Analysis Of The Buffalo Bills Defense 2009 Preseason Play
Buffalo Bills Defense:
To be a contender in this league a team needs a solid defense. Defenses win in the playoffs. Defenses win championships.
The two primary components of a great defense are excellent linebacker play and a good pass rush. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills are weak in both areas. Having a good pass rush makes everyone on that defense a little better. There will be many more opportunities for turnovers if the opponent’s quarterback is forced to throw early or forced to throw on the run. You need those big plays on defense. Most games are decided by one or two big plays during the game.
Can you think of a team that has had a great defense that didn’t have great linebackers anchoring it? I am not satisfied with the number of plays being made by the Bills linebackers. They aren’t making any plays for losses. The Bills safeties are having to make too many tackles. Linebackers aren’t getting any picks and they can’t seem to cover any of the other teams’ tightends that they have played so far. That scares the hell out of me.
As far as I am concerned, the defensive backfield is solid. I think the players we have there will make plenty of plays so long as the opponent’s quarterbacks aren’t allowed to stand in the pocket and pick them apart. The secondary has good speed, great tackling skills and a nose for the ball. What more could you want? Oh yeah, they have depth on the roster too. There is always room for improvement and I’m sure there will be games this year where I will be wishing I hadn’t said that I thought they were good.
Possible solutions on defense:
I have no solutions for covering the tightends. That requires more speed and talent at linebacker. I have no solutions for the number of plays being made from the linebacker position. Again, I feel this is a talent issue. It is too late to upgrade the roster at linebacker. I am still left wondering why we let London Fletcher go. He is still performing well for Washington. He makes the people around him play better.
As far as the pass rush goes, the only obvious opportunity I see here is to use Maybin on third downs as a blitzing linebacker. OR, if you want another crazy idea for third and long situations, put Maybin in at defensive end and line Schobel up at middle linebacker with Poz playing outside. Send Schobel on a blitz right up the middle with a safety cheating to the middle linebacker spot. Remember how many sacks Bryce Paup used to get from well designed blitz packages?
The Buffalo Bills coaching staff is going to have their work cut out for them this year. Hopefully they surprise us come the regular season. Otherwise it doesn’t look promising for the Bills “D”. They will be facing exceptional offenses (Patriots, saints, Colts) capable of exploiting those weaknesses. Yikes.