What Happened to Terrel Bernard?

[colin]

He's had moments but is off his form from last season.  I think he's been banged up for a lot of the games.

 

He's also a bit of a system guy.  He's featured so he gets stats sometimes, but as I always complain if small parts of the d are off the whole thing tends to fall apart.

 

He's somewhere between what we saw last season (where he looked like about the best off ball lb around, less Warner) and what we see this year (just a I've replacement)

[ProcessTruster]

he's a better pass defender than a run defender, I am good with that/. 

 

It's all about beating KC and the Mahomes/Kelsey combo.   Bernard is key to that.   

 

 

[Johnnycage46]

15 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

he's a better pass defender than a run defender, I am good with that/. 

 

It's all about beating KC and the Mahomes/Kelsey combo.   Bernard is key to that.   

 

 

Have to get through Baltimore first...

[JP51]

6 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

 

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

Agreed Oliver is playing much worse and Jones i think is pretty washed. Quite honestly even to DE Epinesa has really fallen off Floyd is gone and Von is not a major force. No one holding off OL and no pass rush. Gonna need to be significant revamping in the off season for sure

[BucketList]

5 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.

Tim Settle, Poona Ford and Leonard Floyd played significant time on the defensive line last season. All are starters for other teams this season. 

[bmur66]

He plays in a weak defense and his undersized arse gets abused.

[foreboding]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

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

For sure, esp with undersized LBs.

[Brand J]

Does seem he blitzes far less this year than last. You also have to remember his numbers last year were historically good. First LB to put up those numbers since [Seth Joyner? name escapes me] 3 decades ago. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Brand J

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Recall reading an article after last season talking about Bernard and it said he made many flash plays that  got him in the spotlight, made player of the week if I recall, but also had many mistakes, over pursues, etc.   Article I read recently kind of stated the same.

 

So this year getting all of the same minus the flash plays.

[notpolian]

This year it seems like opposing offensive linemen are often getting to the 2nd level to get clean blocks on the LBs more than previous years.  So that's on the interior DL.  The LBs also seem to be less able to shed blocks.

[gordong]

6 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

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

Agreed they need a ted Washington type. 

1 hour ago, Johnnycage46 said:

Have to get through Baltimore first...

NOT a good matchup for the Bills.  hopefully they get a win sunday and they can sit all the starters for the last game.  

Edited 20 hours ago by gordong

[BobbyC81]

7 hours ago, Dr.Sack said:

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.

The Bills built their defense to defend the pass as that was the direction of the league.  Most teams now play 2 safeties back, which has impacted passing games.  So, most teams are running the ball more.  
 

Of course, players like D. Henry have been around throughout.  We will likely see 2 2,000 yard rushers this season.  
 

It may be time to acquire a larger MLB.  Of course, there have been many long runs this season, which could be attributed to defensive scheme, offensive scheme, blocking, etc.  I don’t know if a more robust MLB would have any affect on those runs, except for maybe fending off a block and plugging a hole. The long runs by Henry, Barkley and Taylor have been quick hitting.  Bang and they’re gone

[CoudyBills]

9 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.

Unlike the last middle linebacker, he is getting older apparently...

[Mark Vader]

Bernard is not having the year he had last year, but that was an extraordinary year for a Linebacker. Being injured hasn't helped either.

 

A big problem has been our interior defensive line. Oliver & Jones have had very rough seasons which doesn't help our linebackers at all. While it's nice to have Milano back, he is still catching up to speed, which isn't surprising because he hasn't played ball in over a year. Did anyone think that Milano was going to instantly pick-up from where he left off?

 

I am surprised that they don't send Bernard on blitzes as much as they did last year, because he is very good at it. Overall, I am not concerned about Bernard's play, because I feel that he will continue to make key plays. Yes, he's an undersized MLB who fits a specific scheme, but he's a very good football player.

 

I also think that right now, Bernard & Williams are a better tandem than Bernard & Milano.

[wppete]

You mean what happened to the whole defense. I think only Benford is playing at a high level right now. 

[RyanC883]

9 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.

 

true as for personnel, but these guys are playing worse than last year

[SCBills]

Undersized linebacker playing behind undersized DT’s who have been playing at a disappointing level for much of the season.

 

It’s why Bernard hasn’t looked as good as last year & It’s why he’s been banged up for much of the year.  

Bernard is a good player, but not elite.  Hes typical of this defense (and really most of team outside Allen).   It’s why the motto “Do your 1/11” is honestly a lynch pin for this team. 
 

There isn’t a game wrecker or game changer on this Defense, but if Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones and the DT/DL rotation start playing at a consistently good level (don’t need to be elite), all of a sudden splash play Bernard shows up and Taron Johnson looks like an All Pro again… etc etc. 

[scuba guy]

It is a lack of a good d line

[Kelly to Allen]

Dorian Williams is for the run defense against the ravens. Bernard/ Milano for Kelce in the playoffs. 

 

Bernard was absolutely sensational vs Kelce in the regular season 

[C.Biscuit97]

12 hours 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.

Great point. Also, I think fans think players are robots. It’s like when Tre White came back from major legs injuries, why can’t he cover WRs running a 4.3 the same way??? The same with Milano. Imagine you get a major injury and trying to come back from it to do the elliptical or treadmill. Now try playing in the nfl. 
 

also, my only fear with Bernard and Milano (absolute ballers) is OCs are doing what I would do against them. Attack them and force them into taking on blocks and contact. Obviously I know Lamar’s playoff resume, but Henry is scary to think about.