The root source of D problems is the D Line

[cale]

Completely agree with this assessment.

[wppete]

Daquan Jones has been awful. 

[Georgia Bill]

20 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

Big Eddy came to play today. What a game by him 

Loved the play where he pancaked their center and crawled over him to get to Goff!

[Sierra Foothills]

Re-visting this topic:

 

Many/most NFL observers consider the Lions O-line the best in the league. Their run game was averaging 141 yards per game heading into the Bills game.

 

The Bills held the Lions to 35 yards rushing on 13 carries (2.7 ypc).

 

Also Ed Oliver answered his critics. "According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Oliver generated a season-high 10 pressures on 42 pass rushes against the Lions, the most pressures in a game by a defensive tackle this season. A majority of his pressures (7 of 10) came against Lions left guard Graham Glasgow."

 

It seems (and some here predicted accurately) that the Bills were determined to atone for the embarrassment against the Rams. It was pretty obvious that they played with more intensity.

 

The other difference was the snap breakdowns (79 total defensive snaps):

• While Rousseau, Epenesa, and Von had about their usual number and percentage of snaps, DaWuane Smoot played 29 snaps (37%) after not being able to play vs the Rams. He made a big difference. I'd be happy if he started ahead of Epenesa.
• Casey Toohill didn't play.
• Javon Solomon had 8 snaps (10%) after getting zero in the previous 4 games.
• The biggest difference in the DT rotation was that while Ed Oliver and Daquan Jones had about their usual number and percentage of snaps, Jordan Phillips was #3 in the rotation with 20 snaps (25%), after not playing against the Rams. DeWayne Carter (17) and Austin Johnson's (14) snaps were down a bit and Quinton Jefferson didn't play at all after playing 19 snaps (25%) against the Rams.
• Another oddity was at LB where Dorian Williams played 20 snaps (25%) but it was Baylon Spector at 18 snaps (23%) who came in when Milano went down.
• In the backfield, Benford, Elam, and Cam Lewis all played 100% of snaps but Taron played 71 snaps (90%). I didn't notice it during the game but there must have been some plays where Taron came out and the Bills had Dorian in with Milano and Bernard.

It's really hard to evaluate the Bills D. They did a great job of shutting down an excellent rushing attack and also put decent pressure on Goff. On the other hand they were porous against the pass and gave up 42 points so there's tons more room for improvement.

 

Also there's so many moving parts among the LBs and DBs that it's a bit unclear what the defense will look like after players return to health and the injury auditions end.

 

I'm still in favor of more snaps for Elam, Bishop, and Solomon. Between the injuries and the softer schedule, this is the perfect scenario to give them game experience. Snaps now are an investment in their training which could very well payoff if/when they're forced into action. I love that all 3 have high ceilings. This defense still needs to improve and the clearest path to improvement is playing those with more talent and upside. They can only gain trust and become more assignment sound by playing, so I say let them play. It'll be really interesting watching the snap counts over the final 3 weeks.

 

Edited December 17 by Sierra Foothills

[JerseyBills]

8 hours ago, wppete said:

Daquan Jones has been awful. 

Ya wth happened to him. He was dominant at times the previous 2 years, maybe injuries and age but aside from a couple sacks he is invisible,  barely notice him. 

 

I like Smoot. Groot continues to be an excellent run defender, if he can just get some more pressure and sacks he'd be a dominant DE

[3rdand12]

15 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

Ya wth happened to him. He was dominant at times the previous 2 years, maybe injuries and age but aside from a couple sacks he is invisible,  barely notice him. 

 

I like Smoot. Groot continues to be an excellent run defender, if he can just get some more pressure and sacks he'd be a dominant DE

I think Bills are more designed for Inside pressures. When Oliver is on point , he is often very strong. Must be by design and how Bills counter.

DEs really have to be  assigned to defending the edge more often than some Teams ?

Smoot and Solomon, Carter. I like them.

 

 

[billsfan89]

D-line played well through about 3 quarters in the Lions game. Oliver was dominating the game with a lot of pressures, Groot was active and getting pressure as well, and the run defense held up which I think meant that the DT group played well. I also noticed some good play from Smoot off the edge particularly against the run. Overall I think the D-line was not a major issue against the Lions until the last 20 minutes of the game, in fact the unit played really well for a majority of the game.