By the numbers, whats our problem on defense?

[X-Era]

I specifically looked at our ranking in each of the main defensive categories.

The two worst areas or our defense are:

1) Interceptions, we are 27th in the league in getting interceptions.
2) Sacks, we are 26th in the league in sacks.

Our 2 best areas are:

1) Were 10th in the league on preventing touchdowns.
1) Tie- Total yards (13th) and Scoring (13th).

What do we read into it?

Not much to read into us needing more sacks. Its our number 1 need to make our defense better.

I will continue to preach that we need the best damn guy we can get in the offseason. To me thats Terrell Suggs, he fixes our OLB need and adds alot of pass rush potential in one large swoop. Yes, hes not a guy that plays the cover 2, but he can play WLB where we need a pass rusher. He can fit that scheme just fine. We are less than likely to pay the 8+ mill hes gonna command. Although considering the coin we gave Dockery at G, I could justify it.

I think its more likely that we go the draft route. Guys like Selvie, Hardy, and Everrette Brown ought to be able to help, but they may not pan out so who knows.

As for interceptions, I think we need another starting S early. I think it should be someone whos a very fast and mobile SS or a top FS talent assuming we move Whitner back to SS. I think William Moore is one of the best S prospects I have watched in a long time. Hes great against the run, hes great against the pass and he has the nasty demeanor to be everywhere you want to be, hes a football version of a Visa card. He probably wont fall to where we sit. After that, Taylor Mays can play, so can Myron Rolle, maybe Rashad Johnson, maybe Nic Harris. Free agency has squat.

[Pinkerton Security]

the sad thing IMO is that Suggs would come here and be like Joey Porter the last couple years in Miami, because we just wouldnt use him to his full potential.

[Mitchell55]

the sad thing IMO is that Suggs would come here and be like Joey Porter the last couple years in Miami, because we just wouldnt use him to his full potential.



Do you even watch miami. Porter is the best blitzing LB in the NFL right now.

[yordad]

Do you even watch miami. Porter is the best blitzing LB in the NFL right now.I believe he meant previous to them switching to the 3-4 this year.



As for interceptions, I think we need another starting S early.
If we create a pass rush, ints. will follow fairly automatically.

[PECKERWOOD]

If we signed Terrell Suggs next offseason I would flip **** and in a good way!! This guy would be everything we need, a guy who can rush the passer and isn't a liability in coverage.

[OpIv37]

It's partly the system and partly a lack of playmakers. The system holds our best guys back.

[Mahdi]

It's partly the system and partly a lack of playmakers. The system holds our best guys back.
Like who?

[Mahdi]

I specifically looked at our ranking in each of the main defensive categories.

The two worst areas or our defense are:

1) Interceptions, we are 27th in the league in getting interceptions.
2) Sacks, we are 26th in the league in sacks.

Our 2 best areas are:

1) Were 10th in the league on preventing touchdowns.
1) Tie- Total yards (13th) and Scoring (13th).

What do we read into it?

Not much to read into us needing more sacks. Its our number 1 need to make our defense better.

I will continue to preach that we need the best damn guy we can get in the offseason. To me thats Terrell Suggs, he fixes our OLB need and adds alot of pass rush potential in one large swoop. Yes, hes not a guy that plays the cover 2, but he can play WLB where we need a pass rusher. He can fit that scheme just fine. We are less than likely to pay the 8+ mill hes gonna command. Although considering the coin we gave Dockery at G, I could justify it.

I think its more likely that we go the draft route. Guys like Selvie, Hardy, and Everrette Brown ought to be able to help, but they may not pan out so who knows.

As for interceptions, I think we need another starting S early. I think it should be someone whos a very fast and mobile SS or a top FS talent assuming we move Whitner back to SS. I think William Moore is one of the best S prospects I have watched in a long time. Hes great against the run, hes great against the pass and he has the nasty demeanor to be everywhere you want to be, hes a football version of a Visa card. He probably wont fall to where we sit. After that, Taylor Mays can play, so can Myron Rolle, maybe Rashad Johnson, maybe Nic Harris. Free agency has squat.
Simple answer is lack of pass rush. Pass rush creates sacks and turnovers. We dont have any pass rushers on our team. Im surprised our D performs like it does considering that deficiency.

[shelby]

Injuries are a big part of our problem on defense.

Compare the performance of our D in the first four games to the last five.

