Where was the defensive adjustment on Puka Nakua?

[Freddie's Dead]

You lost me at "Nacua is not that good".  

[26TrapDraw]

53 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

If your blueprint relies on a first ballot HOF QB playing one of the very best games of his entire career, then there might not be a whole lot of teams that can use it.

did we win?

[Mango]

It wasn't just "the defense" that got smoked by Nacua, Taron Johnson was abused. 

Surprisingly Ingram manned up better against him late in the game.

The big gaffe is having Elam a healthy scratch. We struggled in man but we had our best man corner in sweats. I know Cam Lewis is versatile and special teams and all that. But I would rather have Ingram fill Lewis' role and have Elam available on game day. Crazy to me that the camp reports had him in a very close battle to start and he is a healthy scratch. 

I don't think he is a world beater, but Elams skill set is a tool this team needs in its tool box on game day. This game is a great example of that.  

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Stafford only threw the ball 30 times, it seemed like 50 attempts, but 76% completion. 

 

When he was used out of a stack the Bills would trot over the same number of corners, Nucua would take one step back, catch the flare route, and his WRs would block the Bills DBs out of the way with ease. 

 

 

[BeastMaster]

1 minute ago, 947 said:

Stop with the "Rams WRs are the best in the league, they played a great game" nonsense.

 

Don't get me wrong, they are great- but we actively allowed them to do whatever they wanted by playing the defense we did & refusing to adjust. We ALLOWED Puka & every other WR to sit in the holes in our soft zone & get first downs, all night.

 

Going into the game, Stafford was the #1 QB in the league vs zone coverage. If Stafford got to choose which style of coverage he faced, he'd have picked exactly what we did. He didn't even have to try. We should've had an answer ready after that first drive.

 

The D got destroyed because allowed the Rams to do what they wanted, and didn't adjust or disguise anything. It was a joke. Even if the punt block hadn't happened & we squeaked out a win, our D was utterly embarassed.

I don't think I ever saw Matt Stafford that comfortable back there just scanning the field and dropping dimes

 

And the Bills got burned repeatedly on that dumb Nacua draw play as if we did zero adjustment or play recognition 

 

If I'm McDermott and Babich today, I'm embarrassed and ashamed of what I put out there yesterday. But we all know that McDermott will blame the offense and special teams before him and what he is supposed to be the guru of

[Simon]

Just now, 26TrapDraw said:

did we win?

 

What does that have to do with whether the Rams provided a blueprint for other teams?

 

[BeastMaster]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

It wasn't just "the defense" that got smoked by Nacua, Taron Johnson was abused. 

Surprisingly Ingram manned up better against him late in the game.

The big gaffe is having Elam a healthy scratch. We struggled in man but we had our best man corner in sweats. I know Cam Lewis is versatile and special teams and all that. But I would rather have Ingram fill Lewis' role and have Elam available on game day. Crazy to me that the camp reports had him in a very close battle to start and he is a healthy scratch. 

I don't think he is a world beater, but Elams skill set is a tool this team needs in its tool box on game day. This game is a great example of that.  

They really should've traded him if they planned on not even making him active on GameDays

 

This is another blunder by the organization IMO

[Cray51]

Benford blanketed Nacua a few times, and Nacua simply made A+ catches to beat it.  He is such a talent, I didn't give him the credit after his rookie year.  He is 100% a star receiver in the league.

 

This defense is built on all three levels working as one.  D-line needs to get pressure and maintain integrity, LBs need to cover lower zones and spy QB if integrity is broken, and DBs need to sit in their zones and squeeze windows to force tight throws.  None of the levels worked yesterday.  D-line didnt get pressure, LBs were moved off their zones by Stafford (who did an AMAZING job yesterday.  That was Super Bowl winning Stafford yesterday), and DBs didnt tighten coverage downfield to force tight throws.

 

Lots of breakdowns - need to improve

[26TrapDraw]

42 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

All true and you have to give some credit to McVay too.

Watching the Bills secondary trying to deal with the route combinations he was throwing at them was sort of embarrassing.

He had them spinning on circles all day while his players were executing with serious precision.

their WR's could of run any route they wanted when they had all day. Without pressure a good Qb like Stafford is gonna pick you to pieces.

[Mango]

1 minute ago, Cray51 said:

Benford blanketed Nacua a few times, and Nacua simply made A+ catches to beat it.  He is such a talent, I didn't give him the credit after his rookie year.  He is 100% a star receiver in the league.

 

This defense is built on all three levels working as one.  D-line needs to get pressure and maintain integrity, LBs need to cover lower zones and spy QB if integrity is broken, and DBs need to sit in their zones and squeeze windows to force tight throws.  None of the levels worked yesterday.  D-line didnt get pressure, LBs were moved off their zones by Stafford (who did an AMAZING job yesterday.  That was Super Bowl winning Stafford yesterday), and DBs didnt tighten coverage downfield to force tight throws.

 

Lots of breakdowns - need to improve

 

Even though Milano was better that the SF and not a major liability this game, this is exactly why I wanted Williams back in there while we were getting gashed. As a unit, these guys have been moving together really well all year. Milano looked like "the new guy" last night. 

