I am still a little skeptical about our defense.

[mchurchfie]

They were a solid defense last year but I think the number 2 ranking last year was a little bit misleading. Some teams really lit them up and other teams will probably try to follow the same gameplan to exploit them. We also did nothing to address our pashrush which was and is still very anemic. Hopefully the maturation of our younger players like Dennehy will help that somewhat. For me the jury is still out on our defense to do what they accomplished last year for a second year in a row.

[The Spaz]

I am not worried with our young DE's getting more experience and with Milloy having a year in this defense with the addition of Troy Vincent will only help.

[bills_7]

our D was also ask to do too much last yr......

maybe this yr if our OFF can get it together our D may jump up to #1

[tomdonahoe]

The main problem with our "D" last year was the lack of turnovers. As much I hate to see Winfield go I think Vincent will be an upgrade in terms of turnovers and big plays. Becasue of that reason I think the Bills (will) choose to pay Clements the big $ instead of Winfield. Clements has a knack to make big plays and Winfield didn't. (Also age and height)

I'm concerned about our nickel set. McGee had a great rookie year but that sophmore slump comes up on alot of guys just ask Kevin Thomas. I was hoping the Bills would have signed Cousin when he visited.

[mchurchfie]

Originally posted by tomdonahoe
The main problem with our "D" last year was the lack of turnovers. As much I hate to see Winfield go I think Vincent will be an upgrade in terms of turnovers and big plays. Becasue of that reason I think the Bills (will) choose to pay Clements the big $ instead of Winfield. Clements has a knack to make big plays and Winfield didn't. (Also age and height)

I'm concerned about our nickel set. McGee had a great rookie year but that sophmore slump comes up on alot of guys just ask Kevin Thomas. I was hoping the Bills would have signed Cousin when he visited.

Good points. I really think that Vincent will help us to forget Winfield fairly easy also.

[McBFLO]

Im confident that McGee will step up and produce in the nickel spot. The competition between he and Thomas should ensure that at least one of them gets the job done. I'm wondering how Gray will put his stamp on this defense.

[LtBillsFan66]

I am too. Personnel wise, we are break-even from last year. I don't see Vincent as an upgrade to Winfield by any means.

I’m most anxious about the coaching. What will Gray do without William’s and Labou’s influences.

[Goobylal]

The Bills aren't "break-even." They added 6 new starters to the defense last year, and having a year together will make the entire defense tighter this year. Milloy will have a full training camp and pre-season, Kelsay and McGee will have their rookie years behind them, and depth at DT will be MUCH better than last year. I happen to think Vincent will be an upgrade over Winfield, for at least a year or two. However where I'm still concerned is FS, since I don't see Wire as a starting-caliber FS.

[LtBillsFan66]

I agree, but those are all intangibles gooby.

[mchurchfie]

Originally posted by billsfanone

I’m most anxious about the coaching. What will Gray do without William’s and Labou’s influences.

I agree, I am not totally sold on Gray either. Sacks and tornovers are the name the game and we lacked sorely in both departments. Our ranking was a little overflated by some less meaningful stats.

[LtBillsFan66]

Exactly. They have been terrible throughout Gray's tenure.

[bills_7]

we were last an almost every turnover stat...... i think alot of it has to do with the pass rush and maybe our D jst wasnt aggressive enough

does anyone have an answer to this?

do u think gray will be able to fix this problem with out giving up alot of yrds?

last season we didnt give up the yrds but we didnt get turnovers so is it asking to much to have both work in our favour

[McBFLO]

Originally posted by billsfanone
Exactly. They have been terrible throughout Gray's tenure.

They weren't all that great under Phillips either when he was here. Turnovers have been a problem with this D for quite a while now.

[mchurchfie]

I remember the one year when they were the middle of the pack or less in defensive ranking and number one in turnovers. They went to the SB that year.:up:

[B-DON]

our defense will be stellar again. vincent adds a few more turnovers and hopefully this year when we blitz that we can actually get to the qb to sack him

[tomdonahoe]

I have confidence in Gray as a DC. However I always think of what A. Reed did to Gray in the greatest comeback of all-time. On some plays Gray was out in lala land. That is a concern when you know see the guy is a potenital head coach. On the other hand he was going up against a hall-of-fame receiver.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by billsfanone
I am too. Personnel wise, we are break-even from last year. I don't see Vincent as an upgrade to Winfield by any means.

I’m most anxious about the coaching. What will Gray do without William’s and Labou’s influences.
The coaching is they key for me. I have a feeling we'll see LeBeau had greater input into the defense than we were led to believe. As far as Williams, I'll be interested to see what he can actually do at defensive coordinator without Jeff Fisher looking over his shoulder.

