So a super fast, physical, and aggressive front 7 is the key...

[NewEra]

51 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

We need help on the DL for sure.. Also think we need to add some really physical press corners. DBs that can completely annihilate WRs within that 5 yard window at the LOS. Completely throws off the timing of the offense and it forces QBs to hold onto the ball longer than they’d like. Also need DBs that can lay the lumber down. Obviously no defense will ever be able to step every completion, but every WR or RB that gets the ball must pay a tax.

But did they switch up whom was rushing? Perhaps they were dropping some of their DL into coverage because it seemed like they blitzed Barrett every play. 

I’m sure they did but I don’t have stats on it.  Barrett is a pass rusher and he I usually does rush the passer, similar to Von Miller and TJ watt. 

[Richard Noggin]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

I have.... hoping if I repeat enough McBeane will stop doing it.👍🏻

That's the impression one gets. The point is not wrong, of course. Just maybe...stale.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

3 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Todd Bowles got demolished in the regular season against KC. Why? Because he played a soft defense against them. They were not aggressive, they did not attack, they sat in bubbles waiting just as we do. Once Bowles allowed his players to attack and be aggressive, his defense thrived. He was very aggressive, blitzed quite often, from various places all over the field. Rushed one, dropped one, sometimes dropped everyone and yet his front four still got pressure. Another thing I noticed as well was that when Clyde Edwards Helaire, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill got the ball they’d pay for it. Sometimes 2 if not 3 defenders would lay a nasty hit on them just to let them know what was coming every time they got the ball. They also took Hill away, even when Hill went into motion Tampa’s back seven automatically adjusted and mirrored his movements, quickly. You can’t passively sit back against good QBs like Mahomes, you have to create pressure, otherwise they’ll pick you apart.

They hardly blitzed at all lol it was the same soft defense...in fact I'm willing to bet they blitzed far less than the regular season meeting.  Chiefs just couldn't provide mahomes with enough time to run the plays they like to run and andy Reid did not at all adjust.  Idk what is going on here do people see pressure and assume blitz? I think they blitzed 5 times max. He literally changed almost nothing from their first meeting 🤣 

2 hours ago, NewEra said:

tampa rushed more than 4 pass rushers exactly 5 times.  Bowles blitzed almost 40% of the time during the regular season.  He did the exact opposite vs K . Bowles was exotic with his looks and where he brought pressure from......but he had 8 in coverage on all but 5 plays. That’s not aggressive at all.  Their 4 guys were winning their matchups on almost every play.  

Ah just saw you posted the same thing haha people are crowning Bowles and ripping our coaching staff a new one and Bowles literally swiped our game plan...it is comical 🤣 being aggressive is what gets you demolished against kc and blitzing more wouldve worked against the bucs Sunday night. Listen to all the kc players interviews where they talk about how hard it is for them to make plays with 2 defenders over the top all night.  Bucs got a nice gift with fisher being injured where by the second half there wasn't even enough time for kelce to find holes in the zone on short routes...if you remember correctly kelce was absolutely torching them in the first half

Edited February 9, 2021 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

I have.... hoping if I repeat enough McBeane will stop doing it.👍🏻

I for one hope he doesn't stop attempting literally the winning game plan haha but like your side I do hope they add some defensive linemen in the offseason.  Our front 4 as a unit was above average but its just not enough for how we scheme things up

[NewEra]

14 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

They hardly blitzed at all lol it was the same soft defense...in fact I'm willing to bet they blitzed far less than the regular season meeting.  Chiefs just couldn't provide mahomes with enough time to run the plays they like to run and andy Reid did not at all adjust.  Idk what is going on here do people see pressure and assume blitz? I think they blitzed 5 times max. He literally changed almost nothing from their first meeting 🤣 

Ah just saw you posted the same thing haha people are crowning Bowles and ripping our coaching staff a new one and Bowles literally swiped our game plan...it is comical 🤣 being aggressive is what gets you demolished against kc and blitzing more wouldve worked against the bucs Sunday night. Listen to all the kc players interviews where they talk about how hard it is for them to make plays with 2 defenders over the top all night.  Bucs got a nice gift with fisher being injured where by the second half there wasn't even enough time for kelce to find holes in the zone on short routes...if you remember correctly kelce was absolutely torching them in the first half

It’s a catch 22 though.  You have to be able to rush 4 and actually get to Mahomes.  If you don’t have the personnel to get to him, than you’re in big trouble.  Considering that we couldn’t get to him, we tried to blitz more in the 2nd half but got beat every time. 

I thought the biggest error our staff made was on offense, kicking FGs when we knew we couldn’t stop them defensively.  Why not give our QB a chance to make a play?  I’m glad we got that out of the way now and I’m hoping McD has learned his lesson.  He’s shown that he can adapt and make aggressive calls going against his previously passive (imo) nature.

[Buddo]

I wonder how the game would have turned out if KC had had any sort of functioning O-Line.

 

To me, the outcome looked ineviitable after just a few series.

