DL/LBs soft as butter

[kingJofNYC]

They put up big sack numbers but do nothing on the ground. Game after game we get crushed on the ground. DL gets pushed around with ease, every one of them.

LBs, well I don't think it's some earth shattering news, they're do ****. Kiko was good for a stretch but in the run game he has a long way to go, not all on him though, he needs some help next to him.

Really need an overhaul up front, or new additions via draft/FA, something has to change. We can't continue to give up the yards we do on the ground.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Kyle Williams is great but he gets caught slicing into the backfield away from the point of attack. Dareus is...... I just don't know where that guys head is. It's almost as if he doesn't really care about football anymore. There is no noticeable difference when Corbin Bryant takes his place. We need a NT for sure. We also need a serous upgrade at WOLB.

[coastal]

Fools gold

[YardRat]

Need help in the middle, from front to back. That's going to have to be addressed with personnel, not scheme.

[BillsFever21]

Isn't this the offseason when we need to decide to keep Dareus for the 5th season? I'm sure they will but he definitely hasn't been worth the #3 pick in the draft. We need to give him a pass like last year though.

[kingJofNYC]

Kyle Williams is great but he gets caught slicing into the backfield away from the point of attack. Dareus is...... I just don't know where that guys head is. It's almost as if he doesn't really care about football anymore. There is no noticeable difference when Corbin Bryant takes his place. We need a NT for sure. We also need a serous upgrade at WOLB.

You're right about Kyle getting upfield repeatedly. Perfect example is the long run a few weeks ago against the Jags were Kyle was 4 yards in the backfield, RB just hits the vacant hole and Kiko was too slow to fill.

[cookie G]

You know what's tiring??

Continually "overhauling" the defense...drafting a QB every 9 years and having homeless people as the majority of your offensive line.

Screw that. Nearly everyone on the defense is a former 1st or 2nd round draft choice.

Let them work it out.

Build the offense.

[kingJofNYC]

You know what's tiring??

Continually "overhauling" the defense...drafting a QB every 9 years and having homeless people as the majority of your offensive line.

Screw that. Nearly everyone on the defense is a former 1st or 2nd round draft choice.

Let them work it out.

Build the offense.

Well we're continually overhauling our team because we do a poor job in the draft and a poor job retaining talent. We will lose Byrd, that's another hole to fill, along with the hole we never filled when we let Levitre go. Two holes to fill this offseason on top of the ones we haven't addressed. We filled our LT position last year, 3 years after we let Jason Peters go. This is why we're always playing catch up, we never have players waiting in the wings. Some teams draft with foresight, I'm not sure what the hell this team is doing. They should have grabbed a guard a year before Levitre hit FA, let him develop. Instead with use castoffs to fill the hole/

Bottom line, we need more help in the front 7, we can't get gashed in the run game like we do, we stand no chance.

[YardRat]

Isn't this the offseason when we need to decide to keep Dareus for the 5th season? I'm sure they will but he definitely hasn't been worth the #3 pick in the draft. We need to give him a pass like last year though.

Yes, they have to option the fifth year of his contract this off-season, if they want to.

[Mace]

You know what's tiring??

Continually "overhauling" the defense...drafting a QB every 9 years and having homeless people as the majority of your offensive line.

Screw that. Nearly everyone on the defense is a former 1st or 2nd round draft choice.

Let them work it out.

Build the offense.

Yes and no. There's something soft about this D line that isn't getting worked out, no matter where they were picked. Build the offense yes, but this running game stuff has got to stop It has to, year after year, scheme after scheme, coach after coach, they just aren't working it out for some reason. This D line is looking like a paper tiger. Sort of doesn't mean a crap when you have a mountain of sacks and no one who can tackle a running back same as it means not a crap if you stuff the running game and get picked apart year after year in the pass.

Kyle Williams needs to be rotational and maybe Dareus needs to be replaced if he's never going to get his head on straight. If you sacrifice down and dirty on Mario Williams every play someone needs to compensate.

[BillsFever21]

Yes, they have to option the fifth year of his contract this off-season, if they want to.

The sad part is we have about 175 million into our starting defensive line and drafted Dareus a few years ago over many Pro Bowl players. After all that there's still talk about needing a DT early in the draft.

