I'm not worried about getting pressure on Brady...

[lordofgun]

Sure, our DEs are nowhere near pro-bowl caliber. It's the weakest position on the team. But they don't have to be great. Every other position on this defense is SOLID. That's going to make the D-line's job so much easier.

Granted it was preseason, but the game against the Rams was a thing of beauty! Tons of pressure on Warner. He wouldn't have made it through that game if both he and the Bills' starting D played the entire game.

Add in blitzes and schemes taylor-made for the pats, and I see us in Brady's face ALL DAY LONG.

[Ickybaluky]

If you blitz Brady, you will lose. Brady's greatest strength is getting rid of the ball in the face of the blitz. It is where the bulk of the Pats big plays come. Brady gets rid of the ball too quick.

The way to defend the Pats is to get pressure with 4 guys and drop everyone else into the short zones to defend the underneath routes they like so much. When their WR catch the ball, you need to tackle well and not give them yards-after-catch.

[Patrick76777]

They killed us last year with that quick WR screen thingy. They'd hit it, break a talkle and go for 10 or 15 yards. All game long.

[LtBillsFan66]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
They killed us last year with that quick WR screen thingy. They'd hit it, break a talkle and go for 10 or 15 yards. All game long.

Faulk killed us.

[helmetguy]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
They killed us last year with that quick WR screen thingy. They'd hit it, break a talkle and go for 10 or 15 yards. All game long.

That's as good an explanation as anyone can give to justify bringing in Posey and Spikes. Good, quick LB's takes that little "quick WR screen thingy" away.

[Throne Logic]

Originally posted by helmetguy


That's as good an explanation as anyone can give to justify bringing in Posey and Spikes. Good, quick LB's takes that little "quick WR screen thingy" away.

I agree, even if you are an imposter. . . :)

[Judge]

Brady can't throw the ball farther than 10 yards downfield. Take away the short game and let's see how lost he is.

[Ickybaluky]

Brady has a much better arm than you think. I amazes me how people degrade his arm. If you watched him play a lot, you would see he has an above-average NFL arm.

The fact they didn't throw downfield much has more to do with the offensive design and the talent he has been surrounded with. They have more speed this year, and Dan Graham should be better, so he should be able to throw more intermediate stuff. However, the offense isn't designed for the vertical game as much as the horizontal game. They didn't throw downfield much when Bledsoe ran the offense either, or when Vinny Testaverde ran it with the Jets.

[Patrick76777]

The Pats have what looks like an awful running game. So gear the gameplan to stopping the pass (esp. the short pass) and dare them to beat us with the run.

[WG]

Originally posted by NE39
If you blitz Brady, you will lose. Brady's greatest strength is getting rid of the ball in the face of the blitz. It is where the bulk of the Pats big plays come. Brady gets rid of the ball too quick.

The way to defend the Pats is to get pressure with 4 guys and drop everyone else into the short zones to defend the underneath routes they like so much. When their WR catch the ball, you need to tackle well and not give them yards-after-catch.

Yup!!!

Unfortunately I totally agree w/ you 39!!

But that's also what happened when we played the Rams. Sure, we logged 4 sacks. But on the other 15 pass plays, the Rams were daggoned near perfect for way above average YPA #s. Your Pats do the same exact thing.

That's why I laid it out as an issue in my pre-game piece. We don't have the pass rush to do the latter recommendation effectively. The only way we can generate enough pressure in a pass rush is to rush one or more of the LBs or blitz a DB. But that then in turn leaves some serious one-on-ones or a wide open middle in the event that our pass rush comes from the LBs.

Not a huge issue for some teams, but Fletcher A. isn't very fast, and B. isn't anywhere close to being a solid pass-coverage LB. So that leaves us vulnerable.

We either give Brady too much time by generating only what pass rush we can generate from our sketchy DL, or leave ourselves exposed underneath by bringing up our LBs.

Good analysis 39!!! You're dead on and that is something that plagued the first team all preseason. Look for Graham to have a good day too. Graham on Fletcher is a dream matchup for you guys. If I had Graham in my fantasy league, I'd expect at least 60 yards and a TD out of him this week.

[WG]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
The Pats have what looks like an awful running game. So gear the gameplan to stopping the pass (esp. the short pass) and dare them to beat us with the run.

Indeed. But how?

Saying that is easy, doing it is another thing. We tried that all preseason, and quietly failed at it continuously.

It's our biggest weakness b/c we have no pass rushers worth a crap other than Schobel and PW. Adams, whether usable as a run stuffer or not, is worthless in a pass rush. Denney, well, let's just say if he's anything better than average, we'll be blessed.

So the only way to generate that pressure you're talking about is to pull off the LBs. I know we here in Bills land like to say Bledsoe's king and Brady's an idiot. But the fact of the matter is that we've been watching Drew for too long. These suggestions work against Drew, but not against Brady. Brady is too smart for that and does get rid of the ball quickly under those circumstances.

That's exactly what the Pats O thrived on last year, much like Oakland's O. Throw in Centers, and I gotta tell ya, if we can hold Brady under 250 we'll be doing very, very well. I'm lookin' at 300-350 on the game for him all with short passes and OTM passes in an area of the field that has been vacated to generate a pass rush that we can't generate w/ only 4 down linemen.

So again, how? How are we gonna accomplish that? I don't see it happening. I still think we'll win if we don't make many mistakes, but I can't imagine that we're gonna shut down their passing game w/ a DL of Denney, Adams, PW, and Schobel w/o putting the middle of the field at risk by drawing the LBs into pass-rushing mode.

[Patrick76777]

It's not my job to figure it out.

I'm busy planning my tailgate party.

[Ickybaluky]

I think the key for both teams is getting out to an early lead. I really feel this game will be decided in the first half. By getting out to an early lead, each team will force the other into doing what they don't want.

If the Pats jump out to an early lead, it will make it harder for the Bills to remain patient with the run game and make them throw the ball. The Pats can go to their various sub-packages, which is their real strength on defense.

If the Bills can jump out early, it will force the Pats to take more chances downfield than they want. The Pats like to stay in their comfort zone, working the ball downfield in smaller chunks and executing. They play the field position game as well as anyone, so avoiding mistakes is key for them.

I think the ST's are a wash. The Bills seem to have improved their ST's a lot, but the Pats are rock solid there as well. I do think if it comes down to a late FG that Vinatieri gives the Pats an edge.

It should be a great game.