Fingon Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?s...2&year=2008 There are 0 bills in the top 40 tacklers this season. They get off the field so quickly.
Rubes Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 We lead the league in defensive 3rd down %, which is just about the craziest and most awesome thing so far.
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?s...2&year=2008 There are 0 bills in the top 40 tacklers this season. They get off the field so quickly. That may put a crimp in Whitner's ability to rack up over 100 tackles on the year.
bizell Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 That may put a crimp in Whitner's ability to rack up over 100 tackles on the year. generally speaking, high numbers of tackles for defensive backs is a bad sign
devldog131 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Generally, if a team has a number of players ranked in the top of the tackle stats, it means their defense is spending a lot of time on the field. I'd rather see our guys succeed by getting off the field quickly and not having the best stats than by racking up tons of tackles by spending the whole damn game on the field. Fewer snaps=fewer tackles, works for me.
Bill from NYC Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 The good news is that they have improved tremendously. The bad news is that a ton of it is probably due to Stroud. Don't get me wrong, Poz deserves big time praise as well, but no other DT on the team is able to occupy blockers and push the play back like Stroud. We are still dangerously thin at DT imo, and I do hope that Jauron addresses this need in 09 as a top priority.
keepthefaith Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 We lead the league in defensive 3rd down %, which is just about the craziest and most awesome thing so far. This may be the best reason why the Bills are 3-0.
Chandler#81 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 The good news is that they have improved tremendously. The bad news is that a ton of it is probably due to Stroud. Don't get me wrong, Poz deserves big time praise as well, but no other DT on the team is able to occupy blockers and push the play back like Stroud. We are still dangerously thin at DT imo, and I do hope that Jauron addresses this need in 09 as a top priority. Completely agree. But you KNOW we'll draft a DB in the first round...
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Generally, if a team has a number of players ranked in the top of the tackle stats, it means their defense is spending a lot of time on the field. I'd rather see our guys succeed by getting off the field quickly and not having the best stats than by racking up tons of tackles by spending the whole damn game on the field. Fewer snaps=fewer tackles, works for me. Let's not forget that significantly more snaps improve the ability to attain an injury, significant or not. Completely agree. But you KNOW we'll draft a DB in the first round... It's beats paying Greer or McGee what they are worth.
C.Biscuit97 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 The good news is that they have improved tremendously. The bad news is that a ton of it is probably due to Stroud. Don't get me wrong, Poz deserves big time praise as well, but no other DT on the team is able to occupy blockers and push the play back like Stroud. We are still dangerously thin at DT imo, and I do hope that Jauron addresses this need in 09 as a top priority. Disagree. Kyle Williams is playing like a beast. Spencer Johnson has shown the ability to bring a lot of pressure. And say what you what about him, but McCargo does have talent. If he's your 4th DT, you're in great shape IMO. Sure it'd be nice to have 5 or 6 guys, but you can't use up that many roster spots on guys that don't have a role on STs.
ans4e64 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 generally speaking, high numbers of tackles for defensive backs is a bad sign I think that applies to corners and free safeties, but not necessarily a strong safety. As a strong safety, most of the time they are required to be the up in the box. That 8th man often is not accounted for in offensive blocking schemes, leaving the strong safety available to make a lot of tackles if he is good at what he does. Now, if your safety stays back in coverage and has 100 tackles, you may have to worry.
d_wag Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 The good news is that they have improved tremendously. The bad news is that a ton of it is probably due to Stroud. Don't get me wrong, Poz deserves big time praise as well, but no other DT on the team is able to occupy blockers and push the play back like Stroud. We are still dangerously thin at DT imo, and I do hope that Jauron addresses this need in 09 as a top priority. who do you cut/bench to make room for another DT?
