Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

[BillsImpossible]

Donnie Henderson's secondary finished 4th best in the league against the pass in 2013.

That was without Jairus Byrd AND Stephon Gilmore for the first 5 games.

Gilmore wore a cast club on his wrist for 3 games, and he did not play well.

How will the Bills replace Byrd?

Corey Graham had 4 interceptions last year, 1 sack, and 12 passes defended.

Look at the 2013 game by game comparison between Corey Graham and Jairus Byrd.

Coach Marrone has said Corey Graham, "could be in the mix at safety."

I am comparing production.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/12613/jairus-byrd

48

37

11

1.0

0

0

1

0

4

85

21

57

0

6

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/10611/corey-graham

74

56

18

1.0

5

19

1

0

4

28

7

28

0

12

Byrd missed 5 games, so multiply his average tackles per game (4.4) X 5 games missed and add.

Corey Graham was a more productive player than Jairus Byrd.

In terms of size, Byrd is 5'10 203 lbs.

Graham is 6'0 196 lbs.

With home cooking alone, Corey Graham is going to add about 10 lbs.

[jills]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

This is the 2nd time you make this claim, again, we finished 4th (YPG) thanks to the 28th ranked rushing defense. It's not that hard to understand.

When Graham gets an All-Pro nod then you can compare him to Byrd.

And to answer your question: no we don't.

[Skooby]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

Stats skewed based on the abuse we took against the run.

[TigerJ]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I'll affirm the fact the Buffalo was poor versus the run, thus inviting other teams to run more versus than Bills than they might otherwise. That said, I think Buffalo has a very good secondary. Yes, they did lose Byrd, but as you point out, Byrd's contribution a year ago was impacted negatively by his holdout. They would be better with him, but they have a lot of talent at CB. At safety, Aaron Williams has a chance to be as good as Byrd, or close to it. This still leaves a question at the other safety spot, but a question is better than knowing you're lousy at the spot. Buffalo may not be lousy at SS at all.

[YardRat]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I agree with most of what Tiger says...this squad has a lot of potential, but needs to display it on the field without being buoyed by a crappy run defense. I like our corners, and A.Williams has the skill set to be better than Byrd at FS, but that's assuming he moves over. Not sure about Searcy at SS full time, so that could be a concern, but if AW stays strong and Graham moves into the FS spot I like the talent level of this year better than 2013.

[coastal]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I googled "Ko Simpson porn" and had a mildly interesting evening.

[better days]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I agree the Bills passing stats look better than they might otherwise because the run defense was so terrible.

That said, Schwartz will improve the run defense & he has said the DB group is the group that has impressed him the most.

[Fletch]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

At safety, Aaron Williams has a chance to be as good as Byrd, or close to it.

Yeah, and Spikes has a chance to be as good as Patrick Willis.

Watkins has a chance to be as good as Megatron.

Manuel has a chance to be as good as Brady.

Aaron Williams also has a chance to be as good as he was in systems where we didn't overemphasize rushing the passer too, which was pretty bad. Let's not forget that he was flirting with bust status as a high 2nd round pick until last season.

2013 Bills: 2nd in INTs, 2nd in Sacks, 6-10, same as the last two seasons.

[Fletch]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I agree with most of what Tiger says...this squad has a lot of potential, but needs to display it on the field without being buoyed by a crappy run defense. I like our corners, and A.Williams has the skill set to be better than Byrd at FS, but that's assuming he moves over. Not sure about Searcy at SS full time, so that could be a concern, but if AW stays strong and Graham moves into the FS spot I like the talent level of this year better than 2013.

I'd like to see a good in-depth honest discussion here about how a team can rank 2nd in generating sacks with 57, 2nd in INTs with 23 only behind Seattle, but 20th in scoring defense and 20th in passing TDs allowed, but more importantly, why that combination of facts might exist.

Then put that alongside our 28th ranking in rushing yards allowed and 23rd ranking in yards-per-carry allowed, while keeping in mind that of the top-16 RBs in the league last year, with Spiller and Jackson ranking 15th and 16th, we only played one of them. That one didn't even have a great day, no, it was nothing no-name RBs like Jordan Todman and Bobby Rainey that ran all over us. We played only 3 rushing teams that finished among the top-10, the Jets at 6th, the Pats at 9th, and the Chiefs at 10th. Together they averaged 167 yards per game rushing against us. The Jets and Pats averaged 185 yards per game against us.

Doesn't anyone question why this happened? Instead everyone just counts sacks and preaches superlatives.

It's odd, I haven't heard anyone trying to put that all together to see what it might mean and why those circumstances existed.

This season we play the same Jets, Pats, and Chiefs, but also have to play Peterson's Vikes and the Packers who ranked among the top-10 in rushing last season too. I don't know, but that doesn't sound so promising to me, even with Spikes on the team. Is there a good reason to think that we won't allow just as many rushing yards to great RBs on top of the Todman's and Rainey's of the NFL. Todman has had one notable game in the NFL and it was against us. Rainey's had 2, one against us and the other against the 4-12 Falcons and their 31st ranked rushing defense.

