I am confused

[BambinoSux]

Why is it all Jerry Gray's fault that the defense can't tackle? Watson looks embarassing trying to defend screens. Fletcher and Wire were even missing tackles, and they seemed liek they were the only ones who could tackle yesterday. Newman and Robinson were overpursuing all game long. Ahmad Brooks shouldn't be on the field. I guarantee though that the screens don't work if Winfield's in the game. Let's see them to that in Foxboro with Winfield in the lineup.

[Typ0]

At the level these players are at they ought to know how to tackle. I hold the coaches responsible for being idiots, morons and boneheads all in the same human body. Some of the stupidity coming from our coaching staff signifies they are better suited for a travelling carnival (not a good one either) than the positions they are in.

[TigerJ]

I think there are times when a player has been given as much as the coaches can give him in terms of training in fundamentals and in preparation for a specific opponent. When the player screws up, it's the player's fault.

Then there are other times when the players either are not as well schooled in technique as they ought to be or havent been prepared for a specific opponent as well as they should have been.

I think that with the widespread breakdowns in the NE it was probably a case of NE having prepared well for the Bills, exposing the things that Buffalo doesn't handle well. The steady diet of draws, screen passes, and short dump offs were designed to take advantage of overpursuit by the Bills defence generally. I saw one case on a quick out where the WR (Patten) was able to juke him right out of the play. I think had Watson been more confident in the situation and not hesitated, he could have tackled Patten before Patten ever had the chance to fake him out. The hesitation was in my opinion a coaching issue.

[Herdwatcher]

Originally posted by Typ0
At the level these players are at they ought to know how to tackle. I hold the coaches responsible for being idiots, morons and boneheads all in the same human body. Some of the stupidity coming from our coaching staff signifies they are better suited for a travelling carnival (not a good one either) than the positions they are in.

They all are accountable for the brainfarts! Tackling is one of the fundamentals of the game. You are taught how very early in life, and of course in pop-warner when it comes to football.
For the longest it seems db's and safties all want to hit with their shoulder, which lets the runner bounce off. Maybe they stop too early on teaching how to tackle.
I've coached many a game and have seen the difference in fundamental tackling and poor tackling. When done right. you win the battle. when done poorly, well you know what happens!

Is it too much work to wrap and pull? It's like riding a bike, once learned, you know how for the rest of your life. looks like they need to go through some drills!

[vabillsfan]

Just remember this - no excuses. Winfield wasn't there and we can't make an excuse for losing becasue of it or give a WCoast Fin answer like "Wait to we go there with Winfield".

We lost, they won, they kicked our butts!