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 I think that applies to corners and free safeties, but not necessarily a strong safety. As a strong safety, most of the time they are required to be the up in the box. That 8th man often is not accounted for in offensive blocking schemes, leaving the strong safety available to make a lot of tackles if he is good at what he does. Now, if your safety stays back in coverage and has 100 tackles, you may have to worry. Sounds good until you realize that the Bills collection of FSs racked up even more tackles than Whitner.
ans4e64 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Disagree. Kyle Williams is playing like a beast. Spencer Johnson has shown the ability to bring a lot of pressure. And say what you what about him, but McCargo does have talent. If he's your 4th DT, you're in great shape IMO. Sure it'd be nice to have 5 or 6 guys, but you can't use up that many roster spots on guys that don't have a role on STs. Isn't Williams "playing like a beast" because of Stroud's presence next to him? Stroud is man-handling one and two offensive lineman and still is able to push them back into the backfield. Williams did not get any bigger or any faster from last year to now. He is the same player, he is just getting the opportunity to use his talents now. He hasn't had those opportunities with the sorry players we are used to calling defensive tackles next to him. And onto McCargo, I don't think your point about being in great shape has much validity because as our 4th DT, he was inactive the first game. The only reason he was active for Jacksonville was because of the heat and the need to rotate in players was much greater in that game, and against Oakland, a running team that likes to wear down defenses. IMO, we are in diar need of adding another DT for '09. We are one injury away from last season's defense.
buffaloboyinATL Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 The good news is that they have improved tremendously. The bad news is that a ton of it is probably due to Stroud. I get your point but I guess I don't consider that "bad news". Look how bad our Defense got when we lost Pat Williams. It is just an important position and hopefully we have a lot of health and consistancy this year. I believe our D-line play in general is better this year and obviously Stroud is a catalyst for that.
ans4e64 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Sounds good until you realize that the Bills collection of FSs racked up even more tackles than Whitner. Are you talking about last season?
Niagara 66 Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 From the article on Whitner's absolutely justified late hit that sparked our comeback comes this quote: "the defense is permitting only 18 percent conversions on third down, compared to 45, 37, 47, 36, 38, 36, 42 and 37 in the eight seasons since Buffalo last made the playoffs." THAT is huge. And is the reason we can stuff the run in the fourth quarter, etc. etc. etc. I'd never seen the percentages for previous years, but I knew it was high because I was always pissed off that we couldn't get off the field...even on like 3rd and 12 and sh-- like that, we always seemed to give up the 1st. Not THIS year.
bizell Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 I think that applies to corners and free safeties, but not necessarily a strong safety. As a strong safety, most of the time they are required to be the up in the box. That 8th man often is not accounted for in offensive blocking schemes, leaving the strong safety available to make a lot of tackles if he is good at what he does. Now, if your safety stays back in coverage and has 100 tackles, you may have to worry. that's absolutely correct, which is why i put in the 'generally speaking' part
d_wag Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 From the article on Whitner's absolutely justified late hit that sparked our comeback comes this quote: "the defense is permitting only 18 percent conversions on third down, compared to 45, 37, 47, 36, 38, 36, 42 and 37 in the eight seasons since Buffalo last made the playoffs." THAT is huge. And is the reason we can stuff the run in the fourth quarter, etc. etc. etc. I'd never seen the percentages for previous years, but I knew it was high because I was always pissed off that we couldn't get off the field...even on like 3rd and 12 and sh-- like that, we always seemed to give up the 1st. Not THIS year. small sample size.........by the end of the year the % will be a lot closer to the other numbers then to 18
Bill from NYC Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Isn't Williams "playing like a beast" because of Stroud's presence next to him? Stroud is man-handling one and two offensive lineman and still is able to push them back into the backfield. Williams did not get any bigger or any faster from last year to now. He is the same player, he is just getting the opportunity to use his talents now. He hasn't had those opportunities with the sorry players we are used to calling defensive tackles next to him. And onto McCargo, I don't think your point about being in great shape has much validity because as our 4th DT, he was inactive the first game. The only reason he was active for Jacksonville was because of the heat and the need to rotate in players was much greater in that game, and against Oakland, a running team that likes to wear down defenses. IMO, we are in diar need of adding another DT for '09. We are one injury away from last season's defense. I agree 100% with every word of that post. There is nothing there to argue with.
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