Defensive Assessment Thus Far

[Pokebball]

Josh Allen and Corey Bojorquez had the same number of tackles as Jones, Klein, Williams, Marlowe, Matakevich, Johnson, Epenesa, Philips and Oliver.  Think about that a bit.

 

Taiwan Jones	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
A.J. Klein	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Daryl Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dean Marlowe	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler Matakevich	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Allen	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Darryl Johnson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Corey Bojorquez	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
AJ Epenesa	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Harrison Phillips	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ed Oliver	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

[BUFFALOTONE]

26 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Show me another NFL defense where You can remove their best player and starting corner, other starting corner, best coverage linebacker, make the middle linebacker play one armed and still play the at same level with replacements.

 

Now add Tennessee Scoring drive starting positions:

BUF 16 Andre Roberts assist then huge runback 

BUF30 awful punt coverage, 3rd and 20 convert

TEN10 questionable Norman DPI on 3rd and 4 

BUF12 stupid josh int then 68 yard return

TEN25 got them to third down 3 times!

BUF18 AR fumble, D got them to 4th down 
 

that is 4 gifted scoring drives. You wouldn’t know it, but bills defense forced titans into 3 punts. Bills only punted twice.  
 

two huge INT returns and horrid special teams made it an easy Tennessee win. 

 

NE man...

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

16 hours ago, Azucho98 said:

 

Wish upon a Star that someone will figure this mess out...?  The D-line has been really bad. BTW, nobody NOBODY could be as bad as Eddie Robinson.

Isn't it ironic that last season people were complaining that Star didn't make many splash plays or tackles for that matter. Some people would try to tell them last year that he occupied blockers and did it unselfishly. Now people are saying we really miss Star.

[GunnerBill]

37 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Show me another NFL defense where You can remove their best player and starting corner, other starting corner, best coverage linebacker, make the middle linebacker play one armed and still play the at same level with replacements.

 

Now add Tennessee Scoring drive starting positions:

BUF 16 Andre Roberts assist then huge runback 

BUF30 awful punt coverage, 3rd and 20 convert

TEN10 questionable Norman DPI on 3rd and 4 

BUF12 stupid josh int then 68 yard return

TEN25 got them to third down 3 times!

BUF18 AR fumble, D got them to 4th down 
 

that is 4 gifted scoring drives. You wouldn’t know it, but bills defense forced titans into 3 punts. Bills only punted twice.  
 

two huge INT returns and horrid special teams made it an easy Tennessee win. 

 

 

Agree with this. The Bills D was not good but it got no help from the offense and special teams last night. Total team loss. On every player and every coach.

[dpberr]

Injuries aside:

 

For me, the devil is in the playcallling.  Either the defense runs a script too long or Edmunds isn't making the best play call he could.  There's something going on there.  The script last night was built to stop Henry, and while they did that, it let the Titans passing game run wild.   I don't think Edmunds should be in charge of managing the calls for the defense on the field.  I think he's too young, and since he got that responsibility, he plays with hesitation.  He plays so much better without that hesitation.  

 

The pass rush is predictable. You see precious few shifts, stunts, spy blitz or sending anyone but the line.  I don't know why the Bills treated Tannehill like Aaron Rodgers (who can sniff a blitz before you think it) last night.  

 

 

 

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

50 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Isn't it ironic that last season people were complaining that Star didn't make many splash plays or tackles for that matter. Some people would try to tell them last year that he occupied blockers and did it unselfishly. Now people are saying we really miss Star.

Lorax specifically named him as a guy doing a great job up front. It was all I needed to hear 

[Jrb1979]

Many are overlooking the fact they played a lot of bad teams with bad QBs last season. They have been playing better QBs and better offenses so far and it shows. 

[ngbills]

2 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Show me another NFL defense where You can remove their best player and starting corner, other starting corner, best coverage linebacker, make the middle linebacker play one armed and still play the at same level with replacements.

