Mario Williams sounds off on Bills' defensive scheme

[Novacane]

"It's simple, those four guys, no matter what else we do, y'all are going," said Williams. "I know for a fact, and I'm not questioning anything, but I know for a fact, I drop a lot myself. And I think last week, watching the film, Kyle dropped six-, seven-plus (times). You can go down the line and say the same thing. Marcell (Dareus) typically doesn't, but Jerry does. You got guys that you're saying gotta be disruptive and get after the quarterback.

"It might not even mean being aggressive. It's just, us four, we need to go. I mean, we have a lot at stake because of who we are, who we've been, the amount of money this team put in up front. You gotta let 'em go, or what's the point of it?"

Asked whether he'd approach Ryan with his concerns, Williams said that neither he nor his linemates would make demands of the coaches.

It's just clear to them changes are needed.

"At the end of the day, the defensive scheme, we either gotta tweak it or figure out what can we do now to change what we do to accommodate it," he said.


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000560221/article/mario-williams-sounds-off-on-bills-defensive-scheme

[Mace]

Wisdom.

[Joe Fo Sho]

I'm glad someone said it.

[justasportsfan]

All four can't just suck that fast. They are set up to fail worse than Jauron.

[Jaybird]

arguably between Mario and Sammy they are the most heavily invested players on the team. Within 1 week they both take a shot at the system and coaching. Has Rex already lost the team? Maybe make a change on D, coaching change! Rex needs to show something... How can our D turn this bad so fast. Is it time to give Brandon Spikes a call to help with the run game?

[Turf]

This is an asinine defensive approach for a coach that supposed to be a defensive genius.

[jimmifli]

Rush four drop seven. The seven can cover for longer than the five can block the four.

Sometimes coaching is about finding matchups that work in your favour. But when you have a large advantage in talent, you don't have to find the matchups that work in your favour. They are almost all in your favour every time you drop 7 and rush four.

[MillsapsBillsFan]

Now all of the D-Lineman have complained about the scheme. That really says something, especially since Dareus and Kyle hadn't really complained about that kind of stuff while they've been here.

Something needs to change and maybe Mario will be the one to spark it

[Meathead]

maybe hes only gold plated

[stuckincincy]

Those D-linemen ought to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves why they didn't get a single sack on Dalton. I don't think they even got a hit on him. Even when they got close, Dalton had enough space to toss the ball away - several times.

[Skooby]

Outclassed and out-coached, Marvin Lewis must of asked Rex to turn in his man card.

[Mace]

Those D-linemen ought to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves why they didn't get a single sack on Dalton. I don't think they even got a hit on him. Even when they got close, Dalton had enough space to toss the ball away - several times.

They don't line up and just rush like a field game when you're a kid. Was Kyle supposed to get a sack when his assignment was dropping back like an LB, or Hughes in coverage ? Must be their fault. I don't know, I saw Dalton getting hit. Just didn't matter any because his receiver caught the ball no matter the coverage without rushing linemen or blitzes.

[YardRat]

I feel your pain, Mario.

[sdbillsfan2]

Hard to be aggressive if your back peddling. I hate this style of defense , especially with our talent.

[stuckincincy]

They don't line up and just rush like a field game when you're a kid. Was Kyle supposed to get a sack when his assignment was dropping back like an LB, or Hughes in coverage ? Must be their fault. I don't know, I saw Dalton getting hit. Just didn't matter any because his receiver caught the ball no matter the coverage without rushing linemen or blitzes.

DLs dropping in coverage is very infrequent. For almost all of the game, CIN was playing a more-or-less NFL standard 1 rb/1 te/3 wr set. 5 OLs. CIN's wr corps are decent, rbs Hill and Bernard can catch, so blitzing carried a risk. BUF's OL got run stops. But they were beaten by the CIN OL pass protection.

And it's not the first time that that has happened this season. I think that the opposition has found out ways to stymie the front four. I think it's not so much scheme than it is familiarity...