[LtFinFan66]

the sad thing IMO is that Suggs would come here and be like Joey Porter the last couple years in Miami, because we just wouldnt use him to his full potential.He was only misused one year in Miami. This is only his second year there

[Night Train]

The D problem is the Scheme. You could aquire 3-4 more top players and it still wouldn't make a difference.

Dump the Cover 2 and return to a physical 4-3.

[jamze132]

This defense will never be successful under Fewell and his bull**** version of Cover 2.

And another reason we are destined for suckness is our serious lack of talent on the D-line. If we could get our front 4 to generate even a resemblance of a pass rush, you would see every defensive stat improve to include more interceptions.

[X-Era]

This defense will never be successful under Fewell and his bull**** version of Cover 2.

And another reason we are destined for suckness is our serious lack of talent on the D-line. If we could get our front 4 to generate even a resemblance of a pass rush, you would see every defensive stat improve to include more interceptions.

Thats why I wouldn't rule out a DT in one of the first 3 rounds anymore than a DE and we may just get both.

[Yasgur's Farm]

DE
LB
DE
C
G
T
G

That should be our '09 draft.

[TacklingDummy]

Biggest problem on defense? No pass rush. It's been that way for years.

[TacklingDummy]

Injuries are a big part of our problem on defense.

Compare the performance of our D in the first four games to the last five.

The first 4 games we played Seattle 30th ranked, Jags 18th ranked, Oakland 29th ranked, St. Louis 31st ranked offense.

The past 5 games we played Arizona 3rd, Chargers 10th, Miami 8th, Jets 15th and Pats 12th ranked offenses.

The Bills defense is not very good.

[DraftBoy]

I think pass rush is our biggest need but I wouldnt put our secondary very far behind them. In the system they play its good, but thats the issue, we'd have to re-work almost the entire secondary (except McKelvin) to change to an aggressive 4-3 ala the New York Giants.

Ideally my system would have two CB's over 6'0 who are big physical jammers at the line. Immediately giving the DL an extra second to get to the QB. You then throw in one hard hitting SS, and a ball hawking FS and thats your Defensive backfield. They don't have to be built on speed but rather on strength and size. If you can successfully jame WR's at the line you take away a number of things, first you screw up timing routes, secondly you take away short slants and hitches. You also can disguise a CB blitz easier. Maybe the best jam CB in the league is Asomugha in Oakland. Go back and watch the BUF-OAK game and see how much he frustrated Lee Evans (4 catches, 65 yards) with his style of play.

So to me, Id work on changing the scheme and changing our DB's first off before a pass rush. But that means that Id advocate rebuilding the entire D too. Because in my eyes the only guys Id keep at this point would be; Mitchell, Stroud, McKelvin, Whitner, and thats about it. Everybody else Id pretty much try and replace.

[mybills]

The first 4 games we played Seattle 30th ranked, Jags 18th ranked, Oakland 29th ranked, St. Louis 31st ranked offense.
Those #'s are from where they're ranked now, not from when we played them. For one thing, Seattle was expected to rock this year..and don't forget we played them with Hasslebeck. He's supposedly coming back this week so those #'s will change in their favor.

As for the lack of a pass rush..I think they focus on that so much that they hack badly when it comes to stopping everything else. Then they fail that, too. They need to start focusing on every aspect, not just getting sacks. Every time they try, something gets past them whether it's the RB or a dump off or down field.

[TacklingDummy]

Those #'s are from where they're ranked now, not from when we played them. For one thing, Seattle was expected to rock this year..and don't forget we played them with Hasslebeck. He's supposedly coming back this week so those #'s will change in their favor.



Hasselbeck had a bad back all pre-season. Also Seattle didn't have any wide recievers when we played them.

Seattle offense ranking might go up from the current 30th ranked. It doesn't change the fact that when the Bills played them they were terrible on offense.

[bigbub2352]

Pass rush and playmakers, we need to change the scheme to fit the players we have drafted and signed,
Lets face it fewell's D is not fooling anyone
Poz and Mitchell are not cover 2 LBers
Stroud is not a cover 2 DT
our safties need to make more plays, when whitner is healthy he needs to make morep plays and play closer to the line of scrimmage
they need to lock up Greer yesterday, lets face it Ledois is not ready and in my opinion never will be, Greer is young and GOOD but both starting CBs have to stop giving every WR 8 yds off the line of scrimmage

We need to blitz more, and also need to attack more, enough of the bend but dont break crap we dont allow alot of points but we do allow long sustained drives that keep our high powered offense off the feild hence why there is no rhythm in our Offense most of the time

[Mr. Pink]

We're in the bottom third of the league in talent....

