Which defensive scheme would you prefer?

[Arm of Harm]

If you could pick just one defensive scheme the Bills have used, which would you choose? Why is your choice better than the other options?

[Marvlevydraftdaygenius]

Sean McDermontt, Defense any day not Leslie Frazier's.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Good thread.  I've posted a lot about being more aggressive on defense but it needs to be balanced.  That's why I chose Schwartz's defense. He seemed to have the most success getting pressure on the QB with the least amount of blitzing.  

That said, the two biggest plays of the year were made by Taron Johnson.  And they were made by rushing four and dropping into zone coverage, and reading the QBs eyes.  Maybe McD has it figured out more than I know.

[TheBeaneBandit]

Schwartz. Wade's is great but too hard to collect the proper personnel. 

[H2o]

Schwartz

[DrDawkinstein]

Schwartz, with a nod to Wade

 

I like that Wide-9. I like the way he used personnel. I liked the aggressiveness on D compared to what we currently get out of the Tampa 2.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by DrDawkinstein

[BADOLBILZ]

 

Phillips.  No question.

 

That system was so adaptable to different opponents.   They would frequently stun teams with very different looks without much time to implement them.

 

I remember that Niners game in Buffalo in 1998.........they didn't know what hit them.........they would occasionally switch to a 4-3 and put up dominant performances.......and Wade stunned everyone putting tiny Antoine Winfield on Tony Gonzalez and shutting him down.........he could really mix things up.

 

Phillips is one of the greatest DC's of all time.........he could take over a team with 4-3 or 3-4 personnel and make it work at a high level.........while a guy like Rex had to have certain personnel to run his inflexible system.

 

Schwartz' system was basic and very inflexible and required a bunch of hard to find talent........it's tough to sustain.

 

McDermott's system needs to become more diverse.   If the only way to do that is to try to find a unicorn to play big nickel then it's not ideal.    Need the "growth mindset" to apply to the defense as well.

[poblano]

Phillips situation in 98-00 was perfect, the right personal, Ted Washington  at NT with Pat Williams replacing him and playing pass rusher DT in four fronts, with Wiley, Hansen and Bruce at DE. At LB Sam Rogers, Cowart, Holecek and Northern, with Marlo Perry as nickel LB. Thomas Smith, Winfield, Jones and Shultz,  was the right combination of personal and staff

 

 

[Motorin']

55 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Schwartz, with a nod to Wade

 

I like that Wide-9. I like the way he used personnel. I liked the aggressiveness on D compared to what we currently get out of the Tampa 2.

 

 

Same, but he had Jerry Hughes and Kyle Williams in their prime with Mario Williams and Dareus. That front 4 could wreck anybody. 

 

McD's defense is doesn't have the same talent and ability to get pressure with just 4. 

 

 

[Bookie Man]

Wade's defense is the easy choice for me. Stout all the way around. Would love when they would put in the BIG package with Pat Williams and Ted Washington. I've said this before, but I think Sam Cowart, before he hurt his knee, was just as good as Ray Lewis, if not better. 

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Good thread.  I've posted a lot about being more aggressive on defense but it needs to be balanced.  That's why I chose Schwartz's defense. He seemed to have the most success getting pressure on the QB with the least amount of blitzing.  

That said, the two biggest plays of the year were made by Taron Johnson.  And they were made by rushing four and dropping into zone coverage, and reading the QBs eyes.  Maybe McD has it figured out more than I know.

Schwartz also had the best DL by FAR.  Mario, Kyle, dareus and Hughes all close to their prime.  Not sure how his D would work with this DL

[Brennan Huff]

Rex Ryan’s defense isn’t an option?

[wppete]

That Schwartz defense was awesome. Nasty bunch of guys playing fast and aggressive. 

[Augie]

41 minutes ago, wppete said:

That Schwartz defense was awesome. Nasty bunch of guys playing fast and aggressive. 

 

Agreed. That was a great defense! 

 

I have to forget the scheme, and say we stay with what we got. (Not saying a change was suggested.) When you change scheme you need a new set of players. I hate turnover for that reason. We have a D that can get the job done. IMO we just need a few new pieces to get back into the top tier. 

 

If you already have a Ted Washington and/or a Pat Williams, then you go to your strengths! 

 

 

.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Augie

[JoPoy88]

2 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

If you could pick just one defensive scheme the Bills have used, which would you choose? Why is your choice better than the other options?

It depends on the personnel on the team, obviously. So there is no right or wrong answer. Draft day t-minus 6 days thank god

[ghostwriter]

Wade Phillips was one of the best DCs to ever grace the game. Truly one of the best. Second place is tied between Greg Williams and Jim Shorts.

[just1hugheser]

“He is one of the few coaches who starts from the backend forward. So he’s always going to take away your best receiver. And he says ‘A team legitimately can’t run the ball at you consistently and win the game nowadays.’ You have too good of defensive linemen, you can scheme up to stop the run. It’s hard to scheme up to stop the pass if that guy’s better than your corner.”

 

I'm a fan of the Smart/Saban 'Mint' or variation of the Tite front, allows for advantage in coverage while still being multiple about where pressure can come from, it's tough having to defend spread teams but also teams in a '12' that have TE's that can be threats in the run and passing game which is where NE is headed with Henry and Smith, getting Tweeners that can cover and hold up against the run is really the key.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/09/building-modern-nfl-defense-roster-management

 

check out this series of articles, explains the changing defenses in response to the rpo's, spread offenses, '12' personnel(with TEs who can block and catch).  Very intelligent breakdown.

[Rochesterfan]

Depends upon the players we have.  Do we get to utilize the players at the time or are we using our current talent?

 

Schwartz defense worked because of the DLine we had at the time.  That was a great DLine and allowed that defense to work.

 

If Schwartz coached this collection of players as DC - it would be much less successful as the DLine doesn’t have the horses at DE to be effective.  
 

With the current players - a Tampa 2 zone scheme seems to be best fit - so I would vote McD if we are talking about current players only - although I believe it is only the 3rd best defensive scheme listed.

 

The best DC was Phillips and he could probably get the most out of this collection also as he was a wiz at maximizing talent and scheme in his prime.  He has been less successful in these later years even with supremely talented teams.

 

Schwartz and McD are neck and neck - although I prefer the more aggressive Schwartz plans - as I said with this team it would be a failure.

 

I want nothing to do with Williams 🤮, Pettine, Jauron, and especially Rex 🤮🤮🤮.  
 

 

[MJS]

2 hours ago, Brennan Huff said:

Rex Ryan’s defense isn’t an option?

We need a poll for the most angering defense from the 90's to today.

[Buffalo716]

4 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Good thread.  I've posted a lot about being more aggressive on defense but it needs to be balanced.  That's why I chose Schwartz's defense. He seemed to have the most success getting pressure on the QB with the least amount of blitzing.  

That said, the two biggest plays of the year were made by Taron Johnson.  And they were made by rushing four and dropping into zone coverage, and reading the QBs eyes.  Maybe McD has it figured out more than I know.

Ever think schwartz got pressure with 4 because he had Mario , A hungry Dareus, meatball, and Jerry 

 

We had the best D line in football at a point.

 

And he still couldn't stop the run when it mattered