What Happened to Terrel Bernard?

[BillsFanForever19]

There's been a lot of posts regarding extensions that should be made when it comes to upcoming Free Agents in 2024 and 2025. I was a little taken back by how high on the list Bernard was by most people in the conversation that included Christian Benford, Greg Rousseau, Khalil Shakir, and James Cook.

 

But he did have a very solid 2023. This year though? He's taken a pretty big step back in visibility. The middle of the field has been consistently in play and the Run Defense has been extraordinarily bad. 

 

He finished the 2023 regular season with 143 Tackles, 10 Tackles for Loss, and 6.5 Sacks. This year, to date, he's at 98 Tackles, 5 Tackles for Loss, and 1 Sack.

 

To be fair, last year's stats included 17 starts. This year to date, he's only played 12 games (due to injury and the season not being over yet). But the drop off in numbers, specifically in TFL and Sacks is pretty staggering. As is the amount of times he's popped off the screen compared to last year.

 

His PFF score reflects this:

 

Overall Score: 51.5 (Ranking 147 out of 181 Graded LB's)

 

Run Defense Grade: 67.5 (#74 of 181)

Coverage Grade: 41.9 (#150 of 181)

Pass Rush Grade: 56.9 (#100 of 181)

 

So what do we think the cause in the step back has been with Bernard? Injury? The play of those around him? Or is Babich not putting him in as good of a position to succeed as McDermott did when calling plays?

 

We really need him playing his best Football in the Playoffs and this hasn't seemed to be the same Bernard I saw last season. Especially of late.

Edited 12 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[ghostwriter]

Buffalo has a relatively light defensive line and when you factor that in with undersized LBs as well, you’re asking for trouble.

[ganesh]

33 minutes ago, ghostwriter said:

Buffalo has a relatively light defensive line and when you factor that in with undersized LBs as well, you’re asking for trouble.

Not buying this...The line is the same as last year.  He seemed to perform better last year than this year. Definitely has taken a step back after the 1st quarter of the season.

[Scott7975]

1 minute ago, ganesh said:

Not buying this...The line is the same as last year.  He seemed to perform better last year than this year. Definitely has taken a step back after the 1st quarter of the season.

 

I wouldnt attribute it all to the line but no, the line is not the same as last year.

[Doc Brown]

He doesn't want to give away his tricks before the playoffs.

[ganesh]

18 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

I wouldnt attribute it all to the line but no, the line is not the same as last year.

We have Jones, Oliver, Groot, Epenesa and Miller returning this year as the starters on that DL - the same as last year....We can ignore the scraps.... The oar tly player from last year that we are missing is Floyd.  We have replaced him with Smoot.

[Dr.Sack]

I watch other teams MLB and they hit harder. Bernard covers way more ground than most MLBs, but he’s on the smaller side. Nevertheless, more plays will come. I suspect in the playoffs he will make impact plays in every game - like we see from KC LBs.

[Coach Tuesday]

Installing a solid 2T would do more for this defense than any other factor.  They need one bad.

[GunnerBill]

He has not played as well as last year. That is without doubt.

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, ganesh said:

We have Jones, Oliver, Groot, Epenesa and Miller returning this year as the starters on that DL - the same as last year....We can ignore the scraps.... The oar tly player from last year that we are missing is Floyd.  We have replaced him with Smoot.

 

 

Yeah, and DaQuan, who I thought played better against the Pats, hasn't been as good overall as he was last year, and he's an absolute key guy for this Bills DL. McDermott's D has always depended on having one huge guy in the middle to make it easier on the smaller lineups they put around that guy. When the big fella isn't quite doing what he usually does, there's nobody really to take up the slack. We don't have another monster in the middle of that type.

 

But I think what many here are missing is that Terrell himself has missed games for injury. He played 18% of snaps in Week 2, 0 in Weeks 3 and 4 and 0 in Week 8. Ankle and pec.

 

That also may well be a big part of the reason he's not playing quite as well.

Edited 9 hours ago by Thurman#1

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Installing a solid 2T would do more for this defense than any other factor.  They need one bad.

is there anyone on the roster that can play that position.

[Donuts and Doritos]

Not a lot of stability around Bernard with the injuries at LB, Safety & CB2. Last week he literally had to physically place guys in their spots before the snap. That may not tell the whole story, but it sure doesn't help. & He isn't the only one that doesn't look as good as last year, Oliver, Jones, even Jackson seems off a bit. Wouldn't really say anyone on D has been stellar lately. So sure he isn't playing as well, but lately neither is the D as a whole.

[finn]

Yeah, I've noticed the falloff, too. He had that terrific interception against the Chiefs to seal the game but has been quiet since. I haven't seen him sent on blitzes much this year, which is puzzling, because he was very effective in that role last year. (Hamlin is so bad blitzing it's almost fascinating.)

 

I really thought he and a returning Milano would dominate late in the season. Instead, it seems Dorian Williams is the most dynamic linebacker, and only Benford, Rapp, Rousseau, and on occasion Oliver and Miller have really shined on defense. 

[JohnNord]

5 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

There's been a lot of posts regarding extensions that should be made when it comes to upcoming Free Agents in 2024 and 2025. I was a little taken back by how high on the list Bernard was by most people in the conversation that included Christian Benford, Greg Rousseau, Khalil Shakir, and James Cook.

 

But he did have a very solid 2023. This year though? He's taken a pretty big step back in visibility. The middle of the field has been consistently in play and the Run Defense has been extraordinarily bad. 