You are right about the 1 hit. Williams got it, according to the nfl gamebook:

http://www.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/56581/BUF_Gamebook.pdf

[YardRat]

DLs dropping in coverage is very infrequent. For almost all of the game, CIN was playing a more-or-less NFL standard 1 rb/1 te/3 wr set. 5 OLs. CIN's wr corps are decent, rbs Hill and Bernard can catch, so blitzing carried a risk. BUF's OL got run stops. But they were beaten by the CIN OL pass protection.

And it's not the first time that that has happened this season. I think that the opposition has found out ways to stymie the front four. I think it's not so much scheme than it is familiarity...


You are right about the 1 hit. Williams got it, according to the nfl gamebook:

http://www.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/56581/BUF_Gamebook.pdf

Rex has stymied the front four far more than any opposition could if they were allowed to do what they excel at. Every one of the linemen are dropping into coverage at some point, in every game. At least a few times today I noticed only three pass rushers, and with the talent in our 'front four' (I put that in quotes because they rarely are actually a front four this season) that's just unacceptable, even on obvious passing downs.

Also, I have to disagree that the run stop/pass pro was one-sided...as the season goes on, and it has been most evident the last two games, this defense is showing a propensity to give up rushing yards in the middle. Last season this defense showed the ability to completely take away that part of an offense, on a consistent basis. Runs that gain 2-3 yards this season were no gain or losses last year. Runs of 5-7 yards this year were runs of 2-3 last. That may not seem significant, but consistently allowing teams to run up the middle and getting themselves in 2nd and 3-5 yards to go, instead of 2nd and 7-10 yards to go adds up to a lot more first downs and less three and outs over the course of an entire game.

[DraftBoy]

I'm a little confused about Mario's comments. It's always been known that Rex runs one of the most complex defensive schemes in the NFL, what did he think was going to happen in this new scheme?

I don't see them every being a drop 7 and rush 4 type team as long as Ryan is the coach. That's not his philosophy and that's not how he wants the game called.

[stuckincincy]

Rex has stymied the front four far more than any opposition could if they were allowed to do what they excel at. Every one of the linemen are dropping into coverage at some point, in every game. At least a few times today I noticed only three pass rushers, and with the talent in our 'front four' (I put that in quotes because they rarely are actually a front four this season) that's just unacceptable, even on obvious passing downs.

Also, I have to disagree that the run stop/pass pro was one-sided...as the season goes on, and it has been most evident the last two games, this defense is showing a propensity to give up rushing yards in the middle. Last season this defense showed the ability to completely take away that part of an offense, on a consistent basis. Runs that gain 2-3 yards this season were no gain or losses last year. Runs of 5-7 yards this year were runs of 2-3 last. That may not seem significant, but consistently allowing teams to run up the middle and getting themselves in 2nd and 3-5 yards to go, instead of 2nd and 7-10 yards to go adds up to a lot more first downs and less three and outs over the course of an entire game.

I recorded the game on my DVR, so I will review it and get back to your comments re the amount of drop-back by DLs.

CIN didn't set the world on fire with their runs - 28/113/4.0 average. I said the DL - or whoever was there to make the stops - did a decent job.

What I did say is that the DL - or pass rushers if you like - were handled by CIN's OL.

I also think that in the previous season, perhaps the one before that, this DL got their big numbers because the regime adopted a sack-at-all-costs philosophy. You know I am not a Ryan fan, but I think he sees that those sack numbers were pumped up for popular consumption to some degree. As to run D...the opposition wises up - that is so for every club. And a hard fact facing BUF - they simply have not been drafting a DL bench, for several years. This or that one that they sign has a good game, so hooray! The next season...eh.

BUF hung in for the 1st half, behind 3. You pour those 4 OLs in hell-bent against a decent OL and a bevy of good receivers and backs in the 2nd, you are looking at getting a 50 point pasting. Jeeze - the average drive start for CIN was their 41 vs BUF's average of their own 15. BUF's offensive ineptitude and the ST play dictated dice rolling on the D-line.

[Mace]

I recorded the game on my DVR, so I will review it and get back to your comments re the amount of drop-back by DLs.



Please do, because I saw Kyle and Mario back there an awful lot in my brain, though it's hard to say if I was focusing on some plays more than others. I'll say it again though, there's absolutely no reason ever to have Kyle dropping back.