Doesn't this concern anyone? Especially since instead of only one, this season we face 7 of last season's top-13 RBs? I know that I'm concerned.

[better days]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I'd like to see a good in-depth honest discussion here about how a team can rank 2nd in generating sacks with 57, 2nd in INTs with 23 only behind Seattle, but 20th in scoring defense and 20th in passing TDs allowed, but more importantly, why that combination of facts might exist.

Then put that alongside our 28th ranking in rushing yards allowed and 23rd ranking in yards-per-carry allowed, while keeping in mind that of the top-16 RBs in the league last year, with Spiller and Jackson ranking 15th and 16th, we only played one of them. That one didn't even have a great day, no, it was nothing no-name RBs like Jordan Todman and Bobby Rainey that ran all over us. We played only 3 rushing teams that finished among the top-10, the Jets at 6th, the Pats at 9th, and the Chiefs at 10th. Together they averaged 167 yards per game rushing against us. The Jets and Pats averaged 185 yards per game against us.

Doesn't anyone question why this happened? Instead everyone just counts sacks and preaches superlatives.

It's odd, I haven't heard anyone trying to put that all together to see what it might mean and why those circumstances existed.

This season we play the same Jets, Pats, and Chiefs, but also have to play Peterson's Vikes and the Packers who ranked among the top-10 in rushing last season too. I don't know, but that doesn't sound so promising to me, even with Spikes on the team. Is there a good reason to think that we won't allow just as many rushing yards to great RBs on top of the Todman's and Rainey's of the NFL. Todman has had one notable game in the NFL and it was against us. Rainey's had 2, one against us and the other against the 4-12 Falcons and their 31st ranked rushing defense.

Doesn't this concern anyone? Especially since instead of only one, this season we face 7 of last season's top-13 RBs? I know that I'm concerned.

Well, most of us know the Bills had injuries last year & that Pettine sold out the run game to put pressure on the QB by constantly blitzing.

It was exciting to watch Pettine's defense make splash plays, but the defense Schwartz will run this year will be much more fundamentally sound.

[chris66]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I think Bills fans way over rate the talent on the team. Its always we have great talent but finish 6-10. Then the fans blame the coaches for not using them correctly. Bills keep changing coaches, but the results are the same.

[Fletch]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I think Bills fans way over rate the talent on the team. Its always we have great talent but finish 6-10. Then the fans blame the coaches for not using them correctly. Bills keep changing coaches, but the results are the same.

The worst part about it is that the real reasons for it go unaddressed.

For example, people have faith in Whaley despite the fact that he's been a huge part of the problem for five years now. Unless of course as Asst. GM and top personnel man he had a no-show job.

Looking at fans here, what they see is individual talent but don't look at the forest for the trees as the saying goes.

They look at things like raw speed and think that our players are just going to blow past NFL defenders.

What they don't seem to look at is history and how players with similar skill sets, or lack thereof, haven't done the same, much less do they consider why not. Unless those players are on another team, then they suck. What's interesting is that a similar player on another team sucks, but the one we have is set to explode and replace a stallwart at the position.

It's pretty funny. The real humor comes in November.

[chris66]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

The worst part about it is that the real reasons for it go unaddressed.

For example, people have faith in Whaley despite the fact that he's been a huge part of the problem for five years now. Unless of course as Asst. GM and top personnel man he had a no-show job.

Looking at fans here, what they see is individual talent but don't look at the forest for the trees as the saying goes.

They look at things like raw speed and think that our players are just going to blow past NFL defenders.

What they don't seem to look at is history and how players with similar skill sets, or lack thereof, haven't done the same, much less do they consider why not. Unless those players are on another team, then they suck. What's interesting is that a similar player on another team sucks, but the one we have is set to explode and replace a stallwart at the position.

It's pretty funny. The real humor comes in November.

Thats because Nix and Whaley draft like any $3.00 draft publication would.

[better days]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

I think Bills fans way over rate the talent on the team. Its always we have great talent but finish 6-10. Then the fans blame the coaches for not using them correctly. Bills keep changing coaches, but the results are the same.

Most people know the reason the Bills have gone 6-10 for so long is lack of a GOOD QB.

If Chan had a GOOD QB & Pettine or Schwartz as his DC instead of the cluster**** of DC's he had, he would probably still be the HC.

[chris66]

Re: Do The Bills Have One of The Best Secondaries In The NFL?

Most people know the reason the Bills have gone 6-10 for so long is lack of a GOOD QB.

If Chan had a GOOD QB & Pettine or Schwartz as his DC instead of the cluster**** of DC's he had, he would probably still be the HC.

No the real reason why the Bills have gone 6-10 for so long is because they have the dumbest front office in football