 

He finished the 2023 regular season with 143 Tackles, 10 Tackles for Loss, and 6.5 Sacks. This year, to date, he's at 98 Tackles, 5 Tackles for Loss, and 1 Sack.

 

To be fair, last year's stats included 17 starts. This year to date, he's only played 12 games (due to injury and the season not being over yet). But the drop off in numbers, specifically in TFL and Sacks is pretty staggering. As is the amount of times he's popped off the screen compared to last year.

 

His PFF score reflects this:

 

Overall Score: 51.5 (Ranking 147 out of 181 Graded LB's)

 

Run Defense Grade: 67.5 (#74 of 181)

Coverage Grade: 41.9 (#150 of 181)

Pass Rush Grade: 56.9 (#100 of 181)

 

So what do we think the cause in the step back has been with Bernard? Injury? The play of those around him? Or is Babich not putting him in as good of a position to succeed as McDermott did when calling plays?

 

We really need him playing his best Football in the Playoffs and this hasn't seemed to be the same Bernard I saw last season. Especially of late.

I wouldn’t put that much stock into PFF grades.  It’s not like he’s been a train wreck and he was a key reason why the Bills held Travis Kelce to one of the worst games of his career.  
 

An area where I have seen him struggle is getting off blocks in run defense.  I don’t remember this being as big of an issue last season so I don’t know - other than the deft that at times the interior has been really bad this season.

 

The other thing that’s missing is the “splash” plays.  We saw a few like the game ending INT versus KC but they’ve been few and far between.  
 

I think Bernard will be fine in the playoffs.  Not worth worrying about 

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

Bears fans aren’t too happy.

 

 

I feel their pain

[Back2Buff]

His size has been a concern of mine since we drafted him.  It lead to injuries in college and now we see it in the NFL.  Beyond that, last year teams had zero tape on him.  He didnt even play in preseason.  Towards the end of last year, you seen teams start to figure him out and then it has just continued into this year.  The problem the Bills have, they don't want to try Buffalo Joe, so right now Bernard is miles better than what they have on tape as the backups.  I wouldn't lock into an extension with Bernard. 

 

Dorian Williams is the type of MLB I like.  My personal opinion, I don't need my MLB in coverage.  I would rather them just attack.  If you do the math, there is zero need for an MLB to have to play coverage.  On the field, you have 5 O lineman and a QB on offense.  You shouldn't need 7 guys on defense covering the pass.  There are only a max of 5 guys that can catch a pass.

 

I thought Edmunds would make a better OLB and think the same with Bernard.  The better coverage LB should be the OLB.  I wish Dorian and Bernard would flop positions, and allow Dorian to spy the QB and attack the line on rushing downs.

[frostbitmic]

Before ragging on Bernard for not playing as well as last year, look at the Defense as a whole. IMO the only players who have upped their game from last year is Williams and Benford. Many have regressed, especially on the line.

 

 

[Beast]

Our defensive line has exposed Bernard. 
 

1-they can’t get to the QB and have made the whole back 7 look worse.

 

2- they can’t keep o-lineman from the second level, and when you have small linebackers, that’s a problem.

 

So, the issue is with the front 4.

[Royale with Cheese]

4 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

His size has been a concern of mine since we drafted him.  It lead to injuries in college and now we see it in the NFL.  Beyond that, last year teams had zero tape on him.  He didnt even play in preseason.  Towards the end of last year, you seen teams start to figure him out and then it has just continued into this year.  The problem the Bills have, they don't want to try Buffalo Joe, so right now Bernard is miles better than what they have on tape as the backups.  I wouldn't lock into an extension with Bernard. 

 

Dorian Williams is the type of MLB I like.  My personal opinion, I don't need my MLB in coverage.  I would rather them just attack.  If you do the math, there is zero need for an MLB to have to play coverage.  On the field, you have 5 O lineman and a QB on offense.  You shouldn't need 7 guys on defense covering the pass.  There are only a max of 5 guys that can catch a pass.

 

I thought Edmunds would make a better OLB and think the same with Bernard.  The better coverage LB should be the OLB.  I wish Dorian and Bernard would flop positions, and allow Dorian to spy the QB and attack the line on rushing downs.

This post isn’t real.  

[Negan]

Played well against the Chiefs this year.

 

He did a good job spying Mahomes this year and look forward to hopefully watching him doing that in that playoffs again.  

 

[JGMcD2]

35 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

His size has been a concern of mine since we drafted him.  It lead to injuries in college and now we see it in the NFL.  Beyond that, last year teams had zero tape on him.  He didnt even play in preseason.  Towards the end of last year, you seen teams start to figure him out and then it has just continued into this year.  The problem the Bills have, they don't want to try Buffalo Joe, so right now Bernard is miles better than what they have on tape as the backups.  I wouldn't lock into an extension with Bernard. 

 

Dorian Williams is the type of MLB I like.  My personal opinion, I don't need my MLB in coverage.  I would rather them just attack.  If you do the math, there is zero need for an MLB to have to play coverage.  On the field, you have 5 O lineman and a QB on offense.  You shouldn't need 7 guys on defense covering the pass.  There are only a max of 5 guys that can catch a pass.

 

I thought Edmunds would make a better OLB and think the same with Bernard.  The better coverage LB should be the OLB.  I wish Dorian and Bernard would flop positions, and allow Dorian to spy the QB and attack the line on rushing downs.

Huh?