GW and His D

[justasportsfan]

I know we may not have Kearse on our team, but does anyone think that GW has the talent/players to make this team the no. 1 D that he had when he was with the Titans?

During his first year, the D picked up towards the end of the season, just like last year. We won't have that luxury this year. We need our D to have chemistry from day one. With the AFCE being the toughest division in the league, every game is important. The difference between the bottom dwelllers(Bills) and the division champs was one game.

Any defnsive experts here think GW has the right players to make his defensive system work?

[Pride]

personally? no

[The Spaz]

What with all the talent we added there is no reason for this D not be one of the best in the league. Go Bills!

[casdhf]

I think its the players more than the system.

[TypicalBill]

i really like the additions we made to our D

[justasportsfan]

Originally posted by The Spaz
What with all the talent we added there is no reason for this D not be one of the best in the league. Go Bills!

We fired Sheppard for being married to a system. Isn't GW ? What other D has Gray been trying to implement other than the one they ran with the Titans? The only changes I've seen on the D side of the ball which says GW isn't married to a system is the hiring of Lebeau. That's something TD initiated and not GW.

This is in no way a bash GW thread. I'm no defensive Guru which is why I am just trying to find out f GW has the capability of creating a great D based on our players strengths if indeed we hired players not fit for his system. Something Bellichick is good at

I also know that our D in the last 3 games averaged only 10 pts. scored against them. The game against the Packers was the most impressive one. Now that there are different players on board , do you think we will lose the consistency of that season ending D?

[mikemac2001]

i bet its gonna be a little differnt this year.. i think lebeau might add some twist to this defense ...i think gray and Gw will allow lebeau to add or tweak it around this guy knows defensives and they know it

[HenryRules]

That team was built around the sack ... every single player on their defense was able to get at the QB. I think we're moving in the right direction, but I don't know if Schoebel and Jones/Kelsay/whomever can equal what Holmes and Kearse did. And I definitely don't think we have the sack-abilty from the non-DE positions that team had.
That team also had the advantage of having guys that had played in the system for a while ... while GW and JG have been here for 2 years ... at least 4 of our starters (DE, DT, OLB, OLB) and probably 5 (FS) are going to be running the system for the first time ... factor in Wire who is still learning the SS position, and I don't think we have the familiarity with the defense where our players just do things instead of thinking about them ... look at the diff between Fletcher at the end of last season and London at the beginning of the season for the sort of impact that knowing a defense can have.

[colin]

We have way better takles and corners. Our LBs are better too.

[HenryRules]

Fisk, Savalea (sp?), and Thornton were a pretty deadly threesome in the middle who could really get at the QB. Adams and Williams beat the top 2 out of those 3, but as a 3-some, I'd say they're about the same as our team.

Same with CB's ... Winfield and Clements are a good combo. If Sidney returns to what he was before his injuries, then we have the advantage, otherwise, we don't compare to what they had with Rolle and everyone else.

If our LBs all knew the system, I'd say we have the advantage ... but Spikes and Posey are gonna be at least 8 games in before they really know what they're doing out there.