Bruce Smith shocking statistic...he never led the NFL in sacks in any year he played

[ganesh]

On 11/13/2020 at 12:08 AM, BillsFan619 said:

I guess the tortoise wins the race (not saying Bruce was slow)? That’s completely shocking especially with him being the best at his position.

This is completely due to the scheme in which he played.  If he had played in a traditional 4-3 scheme he would have lead in sacks in many of those seasons

On 11/13/2020 at 6:21 AM, matter2003 said:

 

With the amount of passes being thrown now I would imagine it is only a matter of time before his sack record is broken as players are getting far more attempts at them than they did back in the 1980s and 1990s

I think the longevity is the problem in today's NFL.   

[BADOLBILZ]

10 minutes ago, P Riv said:

 

1)  Jackie Slater got the Pro-bowl nod at RT every year during that period, so saying just because those teams I mentioned didn't have a pro-bowl RT is a non-starter.  Every one of them was a top tier running team.  All of them.  What did NE have?  Miami running game during the Marino era??? lol  The Jets?  Indy had Dickerson for a hot minute, but no QB to help him.  

 

2) Reggie got doubled or Jerome Brown, not Clyde Simmons.  Also makes sense to run at Simmons, not White...no?  

 

3)  Looking at Smith's 90 season, all of his sacks came against inferior opponents.  He got shut out against Miami, the NY Giants among others.  He feasted on the Jets, Colts, etc.  As far as resting and missing pass rushing opportunities, sounds like BS to me.  I watched those games, that might happen very late (plausible but not fact), but not very often and definitely not enough to have an impact on his stats.  He had 19 sacks that year, 10 came from games against the 6-10 Jets, 7-9 Colts and 1-15 Patriots.  Against the Pats it was common for them to move him across the line away from Armstrong also.  I think Smith registered about 5 of his 200 sacks against Armstrong and they didn't exactly have Brady back there...lol

 

Not drinking the Bruce Kool Aid, nope....  He was awesome, but he's still a dominant number 2 and Reggie White is number 1.  Stats prove it, strength of schedule/opponents backs that.

 

 

1) Again.........you claimed Reggie was matched up against great tackles on those Super Bowl teams..........he wasn't.......like most RT's of the time they were glorified guards.......years later teams would learn that putting their best pass rusher on RT's was a great way to get to the QB.     Strahan,  JJ Watt........these dudes put up 20 sack seasons against mostly schlubby pass blocking RT's.

 

2) You asked for another player who had inflated stats in the 46.........I literally gave you the guy playing across from him.   

 

3) Looking at Smith's 90 season.......he also had 5 sacks called back on penalties.     And 5 career sacks against Armstrong was a lot.  2 sacks allowed was a bad YEAR for Armstrong.  Walter Jones is arguably the greatest pass blocker in NFL history......he allowed just 23 sacks in 180 career games.......he allowed 3.5 sacks to Bruce in 2 games.   Smith had a 3 sack game against Orlando Pace.   These are all-time great pass blockers........the notion that he couldn't beat great LT's is just wrong.    Could Reggie?   Who knows because he didn't have to face them.

 

Look.........the media loved to laud the humble religious man from the more successful conference over the boorish Bruce from the annoying Bills.......and yes, Reggie White was GREAT........he might have been the greatest overall DL ever and could have easily been the greatest DT ever had he played in the middle.

 

But Bruce Smith was the better pass rusher by a wide margin......had he been in a 4-3 for his whole career with single gap run responsibilities like White....... and better, bigger pass rushers around him like White...... he might very well have put up 300 career sacks even if he had to do it against greats like Bruce Armstrong and Richmond Webb and Anthony Munoz and Walter Jones and Orlando Pace instead of the JAGs that typically occupied RT in the NFL in that era.

 

It's only fitting that he has more sacks than Reggie because it shouldn't have even been close.

[P Riv]

Compelling argument, but to my ears its tainted with Homerism and I'm not buying.  Cheers

[Old Coot]

Bruce had that incredible outside body lean.  His body could be at a 45 degree angle to the ground but he still could push to get outside of the tackle.  Amazing.

[US Egg]

That Bruce was able to play like he did with his sleep apnea is most impressive.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, P Riv said:

Compelling argument, but to my ears its tainted with Homerism and I'm not buying.  Cheers

 

 

This may be the first time in my 22+ years on TSW that someone has called me a "homer".

