoming more apparent to me that we have a defense filled with a bunch of good players but what we are lacking is a Bonafide playmaker wrecking Havoc along the lines of a Luke Keuchly, JJ or TJ Watt, Aaron Donald, Von Miller in his prime and so on and so on.  I was desperately hoping Ed Oliver could be that guy but he certainly hasn't arrived to that level yet.  Whether he is being affected by injury or not Edmunds hasn't even been close to that guy yet(not saying he sucks but just saying he hasn't proven to be our Playmaker yet).  McDermott has really built the ultimate bend but don't break defense but the problem is we are starting to bend too much this season.  I really think a stud edge rusher would bring so much to this defense and make the entire unit so much more dangerous but I have no idea where that piece is acquired at the moment as we won't be drafting very high anymore going forward.

It really seems like our high picks, which we hoped would be stars, are just role players for the most part. I think this is really costing the Bills. Oliver, Edmunds, Epenesa (yes, it's early, but)...

[BillsPride12]

1 hour ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

It really seems like our high picks, which we hoped would be stars, are just role players for the most part. I think this is really costing the Bills. Oliver, Edmunds, Epenesa (yes, it's early, but)...

I'm not sure role players would be accurate either because I think these guys are legitimate starters and good players but for a team trying to build itself into a contender we need to hit on an elite weapon or two on the defense that can take over a game.  It's kind of funny how we seem to have more playmakers on the Offensive side of the ball all of a sudden.  

[Nextmanup]

21 hours ago, Sharky7337 said:

That isn't what I'm saying. What I'm saying is i do not think we will see the same defensive strength we saw last year out of this team.

 

 

Defenses vary from year to year all the time in the NFL.

 

We may well prove to be worse than last year; too early to say.

 

 

[Penfield45]

24th ranked defense is terrible 

 

if that continues I can’t see us winning the division. 
 

teams will figure out how to limit our offense and that’s when troubles will come. Mcd needs to fix this defense ASAP 

[BananaB]

Good defences are getting lit up throughout the NFL, it’s not just Buffalo. I’d give it a few more weeks to see if they turn it around before I start worrying.  

[AmishRifle]

Some general thoughts on this thread:

 

Agree that we seem to be missing something intangible this year...perhaps an emotional leader.  Edmunds doesn’t strike me as a rah rah type...more of a lead by example type.

 

I read a previous thread that posted snap counts that we pretty much stayed nickel the entire game.  This coupled with the way McVey stretches the field sideline to sideline with his scheme could explain why our defense was gassed the second half.

 

Lastly, after rewatching the game, there were several runs in the second half that were attributed to gap integrity and plain poor tackling.  Several runs saw our safeties miss tackles or be out of position on gap responsibilities.  While Edmunds does get caught in the wash sometimes, I think he shouldn’t be singled out as the root cause of our poor rush defense in the 2nd half.  

[Cheektowaga Chad]

I feel like they are missing a personality like Jordan phillips or shaq especially with no crowd to help them get amped up

[Thurman#1]

8 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm not so sure the issue is a lack of having an emotional leader.  I think a lot of these guys play the game with a passion and as McDermott would say "Do the right things" but as I watch this Defense it is becoming more apparent to me that we have a defense filled with a bunch of good players but what we are lacking is a Bonafide playmaker wrecking Havoc along the lines of a Luke Keuchly, JJ or TJ Watt, Aaron Donald, Von Miller in his prime and so on and so on.  I was desperately hoping Ed Oliver could be that guy but he certainly hasn't arrived to that level yet.  Whether he is being affected by injury or not Edmunds hasn't even been close to that guy yet(not saying he sucks but just saying he hasn't proven to be our Playmaker yet).  McDermott has really built the ultimate bend but don't break defense but the problem is we are starting to bend too much this season.  I really think a stud edge rusher would bring so much to this defense and make the entire unit so much more dangerous but I have no idea where that piece is acquired at the moment as we won't be drafting very high anymore going forward.

 

 

Not entirely buying that thesis.

 

Yeah the players you mention are terrific. Playmakers? Yeah. Wreaking havoc? Yeah.

 

But if you compare Tremaine Edmunds  with Luke Kuechly, their tackle numbers are much the same, forced fumbles, INTs, sacks ... all pretty similar. No, we don't have any major stars. Yes, we do have some terrific players who go far beyond good. That Carolina defense Kuechle was on was much like this D, a scheme-based group that played together very well and didn't have many weak spots.

 

It'd be great if we could come up with a superstar. And if we become an excellent team this year, likely some of our guys will become very famous and generally accepted as difference makers, including particularly Oliver, Edmunds, Tre (who already is pretty accepted as an absolute premiere corner and could probably be used to attack your argument) and Milano being the best candidates. Hopefully they bring in new guys in trades and drafts and FA down the road, but this appears to be a very good personnel group on defense right now, though they haven't played great the last two games.

 

IMO, losing Star really did have a real effect on the run defense. It's not a mistake that McDermott always brings in a guy like Star for his D; it appears to be something he feels is necessary for his scheme. Hopefully with more film, McDermott can do some planning and improve things from their current level. My guess is that he will do so.

 

 

23 hours ago, JoPoy88 said:

i think the Rams’ comeback was a combination of members of the defense being gassed and not 100% healthy as well. I think that is much more probable than fans watching on TV cooking up theories claiming that losing Lorenzo Alexander has somehow made members of this defense lose their competitiveness - sorry I don’t think these guys have such a fragile sense of professional pride, especially when coached by McDermott and his crew.

 

Yes, agreed, and nicely put.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Thurman#1

[MJS]

I never thought he was overly emotional.

[Lfod]

I would be more interested in an opinion on the defense from somebody who is going to break down the film and give a detailed explanation of what they think went wrong instead of talking about how the defense felt about it.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Lfod

[billsbackto81]

On 9/28/2020 at 11:09 PM, Johnny Hammersticks said:

If y’all don’t think Poyer and Tre are emotional leaders on this defense, I think you need to re-examine your opinion.  

Poyer has been absolutely playing with fire since his extension. Dawkins has played well also . Love seeing guys earn it.

[BritBill]

8 hours ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

I feel like they are missing a personality like Jordan phillips or shaq especially with no crowd to help them get amped up

 

I concur. While he might not be an all pro anymore Josh Norman will certainly bring the swagger and mouth Phillips and Lawson did. 

 

I think the defence will be better if/when Norman returns.

[Sharky7337]

On 9/28/2020 at 10:51 PM, JoPoy88 said:

Luckily for the team, you have absolutely no idea about the internal locker room dynamic or on-field leadership responsibilities so what you are engaging in is pure, baseless speculation and completely useless.

This aged well.