[26TrapDraw]

3 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

What does that have to do with whether the Rams provided a blueprint for other teams?

 

The point is our QB had a hall of fame MVP locking type of performance and his team lost. Why? because his defense got torched because of an anemic pass rush. I was there and watched it happen in front of me.

7 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Stafford only threw the ball 30 times, it seemed like 50 attempts, but 76% completion. 

 

When he was used out of a stack the Bills would trot over the same number of corners, Nucua would take one step back, catch the flare route, and his WRs would block the Bills DBs out of the way with ease. 

 

 

sounds like a blueprint to me

[mbowman14]

5 minutes ago, Sweats said:

 

 

 

I thought the officiating was rather respectable yesterday.......i mean, at times they were the only ones trying to stop the Rams O

The two uncalled false starts by the RT (ridiculous toe-tap catch by Nacua and Screen TD) are not judgment and have to be made.  False start calls are black and white.  Both of those ended up being huge plays.

[VW82]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

It wasn't just "the defense" that got smoked by Nacua, Taron Johnson was abused. 

Surprisingly Ingram manned up better against him late in the game.

The big gaffe is having Elam a healthy scratch. We struggled in man but we had our best man corner in sweats. I know Cam Lewis is versatile and special teams and all that. But I would rather have Ingram fill Lewis' role and have Elam available on game day. Crazy to me that the camp reports had him in a very close battle to start and he is a healthy scratch. 

I don't think he is a world beater, but Elams skill set is a tool this team needs in its tool box on game day. This game is a great example of that.  

 

Have to wonder if we'll get to see Elam next week given Douglas is likely out for a while on the friendly fire (cracked ribs??). 

 

Also, it might be time to have the hard conversation about TJ this offseason. We have an out in his deal after 2025. Proactively planning for that makes a lot of sense given his age and slight decline we've seen throughout this season.  

[NoSaint]

56 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Puka is a HOF talent.   But he plays with such abandon that he will end up washing out due to injury.   But when he is on he is maybe the most unstoppable WR in the NFL.   Bills ran into a Rams offense that was mostly healthy,  which almost never happens.   McVay and Shanahan beat the hell out of their players and we saw both ends of that spectrum the past 2 weeks.      

yup. Contrary to their record, they are a good team with multiple high end talents, a balanced attack and a savvy vet qb. 
 

and a long road trip 

 

not shocked they played very well healthy and at home. 

[26TrapDraw]

5 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Benford blanketed Nacua a few times, and Nacua simply made A+ catches to beat it.  He is such a talent, I didn't give him the credit after his rookie year.  He is 100% a star receiver in the league.

 

This defense is built on all three levels working as one.  D-line needs to get pressure and maintain integrity, LBs need to cover lower zones and spy QB if integrity is broken, and DBs need to sit in their zones and squeeze windows to force tight throws.  None of the levels worked yesterday.  D-line didnt get pressure, LBs were moved off their zones by Stafford (who did an AMAZING job yesterday.  That was Super Bowl winning Stafford yesterday), and DBs didnt tighten coverage downfield to force tight throws.

 

Lots of breakdowns - need to improve

Maybe I don't give Nacua the credit he deserves. He looked all world out there yesterday. When a QB has all day to throw , any WR will look all pro.

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, 26TrapDraw said:

The point is our QB had a hall of fame MVP locking type of performance and his team lost. Why? because his defense got torched because of an anemic pass rush. I was there and watched it happen in front of me.

sounds like a blueprint to me

 

If only we got some pressure when he was releasing the ball in 1.7 seconds...

[Mango]

1 minute ago, VW82 said:

 

Have to wonder if we'll get to see Elam next week given Douglas is likely out for a while on the friendly fire (cracked ribs??). 

 

Also, it might be time to have the hard conversation about TJ this offseason. We have an out in his deal after 2025. Proactively planning for that makes a lot of sense given his age and slight decline we've seen throughout this season.  

 

Agreed. I have been really high on Ingram. I just like his style of game. Bigger physical DB. 

An aside, i felt bad for both Douglas and Rapp on that play. Rapp has taken some heat for too much friendly fire and dirty hits on the other team. He legit pulled up and tried not to hit Douglas. Tough end result to add to his list of these events when this one was definitely not like any of the others. 

[NoSaint]

8 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

What does that have to do with whether the Rams provided a blueprint for other teams?

 

Yea, I don’t think it was a blueprint anymore than the giants having the blueprint for the pats. Sometimes having a lot of elite talent having a really good day isn’t a super replicable plan for the rest of the league. 

[VW82]

1 minute ago, Simon said:

 

If only we got some pressure when he was releasing the ball in 1.7 seconds...

 

I'd love to see the official figure because you're probably not that far off. But who cares about facts when we can just blame the pass rush every week. 

[26TrapDraw]

4 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

If only we got some pressure when he was releasing the ball in 1.7 seconds...

That is complete bullcrap. I was there and every other Bills fan griped about Stafford having all day and no pass rush in his face. stop it

The defense got completely exposed yesterday for what it was by a talented offense. When we face talented offenses in the playoffs and if we make it the superbowl, do you feel confident that this defense can hold up?

Edited December 9 by 26TrapDraw