That's the problem.

We have to play a scheme that forces an offense to play error free to score TDs against us because if we play aggressive and try to make plays, you'll see a lot of easy TDs.

[Mahdi]

The D problem is the Scheme. You could aquire 3-4 more top players and it still wouldn't make a difference.

Dump the Cover 2 and return to a physical 4-3.
Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Chicago have all been successful with the cover 2. Scheme is never the problem with a team. Any scheme in the NFL can be successful given the right personnel and proper execution. The NFL is not about what scheme you run, its about how well you execute your scheme.

That being said we dont have the right personnel for this scheme right now. We need another dominant/consistent pass rusher and that will make all the difference. That one player will allow our CBs to jam WRs at the line, play more physical and dictate to offenses rather than be dictated to.

[Oaf]

DE
LB
DE
C
G
T
G

That should be our '09 draft.
That would be really cool.

[ddaryl]

personally I hate the cover 2, and the 4-3

but INT's are in direct coorelation with QB pressure and sacks. Any QB can get the job done if they have 5 minutes to scan the field and make a decision.

We need a dominant pass rush, and the DE position is easily the weakest link here. We also need to replace Ellis at the OLB spot.

[ddaryl]

We're in the bottom third of the league in talent....

That's the problem.

We have to play a scheme that forces an offense to play error free to score TDs against us because if we play aggressive and try to make plays, you'll see a lot of easy TDs.

I disagree with the talent thing as a whole... Yes we are at best average at the DE position, but Ellis is no stud at the other OLB position either.

DT is decent shape, Mitchel and Poz are solid and sometimes great LB's and our DB's are solid. We realy just lack a pass rush / QB pressure on any consistent basis.

[X-Era]

I disagree with the talent thing as a whole... Yes we are at best average at the DE position, but Ellis is no stud at the other OLB position either.

DT is decent shape, Mitchel and Poz are solid and sometimes great LB's and our DB's are solid. We realy just lack a pass rush / QB pressure on any consistent basis.

Kind of agree.

Neither Mitchell nor Poz are pass rushers. Kelsay is simply average at best at rushing the passer. Stroud gets pressure, but Williams isnt a big pass rusher either.

Thats why adding a OLB that can rush the passer plus another pass rushing DE would be a big move toward fixing our problems.

Terrell Suggs can actually line up as either, can you imagine having him play either OLB or DE? That would be a great way to keep the O's guessing.

Then you draft a guy like Nardy, Brown, maybe Johnson and you can get more pressure.

[acehole]

According to the experts on this board last year.....

It rests on the qb position.




I specifically looked at our ranking in each of the main defensive categories.

The two worst areas or our defense are:

1) Interceptions, we are 27th in the league in getting interceptions.
2) Sacks, we are 26th in the league in sacks.

Our 2 best areas are:

1) Were 10th in the league on preventing touchdowns.
1) Tie- Total yards (13th) and Scoring (13th).

What do we read into it?

Not much to read into us needing more sacks. Its our number 1 need to make our defense better.

I will continue to preach that we need the best damn guy we can get in the offseason. To me thats Terrell Suggs, he fixes our OLB need and adds alot of pass rush potential in one large swoop. Yes, hes not a guy that plays the cover 2, but he can play WLB where we need a pass rusher. He can fit that scheme just fine. We are less than likely to pay the 8+ mill hes gonna command. Although considering the coin we gave Dockery at G, I could justify it.

I think its more likely that we go the draft route. Guys like Selvie, Hardy, and Everrette Brown ought to be able to help, but they may not pan out so who knows.

As for interceptions, I think we need another starting S early. I think it should be someone whos a very fast and mobile SS or a top FS talent assuming we move Whitner back to SS. I think William Moore is one of the best S prospects I have watched in a long time. Hes great against the run, hes great against the pass and he has the nasty demeanor to be everywhere you want to be, hes a football version of a Visa card. He probably wont fall to where we sit. After that, Taylor Mays can play, so can Myron Rolle, maybe Rashad Johnson, maybe Nic Harris. Free agency has squat.