...of the Raiders game, I'd like to make a few more observations about yesterday’s game and the Bills in general.
1) The Raiders, following the 10 year old book on Drew, blitzed extensively up the middle, in an attempt to get Drew moving. Like every team thus far they used a series of MLB and S blitzes to get that pressure. Unlike every other team we played, they didn't give up on the blitzing when the Bills proved that it wouldn't work. The result is for a 5 play stretch in the 4th quarter the Raiders got 2 sacks and forced Drew to go 0-3 with an INT (which was returned for a TD) and a 3 and out series (which the Raiders then drove down the field and scored again). The Bills righted the ship, and the Raiders didn't get close to Drew again... but the damage was done.
2) It might be time for Grey to drop his complicated 2-gap 46 Defense. At the moment we are on pace to break the 21 year old record set by the Baltimore Colts, for most points allowed by a team in one season. The book to play against the 46 was written in 1986 when teams discovered that if you played a spread O with a short passing game you could minimize the pressure. Since then the 46 has only been successful at times with the Buddy Ryan led Eagles of 1988-1991 (although I'm sure Reggie White might have had something to do with it), and again with the 1998-2000 Tennessee Titans (a team with much more talent and speed in its front seven than the bills currently have). Throughout history that D has required immense physical talent to work, otherwise it results in what we are seeing right now (from not just the Bills but also the Titans). Its time for Grey to simplify the D, and switch to a 1-gap cover two, or over to the old 2-gap 34 D we used to run. We just don't have the talent or speed to make this D work. On top of this all, London Fletcher (who has only known the 1-gap cover two) has struggled all year with the adjustment to a 2-gap approach, much like most 4-3 MLBs struggle with the conversion over to playing a 3-4 MLB.
3) Sunday we got to see what happens when an O thinks 3 points is not enough. With the Bills trailing by 4 with 9min left on 3rd and 8 from the Oakland 23, Bledsoe (forced out of the pocket) threw the game breaking INT on a pass (in a normal game) he would have tried to throw away. But since the Bills D had shown it couldn't stop the Raiders, Bledsoe forced the pass to Price. Welcome Drew, to the world Payton Manning resided in all last year… a world where 3 points or a punt is a game ending failure. Let’s hope he finishes the year better than Payton (who wilted as the season went on).
1) The Raiders, following the 10 year old book on Drew, blitzed extensively up the middle, in an attempt to get Drew moving. Like every team thus far they used a series of MLB and S blitzes to get that pressure. Unlike every other team we played, they didn't give up on the blitzing when the Bills proved that it wouldn't work. The result is for a 5 play stretch in the 4th quarter the Raiders got 2 sacks and forced Drew to go 0-3 with an INT (which was returned for a TD) and a 3 and out series (which the Raiders then drove down the field and scored again). The Bills righted the ship, and the Raiders didn't get close to Drew again... but the damage was done.
2) It might be time for Grey to drop his complicated 2-gap 46 Defense. At the moment we are on pace to break the 21 year old record set by the Baltimore Colts, for most points allowed by a team in one season. The book to play against the 46 was written in 1986 when teams discovered that if you played a spread O with a short passing game you could minimize the pressure. Since then the 46 has only been successful at times with the Buddy Ryan led Eagles of 1988-1991 (although I'm sure Reggie White might have had something to do with it), and again with the 1998-2000 Tennessee Titans (a team with much more talent and speed in its front seven than the bills currently have). Throughout history that D has required immense physical talent to work, otherwise it results in what we are seeing right now (from not just the Bills but also the Titans). Its time for Grey to simplify the D, and switch to a 1-gap cover two, or over to the old 2-gap 34 D we used to run. We just don't have the talent or speed to make this D work. On top of this all, London Fletcher (who has only known the 1-gap cover two) has struggled all year with the adjustment to a 2-gap approach, much like most 4-3 MLBs struggle with the conversion over to playing a 3-4 MLB.
3) Sunday we got to see what happens when an O thinks 3 points is not enough. With the Bills trailing by 4 with 9min left on 3rd and 8 from the Oakland 23, Bledsoe (forced out of the pocket) threw the game breaking INT on a pass (in a normal game) he would have tried to throw away. But since the Bills D had shown it couldn't stop the Raiders, Bledsoe forced the pass to Price. Welcome Drew, to the world Payton Manning resided in all last year… a world where 3 points or a punt is a game ending failure. Let’s hope he finishes the year better than Payton (who wilted as the season went on).
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