 

Mahomes was literally running for his life all game.

 

For sure, the Bucs D played well, but they were barely challenged to do so.

 

Not only did KC have no recognisable O-Line, but another difference between the first game they played against the Bucs, was the fact that Vita Vea played in the SB, but not in the earlier game. KC, no O-Line, Bucs, better D-Line than before.

 

The Bills lines aren't anywhere near as bad as seems to be advertised. You don't get a 13 win season if your lines are the hot garbage some seem to make them out to be.

 

However, they do need to be improved, and if it's done well, then some of the other things people raise as problems, will be sorted out as a result, e.g. the run game, and also what we do with our LBers.

 

 

[Nextmanup]

On 2/7/2021 at 9:55 PM, RyanC883 said:

 

agree we are undermanned in the front 7.  I thnk a real MLB, move Edmunds outside helps the LB issue, getting Tomlinson in FA helps the DL temendously.  Need a legit pass rusher in FA as well (Yannick?), then draft a RB and OL.  I think we trade back in the draft to acquire all these parts.  We can do it in one offseason.  

Oh God, please do not draft a RB!

 

Get one off the waiver wire; they are everywhere.

[WideNine]

On 2/7/2021 at 8:05 PM, TheBeaneBandit said:

Not really. The return of Star is a slight bump at best.

 

A bit of truth here. A healthy Star does not get moved off his spot and helps against the run, but rarely got a lot of push.

 

Beane needs to be scouting for that next Vita Vea kind of Star 2.0 upgrade.

 

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Todd Bowles got demolished in the regular season against KC. Why? Because he played a soft defense against them. They were not aggressive, they did not attack, they sat in bubbles waiting just as we do. Once Bowles allowed his players to attack and be aggressive, his defense thrived. He was very aggressive, blitzed quite often, from various places all over the field. Rushed one, dropped one, sometimes dropped everyone and yet his front four still got pressure. Another thing I noticed as well was that when Clyde Edwards Helaire, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill got the ball they’d pay for it. Sometimes 2 if not 3 defenders would lay a nasty hit on them just to let them know what was coming every time they got the ball. They also took Hill away, even when Hill went into motion Tampa’s back seven automatically adjusted and mirrored his movements, quickly. You can’t passively sit back against good QBs like Mahomes, you have to create pressure, otherwise they’ll pick you apart.

 

Did he actually blitz that often?  Anyone got the stats for the game?  Because I didn't think he did blitz very often at all.

 

The key (from my memory, I have NOT rewatched this game) is that he blitzed a few times early was able to disguise coverage and simulate blitz, then drop into coverage while they still got hella pressure with the front 4.

 

Yes, they were very good at flowing to the ball and slamming Hill or anyone else who actually got targeted - even Kelce

[colin]

7 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Let’s call it a front 6 since almost everybody plays with 5DB’s now.  Looking at the 2020 salary cap, Tampa used $59m on its top 6 DL and LB’s (Barrett, JPP, David, Suh, White, Vea).  Bills used $50m on their top 6 highest paid DL and LB’s (Addison, Murphy, Hughes, Butler, Jefferson, Klein).  

 

wow, if we extend and throw in edmunds, the per player numbers look better for us, but wow oh wow are they getting better bang for their buck.

 

our D really lacks playmakers, we got taken to the cleaners on those contracts.  yikes.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Let’s call it a front 6 since almost everybody plays with 5DB’s now.  Looking at the 2020 salary cap, Tampa used $59m on its top 6 DL and LB’s (Barrett, JPP, David, Suh, White, Vea).  Bills used $50m on their top 6 highest paid DL and LB’s (Addison, Murphy, Hughes, Butler, Jefferson, Klein).  

 

I think a key difference to how the teams are structured, is that IIRC some of the TB best defenders just don't come off the field.  JPP played close to 90% of the snaps, Suh 74%, Barrett 84%, even last year Vita Vea would play 70-80% of the snaps in many games.

 

McDermott in contrast has had a very strong belief in DL rotation.  So Ed Oliver only played 54% of the snaps this season, last year Lotulelei played 49%.

 

In terms of cap impact, it means that we can't afford to pay a star (small S) because we're paying 2 Stars (big S), unless we're shorting the payroll at other positions.

 

I think one of the things that needs to be examined is whether that's in fact the best strategy.  Whether McDermott and Frazier will actually reconsider, I can't say.

 

[KollegeStudnet]

Eh, you never know. First time I’ve said this, but I trust ‘our’ pro scouts/college scouts to find gems this Draft/FA.

 

Also, RIP Marty ❤️

[947]

23 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Really hope they do.... I hate the JAG rotation they implement. McDs gotta make some changes to his defensive system. 

I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see Hughes & Oliver getting 85% of snaps.

 

It's also going to be hard sign FA D-linemen if they know going in that they'll only play roughly half the snaps. If your stats are capped by mandatory playing rotation, you can't meet contract escalators, get pro bowl recognition, etc.

