Rubes Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 This defense is just plain soft, but they seem to do a decent job of holding average-to-poor offenses out of the end zone. If we could just find a defensive lineman or two who actually understood how to effectively rush the passer, we'd probably be a pretty darn good defense.
Agua Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 Second toughest D we played all year. No chit. Very stingy once they make adjustments.
Poeticlaw Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 I think our defense plays very hard, and keeps us in games. Except for the Arizona game, we have shown a pretty formidable defense. I think we are one OLB and one DE pass rusher from being an elite unit. Offense, on the other hand, is a mess Its actually our offense making our defense look good. Because we are always playing form behind the othe team tends to trun more and we are better built for stopping the run but we are pretty inept at stopping the pass as we are not doing very well on third and long stops because they are pass realted. Maybe its just me but thats what i see,
JCBoston Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 The Buffalo Bills have the 11th ranked defense, but that is deceiving. The team has only 22 sacks, only 7 int's, opposing teams have a 85.6 passer rating, only 6 fumble recoveries, and giving up 5.2 yards per play. I don't know about you, but that sucks to me. You haven't seen any Detroit Lions game the last, oh, forever, then. Their defense sucks. The Bills defense, on the other hand, is good. Not great, but good -- and it certainly would have been good enough to make the playoffs if the Bills offense could have scored 11 and 17 points in their last two games, respectively. Sure, they could have more turnovers, or more sacks, or whatever, but I'm pretty sure 25 or so other teams would make the same complaints. If you think the D is the big problem at OBD, you're crazy.
Haven Moses Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 11th ranked defense? This is why I hate stats. They couldn't get off the field. When you give up 7 minute 80 yard drives over and over again, the opposition doesn't really stack up the stats, but we never have the damn ball. When the chips are down, they don't make plays.
Dibs Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 How can you like a defense that doesn't make plays? By understanding that a lack of pass rush leads to a lack of big plays. Considering the lack of pass rush, this D has done a very good job.
Dibs Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 Its actually our offense making our defense look good. Because we are always playing form behind the othe team tends to trun more and we are better built for stopping the run but we are pretty inept at stopping the pass as we are not doing very well on third and long stops because they are pass realted. Maybe its just me but thats what i see, No we aren't. We have lightweight players across the board......we run a T2 D(typical). The complaint with this D(& the T2 in general) has resoundingly been it is ill suited to stopping the run. FWIW, we are 9th in the league at 3rd down stops with 35.9% completed........that is pretty good.....considering there is minimal pass rush.
AJ1 Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 By understanding that a lack of pass rush leads to a lack of big plays. Considering the lack of pass rush, this D has done a very good job. Considering the size of the hole, the Titanic did a pretty good job of staying afloat.
BuffaloBill Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 You are not alone, I like our defense too. Although I do think we really need help at DE, overall the defense is solid. In these last 2 horrific losses, the defense only gave up 2 TD's. True and you have to wonder if we would be ranked higher than 11 if the offense was not so abysmal and did not turn the ball over so much.
silvermike Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 It's also worth nothing that opposing offense never have to take any risks against us, because they know that our offense will just punt it back to them. If we EVER had a team facing desperation, we'd see a few more sacks and picks. Additionally, losing our best (such as he is) pass rusher in Schobel set us back, and Crowell and Bowen took a nasty bite out of our LB corps - not to mention persistent injuries to the DBs. They've been an above average but unexciting defense this year. Give them back their health and one solid playmaker, and they'll make the jump to elite. Adding only one playmaker to this offense would lead to one frustrated and pissed off playmaker.
Dibs Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 Considering the size of the hole, the Titanic did a pretty good job of staying afloat. That's a cute response.........but you are implying that the D has done a bad job overall. They haven't. To ignore other factors such as injuries & Offensive production is not a good way of assessing the defensive unit.....but even if you were to do that they have shown themselves to be a decent unit. YPG 11th PPG 11th 3rd down % 9th Passing YPG 12th Passing YPA 14th QBR 19th Rushing YPG 19th Rushing YPA 17th Turnovers 19th It's only in sacks(25th) that we have produced at a very low level.......and when you consider that sacks directly effect the other areas of the game......and that our best pass rusher has been injured all season......the D has done a fine job. If we can get a pass rush(DE & LB) this D could be very good IMO.
FluffHead Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I think we need to add a FS to go along with DE and OLB. Ko Simpson rarely makes tackles let alone INT's. If we got a legitimate starting FS, Whitner moves back to SS where he naturally should be. Then Bryan Scott can be used as a super sub/guy we use in specific matchups. I think Scott is good, he makes plays when he's out there, but he forces Whitner to play FS. I like the Free Agent FS, Whitner SS, Scott 3rd safety combo better.
bobobonators Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 i agree and believe that this defense is probably 2 players away from being very good. Of course, those two players must also be very good. If Schobel can remain somewhat productive next year and we're able to get a solid passrusher in the draft to help him out on the other end, I think that would be def. enough to put us as a top tier defense. You can't run a tampa/cover 2 effectively w/o creating pressure, I honestly don't even know how this defense is statistically as good as it has been w/o being able to create pressure. For me, we have to address DE first, then followed by a LB to either move Poz over or to replace Crowell/Ellison. Upgrading at those 2 positions is enough for defense in the offseason..the rest is about depth. In my opinion, either Kelsay or Denney are going to have to go/be cut somehow...does anyone know what the cap hit would be by cutting one of them? We might be better off in the long run. Offense, however, is another story.
John from Riverside Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I just dont think they create enough turnovers.......but they do seem to be playing hard and we aren't a automaticaic first down on 3rd down like last years team.
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I like this defense too. It keeps our retched offense on the sidelines.
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