Defensive Assessment Thus Far

[Milanos Milano]

I wish we had Bruce Smith, but I’d settle for a Justin Houston. 

[HappyDays]

2 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

The injuries, the Dline drop off, and playing actual NFL QBs now.  Goff Carr and Tennessee Tannehill not Gase Tannehill are probably better than the 3 best we saw last year--Lamar, Dak, and Wentz.  And we lost 2 of those games.  Brady sucked.  

 

We played well against Prescott and Jackson. We did good enough against Watson in the playoffs too until the very end. Thehe defense last year would not let Tannehill and that offense missing a few starters score 42 points. Clearly they had an easier schedule last year but you can see they are playing a lot worse. DVOA also accounts for strength of schedule so that's already built into the drop off they're showing.

[PromoTheRobot]

Defense went from mild concern to troubling to dumpster fire in 5 weeks

[frostbitmic]

Losing Jordan Phillips and his ability to disrupt the interior has hurt this defense.

[Milanos Milano]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Defense went from mild concern to troubling to dumpster fire in 5 weeks

Just shows you have incredible White is to this defense. DE, LB, and a CB should be very high on our lists next draft or FA. 

[VW82]

We are really banged up right now. That said, it's concerning that we spent our last two top picks on DL to help get pressure and we get no pressure. That offside penalty by Epenesa basically iced the game. I'm starting to wonder if Oliver is going to be anything more than a rotational guy for us.

Edited October 14, 2020 by VW82

[Milanos Milano]

Just now, VW82 said:

We are really banged up right now. That said, it's concerning that we spent our last two top picks on DL to help get pressure and we get no pressure. That offside penalty by Epenesa basically iced the game. 

Epenesa and Oliver are very underwhelming. We have nobody that can take over a game on the DL. 

[VW82]

1 minute ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Epenesa and Oliver are very underwhelming. We have nobody that can take over a game on the DL. 

 

Epenesa has hardly played but Oliver has been consistently meh. Maybe this is too obvious a take but he just doesn't look big enough inside to make a difference. 

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

On the plus side we have KC next week and it’s not like the D can be beat more than every time

5 minutes ago, VW82 said:

We are really banged up right now. That said, it's concerning that we spent our last two top picks on DL to help get pressure and we get no pressure. That offside penalty by Epenesa basically iced the game. I'm starting to wonder if Oliver is going to be anything more than a rotational guy for us.

he’s still getting just over 50% of snaps last I checked. Had a good stop against LV but Metcalf would’ve been my pick instead. 

[Da webster guy]

25 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Ed Oliver and AJ Ep are huge liabilities on defense. Quite frankly a disappointment. Edmunds is good, but it’s clearly he is hurt. Milano is undervalued and was missed, he makes plays everywhere. We need a Bruce and LBs.

Epenesa has flashed a few times in his limited snaps.  Had another great solo play tonite, although he drew a rookie Offside call right after.

Very good closing speed, seems as if he could slide to Lorax old spot, I swear the guy can probably cover as well as Klein (not sayin much) if he dropped 10 lbs.

 

This season our D has surprised me in that Jefferson is really good and Jerry has lost a step and is probably our weakest link on Dline.  

Would like to see a guy like Mike Love or Darryl get more snaps over at Jerrys 

[Big Blitz]

11 minutes ago, VW82 said:

We are really banged up right now. That said, it's concerning that we spent our last two top picks on DL to help get pressure and we get no pressure. That offside penalty by Epenesa basically iced the game. I'm starting to wonder if Oliver is going to be anything more than a rotational guy for us.

 

This is the problem.

 

Oliver and AJ (still too early I know) have to be impact players bc of where they were drafted.  

 

I'm going to chalk up the play of the interior to we've seen some good interior lines the last 3 weeks.  If I want to be optimistic.

 

Hughes is done.  A shell of what he was.  

 

And watch Murphy on that last Henry TD run.  Or maybe it was the 2nd to last.  Blown up right down the line from his 5 tech to all the way to where the center was.  That happening to an NFL DE is embarrassing.  

Edited October 14, 2020 by Big Blitz

[Milanos Milano]

Also Klein has no business being on a NFL field, I’d almost rather take Maybin right now it’s that bad. 

[VW82]

4 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

Hughes is done.  A shell of what he was.  

 

 

The scary thing is he's probably still been our best DL through five weeks.

[Do The Reich Thing]

51 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

I'll disagree here, I think he's very very good. He's shown the intelligence to sniff out screens and run plays and he's a strong tackler. He's superior to Edmunds right now in every way. 

 

Otherwise, I think McD will just have to change the scheme. No more basic four-man rushes, he's going to have to send guys like Taron Johnson or even Poyer in on DB blitzes to get to the QB quickly. That's all he can do right now barring a trade for someone like Dontare Poe. 

Appreciate your insight brotha. Go Bills!

[VW82]

11 minutes ago, Chemical said:

On the plus side we have KC next week and it’s not like the D can be beat more than every time

he’s still getting just over 50% of snaps last I checked. Had a good stop against LV but Metcalf would’ve been my pick instead. 

 

I mean, Metcalf went late 2nd IIRC. Not too sure how Wilkins has looked for Miami but he would've been an option. Devin Bush has been very good but perhaps not a scheme fit. Burns has produced for Carolina. I'm honestly a little shocked at how underwhelming some of McD's recent defensive picks have turned out. Still early though.

[Do The Reich Thing]

39 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Losing Star isn't the problem. The problem is our pass defense has fallen off a cliff. We went from 4th in pass YPG last year to 29th this year, 3rd in pass YPA to 18th, 4th in opposing passer rating to 21st, and 6th in pass defense DVOA to 17th (these rankings are all before accounting for tonight's game so they will presumably get worse). I think our run defense this year is actually a little better but it doesn't matter. It starts with the front 7.

Agreed on the pass d. Just taking into affect that maybe it’s worse because the front 7 is generating ZERO pressure. 

[LABILLBACKER]

26 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Just shows you have incredible White is to this defense. DE, LB, and a CB should be very high on our lists next draft or FA. 

At this point I would draft 100% defense. And sign defensive FA's.

[Do The Reich Thing]

12 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Also Klein has no business being on a NFL field, I’d almost rather take Maybin right now it’s that bad. 

Him and Oliver have been very bad

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

1 minute ago, VW82 said:

 

I mean, Metcalf went late 2nd IIRC. Not too sure how Wilkins has looked for Miami but he would've been an option. Devin Bush has been very good but perhaps not a scheme fit. Burns has produced for Carolina. I'm honestly a little shocked at how underwhelming some of McD's recent defensive picks have turned out. Still early though.

oh I know. I’m just saying who I would have picked at the time without knowing how it turned out. Jeffrey Simmons for Ten has been a beast but was injured today. I said before the draft we should trade down and get him and Metcalf.
 

Oliver will be fine I just don’t value the position especially in McDermott’s system where you only play half the snaps. It’s not efficient to use an asset like the 9th overall on something like that. 

[loedward22]

4 hours ago, Chemical said:

On the plus side we have KC next week and it’s not like the D can be beat more than every time

 

 

no... but they can be beat every time FASTER!

Edited October 14, 2020 by loedward22