Thoughts on the pass defense?

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, Livinginthepast said:

I find the whole strategy in the secondary to be odd to start. Soft zone with a five yard cushion hoping that they sack the QB so there is no pass? Without our best edge rusher?  Whats even odder is the frequency of times that the receivers are wide open, the db doesnt turn around to locate the ball, the db doesnt try to break up the pass or separate the receiver from the ball or the db arrives and doesnt make the tackle.  Much of this is on the players themselves but Frazier isnt adjusting to the injuries or the realities of this defense at the moment and its really hurting us. Many of these games have been uncomfortably close only because of huge flaw.  Frazier should be mixing things up with man defense here and there to throw the offenses off at the very least. Right now its way too easy to go against this defense with all the injuries and 2nd and 3rd string talent starting.

 

I mean adjust is EXACTLY what he did yesterday. They ran some more man in the second half. They did mix coverages up more and they got a beat on what the Pats were trying to do. In the second half Mac was 13/24 for 126 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. 

 

The stats show consistently throughout the season that the Bills do give up fewer yards and fewer points as games go on. So you might find the strategy confusing and think they don't adjust.... but your eyes are lying to you. 

[Ga boy]

10 hours ago, sven233 said:

Unfortunately, this is just the same Fraizer defense that we have been seeing since he got here.  Play a soft zone making sure you don't get beat over the top.  It makes for long, sustained drives but in the end, the screws tend to tighten a bit and the hope is to hold teams to 3 and not give up TDs. 

 

The thing is, it works fairly well against teams that don't have a good QB or weapons.  This is why over the course of a season, the stats look pretty good and we are always ranked high.  Where is becomes a major problem is when you go against better QBs and WRs that know how to get open and find the weak spots.  And where do you find these teams?  In the Playoffs, of course.  That is why it is so frustrating every year to go into the Playoffs against teams like the Chiefs knowing that no matter where the defense ranked during the season, that we know we will have to score 35+ to even have a chance because the defense can't get away with this soft coverage it played all season.  It's why 13 seconds happens.  It is infuriating and I expect nothing different this post season.

 

It also doesn't help to have the guy you brought into be your closer and try to shorten the time the QB has in the pocket go down, one of your stud safeties go out for the season at the very beginning of the year while the other one is being held together with duct tape at this point, and have your former top 3 CB still recovering from a devastating injury. 

Yea it looks like what’s left of our defense is not as good as last year’s.  BUT, and it’s a big but, maybe, our better running game will keep the other teams offense off the field, especially if Cook gets 15+ opportunities.  And of course, our D stays rested. 

[Wayne Cubed]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Nor do I. That is what I said. The Bills will have to score and on defense they will have to be opportunistic, get their hands on footballs and take the ball away. They are not going to keep Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert... probably even Miami if Tua is healthy to 20 points. The Bills will need to score 30 plus in each game I think. 

 

The thing about this is, the Chiefs, Chargers and Bengals are thinking the same thing. Those aren't elite defense on those teams. They each have pieces, much like the Bills, and have the ability to win plays but ultimately they are looking at their offenses and QBs to blow teams away.

 

As opposed to the 49ers, who are absolutely looking to their defense to keep them in games.

 

The Bills this season were kept under 20 points once. One time. And it took a ridiculously hot game in Miami for it to happen. The reality is for most defenses you aren't going to keep this Bills offense under 20. Slow it down a bit, sure, but you better be preopared to put up points against this team.

[colin]

7 hours ago, Beast said:

Yes, the 3 INT’s clearly showed that.

 

those were franchise int's tho, just beauties 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

11 hours ago, Solomon Grundy said:

His bend but don't break approach is what pisses me off. 49ers put out a blueprint on how to shut the Dolphins offense down and he refuses to use it

SF rushed 4 and played quarters off/2 deep all game and it worked for them.  Literally more like the Leslie Frazier defense you are criticizing than Leslie Frazier’s actual defense 😂

[Billz4ever]

11 hours ago, ClemsonBills said:

We played very soft coverage today. Really hoping Leslie gets creative in the playoffs

Soft coverage is putting it mildly. It almost seems like they're just waiting for the receivers to catch the ball and then tackling.  Having 7 guys in coverage and then seeing receivers catch the ball with a defender barely within 5 yards happens far too often.

[MphsBillsfan]

Bills secondary is sus, 2 all pros or not they  are not beating Cincy or KC with that hot garbage.

[JerseyBills]

Credit to NE on the play actions. Romo said they don't run much PA so maybe that caught em off guard.

 

Overall the defense gets a pass from me this week.  I'm not sure how much practice they got in and how focused they could have been before getting the good news about Damar

 

If Tua plays I'm definitely going to be a bit concerned 

[Billz4ever]

11 hours ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

It's the defense you prefer these days. So many good and young QBs AFC. Blitz they'll destroy you for TD. It's not just Bills lots of team's following this type of defense.