[BuffaloRebound]

37 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think a key difference to how the teams are structured, is that IIRC some of the TB best defenders just don't come off the field.  JPP played close to 90% of the snaps, Suh 74%, Barrett 84%, even last year Vita Vea would play 70-80% of the snaps in many games.

 

McDermott in contrast has had a very strong belief in DL rotation.  So Ed Oliver only played 54% of the snaps this season, last year Lotulelei played 49%.

 

In terms of cap impact, it means that we can't afford to pay a star (small S) because we're paying 2 Stars (big S), unless we're shorting the payroll at other positions.

 

I think one of the things that needs to be examined is whether that's in fact the best strategy.  Whether McDermott and Frazier will actually reconsider, I can't say.

 

Over the course of a 16 game season that strategy might work.  Hughes plus Addison playing 50%each might give you the same production of Shaq Barrett playing 100% of the snaps.  But it most certainly doesn’t work in a 1 game playoff scenario where you need premier pass rushers to stop the top offenses.  Give me the the stud pass rusher at $20m per season over Hughes and Addison at $10m each.  

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, WideNine said:

 

A bit of truth here. A healthy Star does not get moved off his spot and helps against the run, but rarely got a lot of push.

 

Beane needs to be scouting for that next Vita Vea kind of Star 2.0 upgrade.

 

 

 

This will definitely be Star's last year as a Bill. Hopefully he doesn't opt out again. It will allow Oliver to move more as Star takes on 2. We have to free up alot of DL/ front 6 cap money. And I can guarantee you Beane will be shopping/drafting Star's replacement. Love to get Basham @ 30.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

50 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Over the course of a 16 game season that strategy might work.  Hughes plus Addison playing 50%each might give you the same production of Shaq Barrett playing 100% of the snaps.  But it most certainly doesn’t work in a 1 game playoff scenario where you need premier pass rushers to stop the top offenses.  Give me the the stud pass rusher at $20m per season over Hughes and Addison at $10m each.  

 

That's pretty much where I am at this point.  Or at least, the #2s have to be journeymen or young players trying to work their way into a lineup, like Zimmer

[fergie's ire]

On 2/7/2021 at 10:17 PM, biggerdaddynj said:

Beane failed with his d-line moves this past off season (and he had a lot to invest—thankfully he was smart and can get us out of most of the bad deals).  I appreciate what he’s done but he’s gotta own the bad along with the good.  
 

It all starts up front with the d-line  and has a domino effect—that pressure was always how you beat Brady—ask the Giants’ teams.  
 

Hope Beane can make something happen but with the Covid cap issue and not having a surplus of picks, it’s going to be hard.  That’s why I agree—a couple more years.  
 

We did great this year and are on the right track looking back (I personally think ahead) so let’s not all get negative.  Having arrived sooner than expected puts pressure on us too, this offseason will be very important.  

I think he does own those because I think those bad investments are part of his strategy...and why he has outs in their contracts.  Beane has always seemed to have a strategy of taking lots of players with risk in the hopes of hitting on a percentage.  If you spend a ton of dough on a big name player and whiff, you're shmowed.  But if you overpay for 10 guys who don't command huge salaries but who fit a scheme and have up-side, you can miss on half and still have five really good players.  He likes players who command less money because they have been injured (Murphy) or stuck behind someone on the depth chart (Mongo) but have the potential to be really good...particularly in the Bills system.  So, some are hits and some are misses.  Remember after Josh's rookie year, he signed like 15 o-linemen.  Sure we got Morse (who was actually a fairly high priced player) and Mongo and even Nsehke was useful for a year, but there was also Spencer Long.  With his strategy there are going to be misses and I think he knows that.  Now, one of the reasons for such a strategy is he needed to a complete re-vamp of the roster.  He needed a ton of bodies.  Will his strategy change and will he be more selective now?  Not sure.

[BearNorth]

Think about this, tho.  Davis, Winfield Jr. Whitehead, and Murphy-Bunting had a combined cap hit in 2020 of $5.1 MM, less than any single one of the Bills starting DB's.  Buffalo's Defensive starters had a cap hit of $75MM, Tampa's defensive starters cap hit was $68MM (16 of that was Shaq on a franchise tag). Our front 7 stunk against KC.

 

[bobobonators]

On 2/7/2021 at 9:09 PM, Aussie Joe said:

I thought the solution was the Bills drafting gadget guys like Toney so we could match the Chiefs on the  scoreboard?

 

We need playmakers right?

 

They scored 9 points today fellas when they got smacked in the mouth

 

 

 

Dont take the exception and make it the rule. 

 

It would be foolish to discount the obvious need to be able to continuously score 30+ in today’s NFL.
 

Mahomes has passed for 114 TD’s in 3 years and their core set of players on offense arent going anywhere. 
 

Yeh you can punch them in the face. Maybe once or twice a year if youre lucky. No team is immune from

bad games.

Edited February 10, 2021 by bobobonators

[Warcodered]