Mitchy moo
08-27-2008, 06:11 AM
Perry Fewell doesn’t want to define the Buffalo Bills’ defense with downfield hits, but a relentless, quarterback-chasing front four. Fewell wants the Bills to become one of the more aggressive units in the NFL, improve on their sack total (which ranked in the bottom of the league) and do it primarily with a four-man pass rush.
“Our base philosophy is that we’d like to get there with four,” said Fewell, the team’s defensive coordinator. “That’s why defensive ends are really important; that’s why we base a lot of our personnel decisions on speed, agility and quickness.”
Although their sack total in the preseason is low — four through three games — the Bills have shown some potential in making improvements with their pass rush. They primarily rushed four in their second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which caused Ben Roethlisberger to throw an interception.
Defensive end Chris Kelsay’s sack on the first defensive snap against Indianapolis last Sunday came on a four-man rush.
“Our four down linemen put great pressure on the quarterback, and we had great coverage,” said Bills safety Donte Whitner, whose interception in the second preseason game against Pittsburgh was the result of four-man pressure. “So when you mix great pressure with good coverage turnovers come, especially when a quarterback tries to force a pass into a tight spot.”
Rushing four without blitzing allows the Bills to put more people into coverage, creating a numbers advantage and more turnovers.
“If you force most quarterbacks out of the pocket they are not comfortable in that situation,” defensive end Aaron Schobel said. “That’s what we’re paid for and that’s what we’re supposed to do. Contrary to what some fans and people in the media think, it’s not always about sacks. As long as we’re getting pressure and disrupting stuff, it’s huge.”
This isn’t a shift in philosophy for the Bills. They’ve always wanted to rush four but injuries forced the team to adjust its schemes. Kelsay was hampered most of last season with an ankle injury, and backup Ryan Denney was inactive for the first seven games with a foot injury. Denney was placed on injured reserve in late December.
The Bills had trouble getting to the quarterback last year — only 26 sacks — without sending extra players on blitzes.
“We had so many injuries and when the injuries occurred then our four-man rush didn’t become effective at times,” Fewell said. “When you lose a guy like Ryan Denney, he was important to the mix, that takes away from what you can do. We had a lot of turmoil from a personnel standpoint.”
The defensive ends are the key. Schobel led the team with 6z sacks, which tied him for 37th in the league, while Kelsay finished with just 2z. The tackles are important, too, in the sense that they can push the pocket, flush the quarterback and make him move. The New York Giants’ defensive tackles rushing New England’s Tom Brady was one of the keys in New York’s upset over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
“When that happens,” Fewell said, “we become a lot more effective.”
Picking up defensive tackle Marcus Stroud should help. In nine games last season for Jacksonville, Stroud had three sacks.
“Anytime you can get a guy out of his comfort zone that gives our defense a better chance to create turnovers because the quarterback has to get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to,” Stroud said. “Our goal as a defense is to get guys in the quarterback’s face at all times. Not even the best quarterbacks can function well when he’s under pressure all the time. Look what happened to Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.”
The Bills defense offers a dazzling array of false looks. In theory, it should get better.
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/424352.html
“Our base philosophy is that we’d like to get there with four,” said Fewell, the team’s defensive coordinator. “That’s why defensive ends are really important; that’s why we base a lot of our personnel decisions on speed, agility and quickness.”
Although their sack total in the preseason is low — four through three games — the Bills have shown some potential in making improvements with their pass rush. They primarily rushed four in their second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which caused Ben Roethlisberger to throw an interception.
Defensive end Chris Kelsay’s sack on the first defensive snap against Indianapolis last Sunday came on a four-man rush.
“Our four down linemen put great pressure on the quarterback, and we had great coverage,” said Bills safety Donte Whitner, whose interception in the second preseason game against Pittsburgh was the result of four-man pressure. “So when you mix great pressure with good coverage turnovers come, especially when a quarterback tries to force a pass into a tight spot.”
Rushing four without blitzing allows the Bills to put more people into coverage, creating a numbers advantage and more turnovers.
“If you force most quarterbacks out of the pocket they are not comfortable in that situation,” defensive end Aaron Schobel said. “That’s what we’re paid for and that’s what we’re supposed to do. Contrary to what some fans and people in the media think, it’s not always about sacks. As long as we’re getting pressure and disrupting stuff, it’s huge.”
This isn’t a shift in philosophy for the Bills. They’ve always wanted to rush four but injuries forced the team to adjust its schemes. Kelsay was hampered most of last season with an ankle injury, and backup Ryan Denney was inactive for the first seven games with a foot injury. Denney was placed on injured reserve in late December.
The Bills had trouble getting to the quarterback last year — only 26 sacks — without sending extra players on blitzes.
“We had so many injuries and when the injuries occurred then our four-man rush didn’t become effective at times,” Fewell said. “When you lose a guy like Ryan Denney, he was important to the mix, that takes away from what you can do. We had a lot of turmoil from a personnel standpoint.”
The defensive ends are the key. Schobel led the team with 6z sacks, which tied him for 37th in the league, while Kelsay finished with just 2z. The tackles are important, too, in the sense that they can push the pocket, flush the quarterback and make him move. The New York Giants’ defensive tackles rushing New England’s Tom Brady was one of the keys in New York’s upset over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
“When that happens,” Fewell said, “we become a lot more effective.”
Picking up defensive tackle Marcus Stroud should help. In nine games last season for Jacksonville, Stroud had three sacks.
“Anytime you can get a guy out of his comfort zone that gives our defense a better chance to create turnovers because the quarterback has to get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to,” Stroud said. “Our goal as a defense is to get guys in the quarterback’s face at all times. Not even the best quarterbacks can function well when he’s under pressure all the time. Look what happened to Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.”
The Bills defense offers a dazzling array of false looks. In theory, it should get better.
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/424352.html