I'd rather take the chance with the blitz and either get the sack or force the bad throw.  Allowing the QB to sit back there with no pressure and find holes in the zone makes no sense to me and never has.  Will you get burned by the blitz sometimes?  Sure. That's how it goes, but when team's go on these long drives, that's also time Josh isn't on the field.  They showed the stat yesterday that on the Pats scoring drives Jones was 17/17 with 3 TDs.  Those were mainly with us rushing 4 and dropping 7 in coverage.

 

I think we were pretty effective with our blitzing yesterday when we did and I hope to see it more.

[Billsfan1972]

Nice to see interceptions and what in two cases was the ball bouncing the Bills direction.  The other was just a bad pass.  

 

NE receivers were pretty open (as opposed to Bills) and they hung 23 on the Bills (with three TO's).

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

3 minutes ago, MphsBillsfan said:

Bills secondary is sus, 2 all pros or not they  are not beating Cincy or KC with that hot garbage.

They literally beat kc with even worse players in the secondary 😂

[All_Pro_Bills]

35 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I mean adjust is EXACTLY what he did yesterday. They ran some more man in the second half. They did mix coverages up more and they got a beat on what the Pats were trying to do. In the second half Mac was 13/24 for 126 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. 

 

The stats show consistently throughout the season that the Bills do give up fewer yards and fewer points as games go on. So you might find the strategy confusing and think they don't adjust.... but your eyes are lying to you. 

But I think a lot of that late game success is due to the opponent's QB needing to take more risks because the Bills offense is putting points up and it comes down to playing against the 4th quarter clock, figuring the number of potential possessions left, and the need to score 2+ times in order to win the game.  

[Billz4ever]

1 minute ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

They literally beat kc with even worse players in the secondary 😂

We also had Von then, who was getting pressure on Mahomes.  Lack of a pass rush puts even more pressure on the secondary.  That's why I'm in favor of blitzing more often.

[SoCal Deek]

2 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Nice to see interceptions and what in two cases was the ball bouncing the Bills direction.  The other was just a bad pass.  

 

NE receivers were pretty open (as opposed to Bills) and they hung 23 on the Bills (with three TO's).

 

It’s exactly as I said. The Bills are betting on the assumption that over the course of the game the opposing QB isn’t going to throw a perfect pass every time. That’s especially true with Mac Jones. The Pats receivers made him look even better than he is yesterday. Against better QBs the Bills defensive strategy will be different.

[JerseyBills]

11 hours ago, Putin said:

We made Mac Jones look like a franchise QB today what else is there to say ? 

Eh. He played good but 26/40 243 3td/3int isn't exactly franchise material. Looked like the Bills were willing to play soft coverage in hopes Mac would make mistakes and it paid off

 

Allen who many said had a sub par game went 19/31 254 3td/1int

 

If you can force Mac to throw 40 times, you gotta good chance at a W

 

Allen showed they're levels in the last 20 minutes 

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

But I think a lot of that late game success is due to the opponent's QB needing to take more risks because the Bills offense is putting points up and it comes down to playing against the 4th quarter clock, figuring the number of potential possessions left, and the need to score 2+ times in order to win the game.  

 

Of course there are multiple factors. But it isn't just 4th Quarter. The numbers are consistent that the Bills do better on defense as the game goes on. Fans have this image of Leslie Frazier as a DC who just rolls out one thing all game and it just isn't true. They are a good adjustments team. Unfortunately a lot of fans don't really understand what they are watching so these narratives gather momentum even when inaccurate. 

Edited January 9, 2023 by GunnerBill

[Billsfan1972]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

It’s exactly as I said. The Bills are betting on the assumption that over the course of the game the opposing QB isn’t going to throw a perfect pass every time. That’s especially true with Mac Jones. The Pats receivers made him look even better than he is yesterday. Against better QBs the Bills defensive strategy will be different.

Better be, but I haven't seen that of late.

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

We also had Von then, who was getting pressure on Mahomes.  Lack of a pass rush puts even more pressure on the secondary.  That's why I'm in favor of blitzing more often.

 

Huge no to blitzing more often. There have been games this year - Minnesota was one - where were constantly burned on the blitz. 

[Solomon Grundy]

18 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

SF rushed 4 and played quarters off/2 deep all game and it worked for them.  Literally more like the Leslie Frazier defense you are criticizing than Leslie Frazier’s actual defense 😂

49ers DIDN'T let their receivers run free off the line of scrimmage. Disrupted their timing. 

[Billz4ever]

11 hours ago, Solomon Grundy said:

You are so right. Epenesa/Basham are truly JAGs. Epenesa is a one trick pony. I've never seen him turn speed into power. No pass rush moves whatsoever. Rousseau was a beast this afternoon. Hopefully Shaq has another game like he had against Dolphins in Buffalo

AJE is just frustrating to watch.  He comes flying off the edge, tries to come around the corner and is then just pushed out of the play by the Tackle. Wash, rinse, repeat.  Von is able to get around the edge and then turn it back up inside towards the QB and get real pressure.  As you said, it's a clear lack of power since he's taken out of the play as soon as he tries to turn the corner towards the QB.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Billz4ever