Excellent Article on Terrel Bernard from Tim Graham

[Doc]

23 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

While i don't disagree that the rush defense was a problem at times last year - I would think the 4 turnovers against the jets and broncos were larger factors in losing those games.  The jets rush total had an 83 yard run that resulted in 3 points.  

 

Losing milano hurts the rush defense quite a bit - and the worst game of the year for the front 7 was the game where he played 11 snaps against the jaguars. Another front-7 player who was hurt in the jaguars game was Daquan jones, who played 4 snaps. 

 

 

They ran over us in that one, and i'm not sure getting smaller was going to help there.  

 

The Jets loss was entirely on offense, mostly Josh stupidly throwing the ball away and to the Jets.  The Broncos was both as the offense should have scored more than 22 points against a team that gave up 70 to the Dols and the defense should have prevented them from getting into FG range (and, of course, the ST's gaffe).

[Cray51]

2 hours ago, Charles Romes said:

I cringe when I hear about all the reasons we lost to chiefs in the ‘23 playoffs and how Mahomes outdueled Allen once again. Klein subbing in for Bernard, are you kidding me. 

It was a major impact.  There are 3-4 DIRECT impact plays that Klein simply didnt cover well enough or didnt read the play appropriately that were huge against the Bills.  Bernard showed a great ability to cover and decipher throughout the year. 

 

Bernard being out for that game is up there are the top reason why we lost.

[JerseyBills]

we beat KC w Benard and should've without him

[Mark Vader]

2 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Bernard might be my favorite player on the defense. He’s always making plays and has instincts only Edmunds could have dreamed of.  

Remember when Terrel Bernard was a bust?

[MiracleAtRich1393]

2 hours ago, Charles Romes said:

I cringe when I hear about all the reasons we lost to chiefs in the ‘23 playoffs and how Mahomes outdueled Allen once again. Klein subbing in for Bernard, are you kidding me. 

Seriously... Greenlaw has Kelce in check all 1H in the SB, then suffers the most fluke achilles injury of all time and Kelce goes nuts. Coincidence??? Bernard was literally (and ultimately rightly so!) drafted to cover elite TE's because Edmunds couldn't, and of course he's out for that specific game against KC. BRUTALLLLLLL

[Jauronimo]

26 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The Jets loss was entirely on offense, mostly Josh stupidly throwing the ball away and to the Jets.  The Broncos was both as the offense should have scored more than 22 points against a team that gave up 70 to the Dols and the defense should have prevented them from getting into FG range (and, of course, the ST's gaffe).

With the exception of the Eagles OT loss, the offense was largely a no show in all of our losses.  

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, Charles Romes said:

I cringe when I hear about all the reasons we lost to chiefs in the ‘23 playoffs and how Mahomes outdueled Allen once again. Klein subbing in for Bernard, are you kidding me. 

It’s all about hot takes nowadays and everything is perceived to be so black and white. Football is a team game. We saw that when key players on the defense were injured, when Bass missed an easy kick to tie the game up late in the 4th, or when McD made some very questionable calls especially on special teams. Of course everyone wants to chalk it up to Mahomes being more “clutch” than Allen. It’s way more complicated than that. It even comes down to sheer luck at times. There are so many planets that need to align for a championship team. 

[eball]

Some of you like to roll your eyes at me when I talk about luck being a crucial component of playoff success...and the Bills just haven't gotten their share of breaks the way the Chiefs have.  These teams are so close and Josh is every bit the playoff QB Mahomes is.

 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, PBF81 said:

 

Well, OK, but the 4 games in which we allowed the most rushing yards, we lost.  All games that we lost by less than a TD.  The 6th most was the Giants, which we nearly lost.  The 7th which we also lost.  

 

If you don't think that significant, so be it.  🙂

 

 

Wow, the Chiefs lost 5 of their top 8 games where their opponents rushed the most. The Ravens lost 3/4. 

 

It’s almost like teams run the ball more when they are winning. Shocking development. Somebody send a letter to the Bills brass to let them know!

[Captain Caveman]

I agree that he would likely have made a difference in the Chiefs game, but I also am not sure we should be counting on him staying healthy given his history.

[FireChans]

40 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

With the exception of the Eagles OT loss, the offense was largely a no show in all of our losses.  

Not even a no-show, in some of our losses they actively threw the game away.

 

The Jets were cooked if the Bills just punted every drive. 
 

Who can forget the multiple turnovers before the half in Denver to let them get free points?

[GETTOTHE50]

1 hour ago, Mark Vader said:

Remember when Terrel Bernard was a bust?

Partly why I love him. He’s greatly exceeded expectations 

[Mr. WEO]

Tim Graham has an axe to grind!!!!

 

Wait, is this the  updated script, or the old one?

[Brand J]

Bernard certainly would’ve been a positive factor for the defense vs the Chiefs. AJ Klein’s shortcomings were magnified and even more so when he twisted his ankle and was STILL out there gimping around. 
 