 

Now add Tennessee Scoring drive starting positions:

BUF 16 Andre Roberts assist then huge runback 

BUF30 awful punt coverage, 3rd and 20 convert

TEN10 questionable Norman DPI on 3rd and 4 

BUF12 stupid josh int then 68 yard return

TEN25 got them to third down 3 times!

BUF18 AR fumble, D got them to 4th down 
 

that is 4 gifted scoring drives. You wouldn’t know it, but bills defense forced titans into 3 punts. Bills only punted twice.  
 

two huge INT returns and horrid special teams made it an easy Tennessee win. 

 

Yes, the O did not help. But you have to be honest that this D has been struggling all season. They have gone through stretches in every game that they cannot stop a thing. They just went 6 quarters in which the other team never punted and the Raiders only punted once. So two full games with 1 punt... Look at the drives logs for games since 2nd half of MIA. We are not stopping anyone. 

[SCBills]

34 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

Many are overlooking the fact they played a lot of bad teams with bad QBs last season. They have been playing better QBs and better offenses so far and it shows. 

Which is extremely worrisome in terms of them playing at a respectable level this year.  
 

Gone are any illusions I have of them being a Top 5 unit, but they are legitimately one of the 5 worst defenses in the NFL through 5 weeks if we acknowledge how bad the Jets offense is. 
 

Between the easy schedule our defense faced last year and the low key rule changes that put defenses at a bigger disadvantage, I don’t see where “the fix” comes from.  
 

Tightening the rotation is a good start.  Getting healthy is needed.  However, whatever we’re doing on 3rd down needs to change... the defense tires themselves out, while giving up long drives and points... it’s the worst case scenario for a defense. 

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

My fear is that if Epenesa cannot beat out Trent Murphy is he going to be even a solid player? Epenesa seems to have a nice burst and his ability to win with his arm length and hands is a big advantage considering O-Lines are holding like crazy. I would like to see Epenesa get a lot more playing time.

 

 

[Nuncha]

5 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Isn't it ironic that last season people were complaining that Star didn't make many splash plays or tackles for that matter. Some people would try to tell them last year that he occupied blockers and did it unselfishly. Now people are saying we really miss Star.

Reminds me of that song "don't know what you got till its gone".  LOL

[Milanos Milano]

3 hours ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

My fear is that if Epenesa cannot beat out Trent Murphy is he going to be even a solid player? Epenesa seems to have a nice burst and his ability to win with his arm length and hands is a big advantage considering O-Lines are holding like crazy. I would like to see Epenesa get a lot more playing time.

 

 

The fact that Epenesa hasn’t beaten out Murphy is a testament to how disappointing he is. Murphy is terrible. 

[Jrb1979]

6 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Show me another NFL defense where You can remove their best player and starting corner, other starting corner, best coverage linebacker, make the middle linebacker play one armed and still play the at same level with replacements.

 

Now add Tennessee Scoring drive starting positions:

BUF 16 Andre Roberts assist then huge runback 

BUF30 awful punt coverage, 3rd and 20 convert

TEN10 questionable Norman DPI on 3rd and 4 

BUF12 stupid josh int then 68 yard return

TEN25 got them to third down 3 times!

BUF18 AR fumble, D got them to 4th down 
 

that is 4 gifted scoring drives. You wouldn’t know it, but bills defense forced titans into 3 punts. Bills only punted twice.  
 

two huge INT returns and horrid special teams made it an easy Tennessee win. 

 

Show me another defense that looks good playing mediocre offenses one season and good offenses the next. I think many have overlooked how easy the schedule and the teams offense they played last season. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

9 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

Show me another defense that looks good playing mediocre offenses one season and good offenses the next. I think many have overlooked how easy the schedule and the teams offense they played last season. 

I know this narrative is popular but not entirely accurate:

 

Dallas was 1, Ravens 2, then they play the 12,13th, 14th and 15th twice in total offense. If you go by points for Dallas drops a few pegs but the breakdown is similar. Only one team got more than 24 on them All year. 