[cookie G]

Well we're continually overhauling our team because we do a poor job in the draft and a poor job retaining talent. We will lose Byrd, that's another hole to fill, along with the hole we never filled when we let Levitre go. Two holes to fill this offseason on top of the ones we haven't addressed. We filled our LT position last year, 3 years after we let Jason Peters go. This is why we're always playing catch up, we never have players waiting in the wings. Some teams draft with foresight, I'm not sure what the hell this team is doing. They should have grabbed a guard a year before Levitre hit FA, let him develop. Instead with use castoffs to fill the hole/

Bottom line, we need more help in the front 7, we can't get gashed in the run game like we do, we stand no chance.

It took 3 years to draft a LT because they were overhauling the defense.
It took 9 years to draft a QB because they were overhauling the defense (3 times).
It took 4 years to draft a WR (TJ Graham doesn't count) because they were overhauling the defense.
Letting Byrd go doesn't create a hole in the run D, not by a long shot.



Sorry, I'm ready to move in a different direction.

[Mace]

Sorry, I'm ready to move in a different direction.

I laughed. I am too. Just don't know what direction anymore.

Thataway.

[kingJofNYC]

Well we should be drafting a QB this year as well because EJ is awful. Time to overhaul the in progress overhaul. We also drafted two RBs in the first round over the last half decade....We're just awful at putting a team together.

[cookie G]

I laughed. I am too. Just don't know what direction anymore.

Thataway.

Unlike a lot of previous teams, it isn't like they are undersized, or even too slow. There's enough talent on the D7 to be better against the run.

For most of the year, they weren't horrible against it...it was more of giving up the big play. Today...they were knocked around.

Personally...I think its coachable. (and no, God no, I'm not talking about getting rid of Pettine and changing the scheme).

I think its something he can work on in the offseason.

Even if not...I'd kind of like to see TD's in the Bills future.

[The Jokeman]

Well we're continually overhauling our team because we do a poor job in the draft and a poor job retaining talent. We will lose Byrd, that's another hole to fill, along with the hole we never filled when we let Levitre go. Two holes to fill this offseason on top of the ones we haven't addressed. We filled our LT position last year, 3 years after we let Jason Peters go. This is why we're always playing catch up, we never have players waiting in the wings. Some teams draft with foresight, I'm not sure what the hell this team is doing. They should have grabbed a guard a year before Levitre hit FA, let him develop. Instead with use castoffs to fill the hole/

Bottom line, we need more help in the front 7, we can't get gashed in the run game like we do, we stand no chance.

We did draft two Safeties last year maybe we do have foresight in letting Byrd go. Yet my question is what do they plan on doing with his free agent money? As we're estimated to be $29M under next year's cap. To me there's no reason not to give Byrd the $9M he wants and go out and spend at least $10-$15M on one or two UFAs to help the offense. Though knowing this front office we'll let Byrd walk and sign one UFAs on offense for about $9M and keep us $20M under the cap and still one or two players away from making the full turn around from a top 10 bottom feeder team to a Wild Card contender.

[DBrown77]

Yes, they have to option the fifth year of his contract this off-season, if they want to.
Not this year, next. It's Spiller they need to make the decision on.

[kingJofNYC]

Spiller was a part time player this year, I think the decision has already been made. Marrone wants a grinder at RB. A guy like tre mason.

[Mace]

Unlike a lot of previous teams, it isn't like they are undersized, or even too slow. There's enough talent on the D7 to be better against the run.

For most of the year, they weren't horrible against it...it was more of giving up the big play. Today...they were knocked around.

Personally...I think its coachable. (and no, God no, I'm not talking about getting rid of Pettine and changing the scheme).

I think its something he can work on in the offseason.

Even if not...I'd kind of like to see TD's in the Bills future.

I don't think it's coachable, the balance of the line has gone through multiple coaches and schemes, and cannot stop the run. They were never horrible against the run until they need stop it, that tells you something.

I'd like to see td's ahead too, but I'd really like to see them tackle running backs because it seems less difficult, more fundamental, and more common sense and we just can't do it year after year. That points imho irrevocably at the personnel. Those linemen who rush so well are incapable of stopping the run.

You admit Pettine did a good job. He came in to make an aggressive D, he did, we pummeled QB's. But he can't make inadequate people tackle running backs.

So who is inadequate ? Well you write Mario off, he does pass pressure. That leaves Kyle and Dareus, who pressure and fail to stop running games. There is another DE, but Williams and Dareus are inadequate. Minnesota, Williams and Williams, you can't run on them, they pressured. We rush the QB and do it well, but but.....there is another DE, Branch who we just re-signed. But Williams and Dareus....year after year ?

How much more training are these vets supposed to need to tackle running backs ?