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Defense needs to turn back to the way it was


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1999 Buffalo Bills

 

I remember when we had the horses in the middle (ie Washington/P. Williams) and we had one of the stoutest run defenses in the NFL. Lets compare the contributors of that defense to our 2008 version and see how they fare.

 

Sam Cowart - Paul Pozluzny

Donovan Greer - Jabari Greer

Sean Moran - Spencer Johnson

Gabe Northern - Kavika Mitchell

Marlo Perry - John DiGiorgio

Sam Rogers -Angelo Crowell

Kurt Schulz - Ko Simpson

Bruce Smith - Aaron Schobel

Thomas Smith - Terrence Mcgee

Ted Washington - Marcus Stroud

Marcellus Wiley - Ryan Denney

Pat Williams - John McCargo

Antoine Winfield - Leodis Mcelvin

Shawn Price - Kyle Williams

Phil Hansen - Chris Kelsey

Henry Jones - Donte Whitner

 

How would you compare them???

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Really? I live in Chicago and watched the whole Jauron era. Can't recall any run of great defenses during his time. Flash in the pan for 1 season maybe. Anything sustained, no.

 

Overall Defensive ranks

1999 - 20th points, 29th yards

2000 - 20th points, 16th yards

2001 - 1st points, 15th yards

2002 - 25th points, 25th yards

2003 - 22nd points, 14th yards

 

You're right. Other than 2001, that's pretty underwhelming.

 

Cue the "It's not Dicks fault" crowd in ...

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1999 Buffalo Bills

 

I remember when we had the horses in the middle (ie Washington/P. Williams) and we had one of the stoutest run defenses in the NFL. Lets compare the contributors of that defense to our 2008 version and see how they fare.

 

Sam Cowart - Paul Pozluzny

Donovan Greer - Jabari Greer

Sean Moran - Spencer Johnson

Gabe Northern - Kavika Mitchell

Marlo Perry - John DiGiorgio

Sam Rogers -Angelo Crowell

Kurt Schulz - Ko Simpson

Bruce Smith - Aaron Schobel

Thomas Smith - Terrence Mcgee

Ted Washington - Marcus Stroud

Marcellus Wiley - Ryan Denney

Pat Williams - John McCargo

Antoine Winfield - Leodis Mcelvin

Shawn Price - Kyle Williams

Phil Hansen - Chris Kelsey

Henry Jones - Donte Whitner

 

How would you compare them???

 

Hansen and Bruce were much better than our current starters

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1999 Buffalo Bills

Sam Cowart - Paul Pozluzny Cowart (?)

Donovan Greer - Jabari Greer J. Greer

Sean Moran - Spencer Johnson Johnson (?)

Gabe Northern - Kavika Mitchell Mitchell

Marlo Perry - John DiGiorgio DiGiorgio

Sam Rogers -Angelo Crowell Crowell

Kurt Schulz - Ko Simpson Schultze (?)

Bruce Smith - Aaron Schobel BRUCE

Thomas Smith - Terrence Mcgee Smith

Ted Washington - Marcus Stroud BIG TED

Marcellus Wiley - Ryan Denney Another tie

Pat Williams - John McCargo WILLIAMS

Antoine Winfield - Leodis Mcelvin WINFIELD

Shawn Price - Kyle Williams Williams

Phil Hansen - Chris Kelsey Hansen

Henry Jones - Donte Whitner Jones (?)

 

How would you compare them???

 

Question marks indicate that things could change. Caps indicate that there is no contest, at least for this season (imo).

 

Btw, great post!

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Question marks indicate that things could change. Caps indicate that there is no contest, at least for this season (imo).

 

Btw, great post!

 

Thanks.....so it loks like we have them at LB, but everywhere else (outside of depth) the 1999 team has the talent edge. Well, I agree but I would say that there is more potential from this defense. We will see!

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I don't recall the '99 team playing the chicken shyt let's not rush too many players and let's drop everyone else into coverage style defense that Dickie has crafted.

 

Seriously? That defense was super conservative (Peyton Manning even said as much) and IIRC they were near the bottom in takeaways. Doesn't mean it was the wrong philosophy for that personnel, or that it didn't work for them, but I'd bet they blitzed less than last year's D.

 

As silvermike mentioned it really illustrates the imprtance of line play. Wade & co. definitely extracted the max out of that group.

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funny as$ picture avantar. lol.

 

