What’s it gonna take to improve /prioritize our run defense?

[Jistafan]

We have historically been poor in stopping run. Curious what’s it gonna take for Bills to stop the run? Is it coaching scheme, not enough talent , probably both? Enlighten me oh wise ones…

Edited 18 hours ago by Jistafan

[nosejob]

13 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

We have historically been poor in stopping run. Curious what’s it gonna take for Bills to stop the run? Is it coaching scheme, not enough talent , probably both? Enlighten me oh wise ones…

Play more of a base 4-3 and blitz a LB on every down. Rotate who we send.

[I'm Spartacus]

Tell McDermott we don't like his scheme.

[JP51]

We could start by getting defensive tackles that can hold off OL from wrecking our LBs and safeties. I would say Oliver and Jones are not worth the price of admission on their contracts. However, we are not going to miraculously find to monster tackles that shoot gaps and blow up plays before the end of the season. So out side of going to a straight 4-3 and taking Taron Johnson off the field I dont know... more run blitzing... I think mostly you need to play to conditions... stack the box in cold nasty run game weather and force them to throw... or just roll with it and play the style we have been playing and hope Milano comes back strong as a run disruptor.  I do see replacing Jones with a monster tackle (either FA or Carter) in hopes of getting pressure off of Oliver and actually getting some production for him...  not sure they are looking to ditch his contract at this point. 

Edited 17 hours ago by JP51

[gonzo1105]

It’s scheme and personnel imo. The Bills run a 4-2-5 which was actually created to stop college spread offenses back in the day. To be able to run a 4-2 your Linebackers and added DB(Johnson) need to be your best players on defense because they have to be versatile and be able to do a lot of different thing including coverage on both zone and man against smaller quicker players. 
 

In return to match the current game  of football the Bills have adjusted the 4-2 to adapt by having those 3 said players be incredibly light. Milano 229, Bernard 225, and Johnson 195. This obviously puts you at a disadvantage when you’re running a defense to stop the spread passing game and also countering with very light corps of 3. 
 

Ideally against teams that run downhill with power you would want that hybrid player(Johnson) to be replaced by someone who has the same skills. Hence the McDermott “Big Nickle”. Problem is Johnson is so good that you can’t take him off the field even against those teams. 
 

On the Defensive line, you want guys who can get after the passer with 4 because said back 7 is trying to stop the spread passing game. Those Dlineman also have to be able to run laterally for spread quick game like screens and bubble routes. With that said Ed Oliver is extremely undersized for NFL standards. 
 

So with that lengthy write up , In conclusion the 3 best football players on their defense are extremely undersized and a 4th at DT is also extremely undersized. The Bills have decided that giving up big runs from time to time is okay if it means being incredibly stout in the pass game. They use coaching and supreme talent in their mid 3 to stop the run from time to time setting up teams to pass against their superior talent against the pass. 
 

That’s my basic 4-2-5 lesson for the day 

[BuffaloBillyG]

28 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

We have historically been poor in stopping run. Curious what’s it gonna take for Bills to stop the run? Is it coaching scheme, not enough talent , probably both? Enlighten me oh wise ones…

Philosophy is one key.

 

The Bills are ok with giving up some on the ground as long as everyone gets to where they should be and limits most plays. When they don't is where you see those long runs break out.

 

They don't want to give up the big play in the pass game. They go smaller/quicker instead of bringing in guys that are thumpers against the run. Last time we had a true thumper LB I believe was Brandon Spikes. 2 down guy that comes out on 3rd and medium/long. 

 

If you want to stop the run you have to commit to it, which means different players and mindset. Oddly enough, once a team gets to the 5 yard line and closer...it SEEMS (no stats to back me up) that the run defense does a great job a lot of the time. 

 

Now if we could just stop all those 3rd and longs it would get us off the field and help the run D out as well 

Edited 17 hours ago by BuffaloBillyG

[GunnerBill]

Better fundamentals, especially up front. Daquan Jones has struggled this year, Ed has been really inconsistent, their backup DTs are not really true run stuffers (by choice) and other than Groot our only defensive end who really specialises in playing the run is Duane Smoot who has been injured. 

 

That is the only route for the Bills. They need to play better up front because they don't and won't scheme to take the run away. That isn't how they believe in playing defense. They want you to run where your margin for error is smaller. 

 

[GolfandBills]

It stinks holding teams to 10 points.  We won’t win many games that way 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

A little off topic, but the comments that Andy Reid made after the bills game makes me think he is going to basically run the ball 40 times against us if we play them again.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

Nothing much. At least without sacrificing the pass D. 

[The Jokeman]

22 minutes ago, I'm Spartacus said:

Tell McDermott we don't like his scheme.

To be fair McDermott never got his big nickel that made his defense in Carolina dangerous. I like Taron but his small size coupled with the size of Bernard and Milano does hurt the rush defense. It's a double edged sword as our secondary is top notch and said in the game thread but Rapp has been great this season with open field tackles to stop possible TDs but even he can't stop them all. 

[theRalph]

The Bills allow rushing yardage. It is a deliberate choice made in their defensive scheme. We've even seen Taron Johnson saying precisely this in a post-game presser. So, I agree with another response that stated "Tell Sean McDermott".

Edited 17 hours ago by theRalph

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I bet when we most need it we will be able to scheme up against a certain opponent. Right now it's a choice and the run isn't kiiling us.

[NoSaint]

52 minutes ago, Jistafan said:

We have historically been poor in stopping run. Curious what’s it gonna take for Bills to stop the run? Is it coaching scheme, not enough talent , probably both? Enlighten me oh wise ones…

It will take the run game being a more effective way to win nfl games for us to prioritize it 

[4BillsintheBurgh]

With the 32nd pick in the 2025 draft, the Buffalo Bills select....

[mushypeaches]

Our bad rushing defense exists only so that fans like the OP have something to complain about when we're riding a 7 game winning streak

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

I’ve gotta see the lions game before I can judge how bad it is.  To me that’s a game where you want to load up against the run and trust benford to take st brown out of the game without a ton of help 

 

ravens ran all over us but they have ran all over pretty much everybody and we were missing a ton of guys.  You’ve gotta worry about Lamar getting to the edge too so that makes stopping the run up the middle tougher.  Goff is a little different than that 🤣

[Jistafan]

29 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

A little off topic, but the comments that Andy Reid made after the bills game makes me think he is going to basically run the ball 40 times against us if we play them again.

Exactly you adjust to what team gives you; we’ve done it as well. Just doesn’t seem we have balance…

[NoSaint]

1 minute ago, theRalph said:

The Bills allow rushing yardage. It is a deliberate choice made in their defensive scheme. We've even seen Taron Johnson saying precisely this in a post-game presser. So, I agree with another response that stated "Tell Sean McDermott".

4 yards per carry vs 7 yards per pass and a whole lot more scoring, right? 

[JimmyNoodles]

31 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

A little off topic, but the comments that Andy Reid made after the bills game makes me think he is going to basically run the ball 40 times against us if we play them again.

Yes, and anybody else we see in the playoffs. Run D will be a problem if we can’t maintain a lead.