[coastal]

Wh doesn't Mario take some personal responsibility and stfu

[stuckincincy]

Please do, because I saw Kyle and Mario back there an awful lot in my brain, though it's hard to say if I was focusing on some plays more than others. I'll say it again though, there's absolutely no reason ever to have Kyle dropping back.

I shall. It will take a few days. But the question before us is: Why would a coaching staff do that a lot?

CIN, in fact, usually does it 3 or 4 times a game. It's situational, called before the snap by the MLB or whoever has the helmet with the green sticker - the idea being to get bodies in the short flats into the qb's reads. You rush 3 or possibly 4 and hope that one slips through to harry the qb. Perhaps make him step left or right, consuming time. Then he sees a crowd in the middle, while your dbs look for jumping routs. If you blow it, well, those are 70 yard gains.

Key, of course, is where you are on the field, what down, what the score is, what time of the game it is, and so forth.

I'll review my dvd, but I'm not gonna get into all that situational stuff. :drive:

[Ingtar33]

I'm a little confused about Mario's comments. It's always been known that Rex runs one of the most complex defensive schemes in the NFL, what did he think was going to happen in this new scheme?

I don't see them every being a drop 7 and rush 4 type team as long as Ryan is the coach. That's not his philosophy and that's not how he wants the game called.

I was at the game; I don't know how it looked on tv; but Mario Williams went 10- plays in a row at one point without his hand on the ground playing shallow zone or man coverage.

From what I saw he was dropping into coverage on more plays then he was rushing the passer.

And the number of time both him AND Hughes rushed on the same play might have been less then 10 times. I know in the second half on two separate 80 yard drives neither of them rushed dalton on the same
Play once.

Serious defensive malpractice going on right now. It doesn't surprise me in the least he's complaining

[MillsapsBillsFan]

I was at the game; I don't know how it looked on tv; but Mario Williams went 10- plays in a row at one point without his hand on the ground playing shallow zone or man coverage.

From what I saw he was dropping into coverage on more plays then he was rushing the passer.

And the number of time both him AND Hughes rushed on the same play might have been less then 10 times. I know in the second half on two separate 80 yard drives neither of them rushed dalton on the same
Play once.

Serious defensive malpractice going on right now. It doesn't surprise me in the least he's complaining

Cant say it surprises me either. Part of the reason he came to buffalo in the first place was that he was being asked to play rush LB in a 3-4 in houston. He didnt want to do that, he just wanted to be a DE and now theyre asking him to do things he shouldnt have to do

[jamze132]

Maybe Rex will let them play Sunday in London. If so, we might get 4-5 sacks and a W.

[Victor7]

The best example I can think of to apply the "if it ain't broken don't fix it" saying

Rex tweaked too much with these guys and it shows. They were a juggernaut last year. Its basically the same guys. If anything they should be better with the addition of Darby.

They look bad. Rex needs to let his ego on the door and go back to what Schwartz had them doing last season.

[Ingtar33]

whats even funnier is rex had kyle williams dropping into coverage on some zone blitzes too

[Luisito23]

IK running around like a dumb ass on 3rd. down...LOL

"Defensive genious"...LOL

[DraftBoy]

I was at the game; I don't know how it looked on tv; but Mario Williams went 10- plays in a row at one point without his hand on the ground playing shallow zone or man coverage.

From what I saw he was dropping into coverage on more plays then he was rushing the passer.

And the number of time both him AND Hughes rushed on the same play might have been less then 10 times. I know in the second half on two separate 80 yard drives neither of them rushed dalton on the same
Play once.

Serious defensive malpractice going on right now. It doesn't surprise me in the least he's complaining

I'm not defending it, I'm just saying this is Rex's philosophy. He has built his defenses on the ability pressure from anywhere at anytime. The big difference here is that our OLB tandem is not built for what Rex wants/needs to do. Wouldn't surprise me to see the Bills kick Bradham inside next to Brown and look for two more pass rush options at OLB this season. Rex wants to run that variable 34 base with lots of unique zone blitzes.

Now is that the smartest decision we've made given how dominant our front four has been? Probably not but this is the situation we are in.