your post is intersting. i would take that vet 99 defense anyday. the vet pressence and savvy pedigree of that unit was important. BRUCE was lossing it a little in 99 - -but still effective. thomas smith and henry jones were gamers. they rarely were beaten. polian drafts GREAT defense backs. sam cowart was a solid player. very physcial. i dont like poz. he is FAR to small for my liking. in games, he is dragged around by large RBs. i would be surprised if stays healthy for 16 games. too small. i know others like the guy, but he is a poor mans chris speilman -- who was devastated by natron means and other big backs in large palyoff games in the late 1990s. i would rather have a big body teddy bruski, kirkland (old), etc, type in the middle -- to take on guards and ousupport the run. cowarrt was very physical. he refused to be carried for a few yards. he would drive RBs backward. run defense is an attidude. ted washington played with great technique and savvy. he knew when to make the special play at the right time and save his energy. mccargo palys to random adn wild still. wiley was athletic and had good athletic ability and speed. he was fearless and would stick his head in there to make a play. he was happy to get dirty. kelsay and denney are bruttal. both stand around the entire play with their hands on their hips. and then help the RB up off the grass. they are terrible. spenser and stroud are savvy vets who will clog up the middle. stamina is a major problem with stroud. with JAX he could not finish games ro stay fresh. he is a nasty SOB when primed and motivated. ko simpson - who knows? nothing stands out for me. donte is a good player -- but a bust IMO for a draft pick that high. michael Huff for the raider -- the safety taken before donte is dominating games now -- all over the field. wittner's range is suspect. he is short in stature. and when brandon jacobs ran past him last season and wittner was scared to tackle him -- i lost a LOT of respect for donte. he might be a pus$y at heart. i'll tell you, kelso , ya that guy, stuck his head into Ottis Anderson (super bowl ) a few times. He was not scared. ottis had kelso by 40 pounds. winfield was great. he got outclassed by tall receivers, but all in all , he was a super corner. the guy knew the game and was very smart. sean moran was a joke. shawn price was terrble too. they were not good subs. and it hurt late in the 1999 season. pjil hanson was like wiley. played with great leverage and had that odd and strange midwest country farm hand strenght. a GREAT player in every regard. one of the great bills IMO. not affraid to get dirty. he would shed blockers or take them on adn still make plays. mcgee is terrific. good cover guy -- great athlete. like winfield or thomas smith. "the greers" are a wash IMO. gabe northern, again, was physical. wade phillips likes physical LBS that try to destroy RBS. Gabe got injured adn was never the same. kurt shultz was a good substitute. the bills could plug guys into the lineup like him and it would not show. on his own, schultz was nothing to write home about. but he was protected by the stars on that 99 defense. marlo perry and degorgio are spare part players. not starters -- should only be special team guys. kavika is a solid physical player. he fits that nasty mean LB with good size and hatred for the opposition. no flare-- jsut solid meana$s play. great pickup. we covered everyone here...

 

i would say the 99 defense was smarter and the vets pressence was evident.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1999 Buffalo Bills

 

I remember when we had the horses in the middle (ie Washington/P. Williams) and we had one of the stoutest run defenses in the NFL. Lets compare the contributors of that defense to our 2008 version and see how they fare.

 

Sam Cowart - Paul Pozluzny

Donovan Greer - Jabari Greer

Sean Moran - Spencer Johnson

Gabe Northern - Kavika Mitchell

Marlo Perry - John DiGiorgio

Sam Rogers -Angelo Crowell

Kurt Schulz - Ko Simpson

Bruce Smith - Aaron Schobel

Thomas Smith - Terrence Mcgee

Ted Washington - Marcus Stroud

Marcellus Wiley - Ryan Denney

Pat Williams - John McCargo

Antoine Winfield - Leodis Mcelvin

Shawn Price - Kyle Williams

Phil Hansen - Chris Kelsey

Henry Jones - Donte Whitner

 

How would you compare them???

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funny as$ picture avantar. lol.

 

your post is intersting. i would take that vet 99 defense anyday. the vet pressence and savvy pedigree of that unit was important. BRUCE was lossing it a little in 99 - -but still effective. thomas smith and henry jones were gamers. they rarely were beaten. polian drafts GREAT defense backs. sam cowart was a solid player. very physcial. i dont like poz. he is FAR to small for my liking. in games, he is dragged around by large RBs. i would be surprised if stays healthy for 16 games. too small. i know others like the guy, but he is a poor mans chris speilman -- who was devastated by natron means and other big backs in large palyoff games in the late 1990s. i would rather have a big body teddy bruski, kirkland (old), etc,

i would say the 99 defense was smarter and the vets pressence was evident.

 

What made that 99 defense tick was the front 3.....Ted Washington changed the dynamics of this defense after he came over from Denver/49ers. It was sad to see him go. Sam Cowart benefited from the presence of Washignton in front of him just as Urlacher would later do in Chicago when Washington was on the DL or even Bruschi during that 1st SB run when he had Washington in front of him to shed blockers and make plays.

 

Hopefully Stroud will be able to provide that kind of help for Pos and make him a good LB.

 

BTW, Thomas Smith could never catch the ball and as he showed in Chicago, he was not a premier DB.

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Seriously? That defense was super conservative (Peyton Manning even said as much) and IIRC they were near the bottom in takeaways. Doesn't mean it was the wrong philosophy for that personnel, or that it didn't work for them, but I'd bet they blitzed less than last year's D.

 

As silvermike mentioned it really illustrates the imprtance of line play. Wade & co. definitely extracted the max out of that group.

 

Now it's time for Dick to extract the most that can be done from this group.

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It's enough to convince me that on defense, you do what you can to get the best ends and tackles you can find, and then rely on getting lucky for the back seven. You can overcome a weak linebacker or questionable safety much easier than a suspect rush from your front guys. Investing in Stroud was a good start; let's get some real production out of Schobel and McCargo this year.

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