Where was our defensive line today?

[Toledo Bill]

I think Ford, Groot and Settle were the only lineman that had tackles and there were only 4 between those 3.

Espenesa and Miller were almost invisible (I think Espenesa made one good play on the QB).

With Jones out there is no push up the middle and opponents play action is effective now. I know Oliver was out but his great play this year had a lot to do with Jones.

Where  was our “great “ pass rush?

Lots to question today but the d-line was very disappointing.

 

 

[Warcodered]

It may be easier to come up with a blocking scheme when the interior of the D-line is sitting injured on the bench.

[clayboy54]

I understand that we do not have Daquan and Oliver was out today, but among the rest of the highly paid DTs we have nothing. This is where we could make an improvement at the deadline.

[sven233]

Out......  

 

The fact is, this team relies a lot on the men in the middle.  Jones and Oliver have been dominant this season freeing up the edge guys to do their thing.  With them not there getting the interior pressure they were creating, defenses can move their double teams elsewhere.  

[Xwnyer]

Top two interior lineman out one for year other with Toe figuring Indy need him.  

[Aussie Joe]

 

 

Jones is the biggest injury loss … Milano and Tre can be worked around but they need someone to replace Jones 

[Bangarang]

Ford, Phillips and Settle are all terrible. We only have two quality DTs on the roster and they were both out today.

[BBFL]

Floyd is currently the biggest impact player on that line followed by Oliver then Groot/Eppy. 
 

With Oliver out it was going to be a long day, no one else showed up. We lost. 
 

D-Line didn’t do us any favors but we lost. 
 

 

Mac outplayed Josh. Rough. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

On ir 

[GunnerBill]

The defensive tackles were brutal. All of them. Dreadful. 

 

And they are not low round draft picks on rookie deals (Kendal Vickers aside). The other 3 are vets. On mid range free agent contracts. 

 

Complete waste of money.

[vincec]

Dominant DTs are just not available on the dumpster pile.

 

The Bills DL HAS to win the LOS. They don’t have the CBs to play a lot of man coverage so they can’t consistently play the run with numbers or blitz.

Edited October 22, 2023 by vincec

[Bangarang]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

The defensive tackles were brutal. All of them. Dreadful. 

 

And they are not low round draft picks on rookie deals (Kendal Vickers aside). The other 3 are vets. On mid range free agent contracts. 

 

Complete waste of money.

When it comes to spending money in FA, Beane has a history of being wrong far more than he is right. 
 

People talk about us being a deep team until it’s time for that depth to actually play. Then we see how bad they can be. 

[Freddie's Dead]

At the hospital.

[PBF81]

Many people don't seem to understand that you simply cannot have your entire D playing like a bunch of possessed banshees week in and week out.  It's exhausting.  McD seems to think that they're all machines & robots.  

 

We were getting all giddy at our sack and pass-rush tallies, it should have served as a warning that, for example, Floyd was on pace for 18 sacks, which obviously was never going to be realized.  Jones was never going to play at the level he was playing at all season either.  Nor AJE.  And it was great early on against Wilson, Garropalo, and Howell, and for one get-up game against Miami, at home for our biggest game at the time, but the typical fast start has run its course.  We're seeing what's left in the tank.  It'll rebound somewhat from the crap it was today, but not to the levels of the first four games, at least not over any significant sustained period of time.  

 

Apart from the fact that over the past three seasons we've started really hot and then cooled off, this maniacally and frenetically orchestrated D simply isn't tenable over the course of an entire season.  It sounds great on paper, but McD isn't the one that has to be up to insane levels every week, the players are.  

 

 

[vincec]

Phillips and Ford have been very disappointing. Settle was disappointing last season. Now I’ve come to terms with him sucking.

[thenorthremembers]

50% of them were in street clothes.

[juno999]

6 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

When it comes to spending money in FA, Beane has a history of being wrong far more than he is right. 
 

People talk about us being a deep team until it’s time for that depth to actually play. Then we see how bad they can be. 

What's bad too is, just like the Bengals playoff game, the opposing OL had injuries but outplayed the Bills DL.

[Fallser]

Epenesa has had a moment here or there (batted passes) bu he fails to consistently pressure the Qb…I fear Von is cooked, he’s a shell out there…

[Livinginthepast]

Pass rush was completely ineffective today which is a huge key to the loss. Jones as witnessed by his whining to the refs throughout the game is a QB that get rattled and loses his cool easily but the Bills never really made him sweat and barely touched him throughout the game. Even at the end of the game with the pressure on Jones was comfortable in the pocket and even when he fumbled the Bills were penalized, so it didn't matter. Yes the D was undermanned but some of the rushing schemes on defense and the soft coverages that didnt confuse Jones at all were very poor and thats on McD.

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, Livinginthepast said:

Pass rush was completely ineffective today which is a huge key to the loss. Jones as witnessed by his whining to the refs throughout the game is a QB that get rattled and loses his cool easily but the Bills never really made him sweat and barely touched him throughout the game. Even at the end of the game with the pressure on Jones was comfortable in the pocket and even when he fumbled the Bills were penalized, so it didn't matter. Yes the D was undermanned but some of the rushing schemes on defense and the soft coverages that didnt confuse Jones at all were very poor and thats on McD.

 

I think all the people who judge Ed Oliver by the sack numbers alone should be forced to watch that game 100 times. Because he gets the edge rushers 1v1 match ups and forces QBs into positions that are easier for rushers to find them. Today Mac had the middle of the pocket and was stepping up all day. Doesn't help that Jones is out too of course but Ed Oliver would have made a difference today. Too bad he was out.