It’s the Butterfly Effect…

 

If Dawson Knox catches that easy first down pass on the drive prior to Bernard dislocating his ankle, the Bills offense stays on the field (ie, Bernard’s dislocated ankle never would’ve happened). It’s true another injury could’ve happened to him or any other player on defense or offense, but that particular one doesn’t at that moment in time. We’d likely have him for the game against KC and would’ve had a much better chance of forcing more than ONE punt. The Bills may have won and squared off against Baltimore the following week. Thanks, Dawson. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I was a huge skeptic.  He looked awful his rookie year in limited duty.

In one half of a season last year, he made more plays than Edmunds made in five years at MLB.  

[Doc]

44 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I was a huge skeptic.  He looked awful his rookie year in limited duty.

In one half of a season last year, he made more plays than Edmunds made in five years at MLB.  

 

You're not alone.  There was a lot of kvetching going on before the season. 

[Beck Water]

5 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

Yes it's on the athletic and paywalled but its excellent.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5648468/2024/07/22/buffalo-bills-defense-terrel-bernard-injury-linebacker/

 

here is a snippet...

 

Bernard led the Bills in tackles while recording 6.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. In the dominant playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he made four tackles, broke up two passes and recovered a fumble despite lasting just 32 plays, his dislocated right ankle requiring the medical cart to drive him away.

 

He would have made a difference in the three-point loss to Kansas City. He’s a rising star, while replacement A.J. Klein had been cut from the practice squad a month earlier and reckoned himself retired before an emergency recall to Buffalo’s injury-tattered roster as the postseason began.

 

Bernard would have made more effective stops, would have been harder for Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to handle, would have been a calmer presence in relaying the signals and recognizing plays, would have given McDermott enough confidence in his defense to avoid risking a direct snap to safety Damar Hamlin for an unsuccessful fake punt because giving the ball back to Mahomes felt like surrender.

 

That is a good article, Thanks!  It sounds as though it's been hard on Bernard, missing the game and knowing that he might have made a difference.

 

Tiny nit, Graham makes it sound as though Bernard played every game as a defender his rookie season but had a mediocre impact.

Quote

The Bills obviously didn’t mind, drafting Bernard No. 89 and playing him all 16 games as a rookie. He didn’t make much noise, though, delivering 22 tackles with none behind the line of scrimmage and zero takeaways.

Bernard did play all 16 games, but primarily on Special Teams.  He started 1 game, and saw significant snaps in 2 others.  In the game he started, he racked up 7 tackles; in the game where he played 33% of the defensive snaps, he had 6.

 

So while what Graham says is correct, it's a bit cherry-picked to make it sound as though Bernard played every game on defense and did next to nothing.

[GoBills808]

3 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

With the exception of the Eagles OT loss, the offense was largely a no show in all of our losses.  

We need to be able to win when the offense isn't great

 

The Chiefs offense played the jags, Jets and Patriots as poorly as we did and they managed to come away w 3 wins

[T master]

7 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

Yes it's on the athletic and paywalled but its excellent.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5648468/2024/07/22/buffalo-bills-defense-terrel-bernard-injury-linebacker/

 

here is a snippet...

 

Bernard led the Bills in tackles while recording 6.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. In the dominant playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he made four tackles, broke up two passes and recovered a fumble despite lasting just 32 plays, his dislocated right ankle requiring the medical cart to drive him away.

 

He would have made a difference in the three-point loss to Kansas City. He’s a rising star, while replacement A.J. Klein had been cut from the practice squad a month earlier and reckoned himself retired before an emergency recall to Buffalo’s injury-tattered roster as the postseason began.

 

Bernard would have made more effective stops, would have been harder for Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to handle, would have been a calmer presence in relaying the signals and recognizing plays, would have given McDermott enough confidence in his defense to avoid risking a direct snap to safety Damar Hamlin for an unsuccessful fake punt because giving the ball back to Mahomes felt like surrender.

 

Exactly why in part i feel this new younger roster could be just what the Dr ordered . If Millano can return to form, Von can be a little over half of what he was in a rotational player and the others that Beane has brought in that have been to the top of the mountain and are younger this season could be really good .

 

I think they saw the writing on the wall with Po, Hyde, Von, Diggs, Gabe & others they all had multiple shots at the apple & missed so it was time to move on . Sure i for one will miss those spectacular catches that Josh & Diggs put up but who's to say the new guys can't have as much production between them all in Brady's new offense ?

 

I think as i have heard that it may take a minute for them all to get on the same page in the offense and the secondary but i believe by the mid way point of this season the chemistry could be mauvelous !!! 

[buffblue]

7 hours ago, Warcodered said:

Him and Milano back in action together as a dynamic duo makes this defense an exciting thing to think about.

If healthy that is as good a linebacker pair as any else in the league. Let's just hope Milano is still the same guy after his injury