Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

[Drive 4 Five]

http://afceastreport.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64

The bottom line is that in order to succeed in the NFL you must excel in running the football and defending the run. Not too many people can/will argue with that.

Say what you will about Mark Weiler. His articles can be painful to read because they are often so negative. Sometimes you wonder how this guy can be a fan of this football team. Nevertheless, he does have a way of presenting things in a factual manner, and with that said I find this article awfully disturbing.

Hiring an offensive coordinator whose offenses consistently rank among the top in passing and among the bottom in running? Modeling our defense after the one he helped build in Chicago? The same defense that failed so miserably against the NFL's elite ground & pound teams when it mattered the most?

I shudder when I think of how I watched Pittsbugh destroy Chicago's vaunted defense that snowy day in Pittsburgh. As we all know, that performance in Pittsburgh was merely a sign of things to come when that same glaring weakness eventually led to their demise in Carolina.

I get this sinking feeling in my stomach when I see that Chicago's defensive rankings against the run during Jauron's tenure there were among the league worst four of the five years he coached this team.

Could we expect more of the same now that he is in Buffalo? Say it isn't so.

[Stewie]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

yes, coaches will always do the same thing and never learn from their mistakes... thats why marv levy had the same success in kc and buffalo.. belichick in cleveland/NE, etc....

actually, no, that's not what happens at all. the only thing that stays consistent in this situation is weiler.. now there's someone that never changes, no matter how terrible the results.

[Drive 4 Five]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

I don't know. I'm just saying that everytime I start to get excited this Weiler guy ruins it for me. This article really has me bummed. It's easy right. Just stop reading his articles. Well the reason I am bummed is because he is often right. Like the guy is cursing our team or something.

Damn you Mark Weiler.

[Drive 4 Five]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

yes, coaches will always do the same thing and never learn from their mistakes... thats why marv levy had the same success in kc and buffalo.. belichick in cleveland/NE, etc....

actually, no, that's not what happens at all. the only thing that stays consistent in this situation is weiler.. now there's someone that never changes, no matter how terrible the results.

Ok let's not make any kind of comparion between Jauron, Levy and Belichick. I do agree with you about Weiler's consistency though. He is spot on as usual. I just hope he is wrong.

[Mahdi]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

Jauron is not implementing the style of defense he had in Chicago. He is implementing they style of denfese they run now. And that style of defense won the Bucs the SuperBowl, got the Colts 13 straight wins last year, and brought the Bears from a 5-11 season in '04 to an 11-5 season in '05.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

The O was MArtz's O . Doesn't mean that Fairchild doesn't know how to run the ball. Do you remember Fairchild, the guy who helped Henry rush for 1400 yards?


As for the cover 2 D, anyone can beat any team on any given Sunday. It also didn't help that Chicago's O was ranked worst than the Bills' total O last year. When your O is that bad, your D can only do so much when it's on the field the whole time.


Fine so let's go with the bengals D that beat Pitts last year . Wait we beat the Bengals, let's stick w/ Gray's D. Doesn't quite make sense does it. The cover 2 is a good D but the scheme itself doesn't win ball games all on it's own. It the coaches calls on gameday that wins ball games. BB has proven that over and over with less talent that what Pitts had last year.


Wys loves to bring up stats that only agree with his opinion. It's easy to come up with statistics and then formulate an opinion after the facts are there. I can twist those stats around too just like wys.


Don't forget, wys changed his opinions on the bills when the bills would win. He blasted Drew and then praised Drew when we were winning and then changed his opinion again.

I can pull out the Pats stats of 2001 and show you that you can win with a rb like Atnwan Smith.

I can also use the Pats rushing D where they were one of the worst and yet won the sb.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

It oversimplifies the complexity of the game. You must be balanced on both offense and defense when it comes to pass and run. A good run game can open up the pass, a lethal passing game can open up the run. If your defense stacks the box against the run, you can be passed on and visa versa. If a team is bringing in 2 TE's and trying to exploit the cover 2, then you cheat up both your safeties and get bodies in the running lanes...don't have to deviate from the one gap system.
I think it is premature to say what this team is going to be like. We might get run on this year but turn things around in 07. We have seen huge shifts from one year to the next. Take Indy's defense for example. They had an incredible season, but they were one of the worst in 04. The ingredient we are missing in that equation is a pass rusher. Schobel is a coverage sack artist. He's not very quick into the backfield. His sacks come when the QB steps forward into the pocket on an outside rush and hangs onto the ball. Freeney can get to the QB before he takes his 3rd drop step sometimes. However, our corners are better.
Bottom line is Indy, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Carolina and Denver were very well balanced teams. They did everything well. Once we get a coach who has a plan and can sell it to his players and assisstants, we will be a good team. Whether Jauron is that coach will be answered in time. I think it is unfair to compare Jauron's Bills to Jauron's Bears.

[Tinboy]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

Wow that guy sure love statistics. Well I disagree, we have yet to see what happens and how Fairchild runs the offense.

[TedMock]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

Don't forget that Martz had the playcalling for most of Fairchild's tenure as the Rams OC. Notice that the backs were actually getting a couple of more carries per game once he took over. They were still heavily pass oriented, but you can't re-vamp everything mid-stream. Fairchild believes in running the ball. People easily forget his college coaching days at Colorado State. From what I remember, they were a decent team that ran first. I believe Cecil Sapp was the underclass running back who was very good in college. They guy knows the importance of running the football as seen in his college days, and his making an average running back, like Travis Henry, a pro-bowler. I truly think we'll see a lot of balance this year.

[casdhf]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

Jauron is not implementing the style of defense he had in Chicago. He is implementing they style of denfese they run now. And that style of defense won the Bucs the SuperBowl, got the Colts 13 straight wins last year, and brought the Bears from a 5-11 season in '04 to an 11-5 season in '05.

Great point!

On an unrelated note: Ottawa

[Drive 4 Five]

Re: Putting The Cart Before The Horse?

In the past five years we have had two head coaches in here preaching about playing strong, aggressive defense and running the football. We all know what the outcome of that was. Power football my ass. Alot of coaches talk alot of **** and I just hope Dick Jauron is different.