 

they were good last year. 

[SoCal Deek]

It’s not hard to figure out. Tuesday night the Bills were without their two starting cornerbacks, one and a half starting linebackers (Edmunds has to be injured) and last year’s starting nose tackle. That’s all three levels of the defense! It’s literally HALF of last year’s starting roster. 

[oldmanfan]

I suspect Beane is looking to add some more DBs

[BarleyNY]

On 10/14/2020 at 6:48 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

I know people will groan when I say this.... too many average former Panthers. Klein, Addison and Butler might know the scheme.... but they are adding very little to it at the moment.

Too many way overpaid average former Panthers.  And you can add Star to that list. 

[BarleyNY]

20 hours ago, ngbills said:

The Bills have given up 23 or more points in4 straight weeks. 

 

Last year they gave up 23+ only 3 times all year.

The bad 2018 team did it 7 times, but never 4 straight weeks.

In the teams entire history there are not many stretches of giving up 23 points 4 straight weeks. 

 

What’s so concerning to me is that this is the third season of this defense.  They should be tight and humming along.  Getting beat happens, the other team is getting paid too and we all know that defense is pretty much illegal in the NFL today anyway.  But missing assignments and other mental errors - I’m looking particularly hard at our LBs here - is a real problem.  
 

The other thing that might be at play here is our offense’s production.  Teams didn’t have to open up their offenses against us the last couple seasons.  They expected a lower scoring game and could be more conservative.  I’ve seen this happen with other teams too.  Always beware of a great looking defense if your offense is poor.  So I think that part of our problem this season is that our defense wasn’t quite as good as we thought it was.  But I don’t think they’re as bad as they looked against the Titans either.

 

There’s definitely work to be done and we are going to have to do it with less money soon.  I think we’d all be shocked if Allen either didn’t have his 5th year option picked up or got an extension this offseason.  That means one more season of an inexpensive QB and then $30M or so less cap space to work with.  Beane has his work cut out for him. 

[ngbills]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

What’s so concerning to me is that this is the third season of this defense.  They should be tight and humming along.  Getting beat happens, the other team is getting paid too and we all know that defense is pretty much illegal in the NFL today anyway.  But missing assignments and other mental errors - I’m looking particularly hard at our LBs here - is a real problem.  
 

The other thing that might be at play here is our offense’s production.  Teams didn’t have to open up their offenses against us the last couple seasons.  They expected a lower scoring game and could be more conservative.  I’ve seen this happen with other teams too.  Always beware of a great looking defense if your offense is poor.  So I think that part of our problem this season is that our defense wasn’t quite as good as we thought it was.  But I don’t think they’re as bad as they looked against the Titans either.

 

There’s definitely work to be done and we are going to have to do it with less money soon.  I think we’d all be shocked if Allen either didn’t have his 5th year option picked up or got an extension this offseason.  That means one more season of an inexpensive QB and then $30M or so less cap space to work with.  Beane has his work cut out for him. 

All good points here. You watch the tape and its not just a matter of teams getting lucky or making great plays. It is missed tackles, wide open receivers, QB's running without a defender in sight, no pressure, losing the battle at the LOS and on. 

 

Long term it is concerning. To maintain this offense there will be some big bucks going out to both Allen and Diggs. While the Defense you have White locked up. But then you have upcoming decisions on guys like Milano, not to mention Edmunds and Oliver right behind that. Otherwise you have a lot of aging players in Hughes, Hyde, Poyer, and more. So you have to buy into the defense being successful as a system that can plug and play guys. Just not seeing that right now.

Edited October 15, 2020 by ngbills

[BBills88]

How to fix the Defense 

  1. Guys with nasty attitudes when tackling 

  2. Big nasty Space eaters in the Middle

  3. Get man corners opposite of Tre White