[BADOLBILZ]

37 minutes ago, Old Coot said:

Bruce had that incredible outside body lean.  His body could be at a 45 degree angle to the ground but he still could push to get outside of the tackle.  Amazing.

 

When you see something close to the lean that Bruce had now it's from much smaller players like Von Miller.........basically OLB types.

 

Bruce actually came into the NFL the same size or larger than Reggie White(Bruce was 300-310 at VA Tech and as a rookie in Buffalo,  Reggie played at 290 but was often over 300).

 

Smith knocked about 50 pounds off of his frame to become the specimen he was.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

24 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

This may be the first time in my 22+ years on TSW that someone has called me a "homer".

 

I will have to endorse this as a "great first occasion"

🥞🍰🥂

 

59 minutes ago, Old Coot said:

Bruce had that incredible outside body lean.  His body could be at a 45 degree angle to the ground but he still could push to get outside of the tackle.  Amazing.

 

I can't remember if it was Biscuit Bennett or Darryl Talley who said when Bruce joined the team he was watching some of the moves Bruce used and his techniques and thought "maybe I could try that".  He said he quickly concluded some of those things only worked for Bruce.

[Augie]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:39 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

A Bills WR has never led the NFL in either yards, receptions or touchdowns.  

 

Or trips to your kitchen? 

 

I love that we had Bruce doing it for such a long period of time. He came in soft, but became a monster. He wins my best Bill of all time award. 

 

 

 

.

Edited November 15, 2020 by Augie

[BADOLBILZ]

55 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I will have to endorse this as a "great first occasion"

🥞🍰🥂

 

 

I can't remember if it was Biscuit Bennett or Darryl Talley who said when Bruce joined the team he was watching some of the moves Bruce used and his techniques and thought "maybe I could try that".  He said he quickly concluded some of those things only worked for Bruce.

 

 

Back in the day there were meatheads like Matt Millen with meathead narratives that always talked Bruce down for not being the same type of DL as Reggie.   

 

Not that Millen didn't turn out to be a great evaluator of talent in the 2000's............basically more in depth analytics really hushed a lot of dumb narratives in the past decade or so.

 

Bruce would have annihilated next gen stats..........but more importantly his team would have been shamed out of playing him at DE in a 3-4........whatever team he was on would have played a 4-3 just because they had him.

[US Egg]

It's rumored Bruce was conceived in a Petri dish.

Edited November 15, 2020 by I am the egg man

[Big Turk]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

When you see something close to the lean that Bruce had now it's from much smaller players like Von Miller.........basically OLB types.

 

Bruce actually came into the NFL the same size or larger than Reggie White(Bruce was 300-310 at VA Tech and as a rookie in Buffalo,  Reggie played at 290 but was often over 300).

 

Smith knocked about 50 pounds off of his frame to become the specimen he was.

 

Smith played at around 265 most of his career

[Jerome007]

Stats don't always tell the whole story. I still have a poster with Spielman, Bruce and Paup. Bryce had been named Defensive Player of the Year, yet we all know Bruce was the key, being double teamed almost every play. But good players help one another.

 

And as mentioned for WRs, QBs, kickers... the winter windy Buffalo weather affects their stats a lot the last 2 months. So... who cares ha ha. Just win baby (you'll get paid all right)

 

 

BRRUUUUUUUUCCEE

[T master]

On 11/12/2020 at 12:39 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

A Bills WR has never led the NFL in either yards, receptions or touchdowns.  

 

 

Diggs is leading in yards for right now does that count ? 🤔

[DJB]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:58 PM, Nextmanup said:

I'll give you another shocking statistic!  He wasn't even the best defensive end in the game while playing.

 

That was Reggie White.

 

Bruce Smith is still one of the all-time best Buffalo Bills, up there with OJ and only a few others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thronethinker]

Cause Thomas from KC had 7 sacks in 1 game in 1990. That is why. Thomas was great then, but it is not a name that anyone instantly remembers anymore. 

Edited November 15, 2020 by thronethinker

[P Riv]

14 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

This may be the first time in my 22+ years on TSW that someone has called me a "homer".

 

I said.... "Compelling argument, but to my ears its tainted with Homerism".  That pertains to the argument you laid out there, the one with situational stats lacking overall context and opinions slanted towards "winning".  If I wanted to call you a Homer, it would have gone something like, "you are a Homer".  

You're posts are clearly biased for Bruce and I get that, he was our guy, doesn't mean I have to agree and regardless, my argument remains sound.