[Goobylal]

Originally posted by The_Philster

The coaching is they key for me. I have a feeling we'll see LeBeau had greater input into the defense than we were led to believe. As far as Williams, I'll be interested to see what he can actually do at defensive coordinator without Jeff Fisher looking over his shoulder.
LeBeau pretty much said that he wasn't as involved in the defense as he would have like to have been. And he probably saw the same thing happening if he stuck around in Buffalo, hence the reason he decided to return to Pgh. Since Gray called the plays on Sunday, I'm not as worried as I'd be if I heard that LeBeau was highly involved AND called the plays. And as for the defense, they were 2nd in yards allowed and 5th in points allowed. That's pretty impressive when you consider they were last in TO's.

[mchurchfie]

Originally posted by Goobylal
and 5th in points allowed. That's pretty impressive when you consider they were last in TO's.
That's because our offense was so bad that the opposing teams never felt the pressing need to score more than 10 points a game to beat us.:chuckle:

[Kramer]

Can you bet chips here? If so, I will bet 1000 chips to the first person that thinks that Gray's defense will outperform Lebeau's in total yards allowed.

[Kramer]

Originally posted by mchurchfie

That's because our offense was so bad that the opposing teams never felt the pressing need to score more than 10 points a game to beat us.:chuckle:

That is a joke, isn't it?

[mchurchfie]

Not really.:idunno::sadwalk:

[DraftBoy]

Im only concerned with our DB's. Clements, Vincent, Milloy, and Wire dont say lots of interceptions to me. Milloy and Clements are overrated and Vincent Im afraid hes lost a step or two, too many. Wire is a SS playing FS. I am concerned about all of these.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by Kramer
Can you bet chips here? If so, I will bet 1000 chips to the first person that thinks that Gray's defense will outperform Lebeau's in total yards allowed.

Actually, we call them Zonebucks and I won't bet you on that one...I'm thinking the same thing as you.

[Goobylal]

Originally posted by Kramer


That is a joke, isn't it?
It should be.

[mchurchfie]

Originally posted by Kramer
That is a joke, isn't it?


Originally posted by Goobylal
It should be.

Unfortunately, I wasn't too far off from the truth.:idunno:

[Goobylal]

To think any team would just stop trying to score points because they figured the offense couldn't score any is ludicrous. But hey, it's a different viewpoint.

[mchurchfie]

I actually was joking about them stopping scoring..I thought that was fairly obvious. The fact that we couldn't average much more than 10 points a game is sad, pretty close to the truth, and was actually where I was coming from.:idunno:

[elltrain22]

Your avatar is cool mchurch

[mchurchfie]

Thanxs!:up:

[Goobylal]

Originally posted by mchurchfie
I actually was joking about them stopping scoring..I thought that was fairly obvious. The fact that we couldn't average much more than 10 points a game is sad, pretty close to the truth, and was actually where I was coming from.:idunno:
Gotcha!

[Dantheman1280]

Our Defense will be better than last year! #1 reason COY WIRE!! This guy is going to be great, I can feel it in my bones!

[RUDEbyallMEANS]

Originally posted by tomdonahoe
The main problem with our "D" last year was the lack of turnovers. As much I hate to see Winfield go I think Vincent will be an upgrade in terms of turnovers and big plays. Becasue of that reason I think the Bills (will) choose to pay Clements the big $ instead of Winfield. Clements has a knack to make big plays and Winfield didn't. (Also age and height)

I'm concerned about our nickel set. McGee had a great rookie year but that sophmore slump comes up on alot of guys just ask Kevin Thomas. I was hoping the Bills would have signed Cousin when he visited.


You hit it right on the head as to the way I see it.

Miami and Buffalo both had horrible offenses last year.
Miami gave away 34 turnovers.
Buffalo gaveaway 34 turnovers.

Miami took away 36 turnovers.
Buffalo took away 18 turnovers.

Miami doubled the Bills takeaways and that is the reason why Miami won 10 games and the Bills won 6 games.

Of course, common sense would say that the Buffalos offense needs to improve for the team to be better, but the Buffalo defense needs to make more plays and improve in that area as well. Buffalo needs more playmakers on defense from last years squad.

My take on it.

[colin]

We need more turnovers, but a better rush from our LDE and better hands in the secondary mean that is likely to happen. Our D was always playing on their heels, trying to keep teams away from the endzone (and they did freaking great at that, 2nd and 5th given how sh@t our O was is outstanding) and not really taking the game to the other team. In the few games we had some offensive production, our D was aggressive and effective. I think if we can get leads in say 10 or 11 games we should get some big fat plays from the D.

go bills

[DraftBoy]

Originally posted by Dantheman1280
Our Defense will be better than last year! #1 reason COY WIRE!! This guy is going to be great, I can feel it in my bones!


He COULD be a great SS but at FS he wont do well. I feel that in my bones.

[mchurchfie]

Wires coverage skills are still highly suspect and will always be the thing that will keep him from being a premo safety at either spot in this league. The man can hit though.:punk: