63 replies to this topic

[ChanOverChin]

Could the AFC East be decided by one major matchup..........namely, New England's juggeraut offense versus Buffalo's newly built, 4-3, pass rushing defense??

  I don't mean to discount the Jets or the Dolphins because anything can happen in a 16 game season, but all signs are pointing to the fact that the Bills have improved significantly enough, especially on defense, to leap frog over NYJ and Miami to finally provide a very strong challenge to New England for the division title and an automatic playoff berth.

  It's obvious that the Bills chose to put most of their resources and moola into fortifying their defense.  As  I mentioned in a previous post, they have added no less than SIX potential new starters on defense including Ma. Williams, M. Anderson, K. Morrison, K. Sheppard, S. Gilmore, and A. Williams.  These are significant addtions to the starting lineup, and what's more, these guys are tailor-made to play in the 4-3, Buffalo's new defensive alignment this year.

  If you consider that two standout starters from the previous year, K. Williams and G. Wilson, missed most of last year, then it's more like the Bills have added EIGHT new starters to their newly built defense in comparison to last year's team.  And the holdovers are no slouch either.  The three returning starters to go with the eight players mentioned above are M. Dareus, N. Barnett, and J. Byrd.  Throw in some more pretty good players like S. Merriman, C. Kelsay, D. Edwards, Sp. Johnson, A. Moats, T. McGee, L. McKelvin, and B. Scott and Dave Wannstedt certainly has a lot more to work with than his predecessor did.

  New England will field quite a talented offensive team, starting with T. Brady at QB, J. Addai and D. Woodhead at RB, Gronkowski and Hernandez at TE, and B. Lloyd, W. Welker, and D. Branch at WR.  Their one weakness on offense, which could be a big one, is that their longtime LT, M. Light, has retired and has been replaced by a relatively inexperienced N. Solder.

  I don't think NE's RBs will scare anybody.  They have a lot of no name, unproven RBs on their roster.  Can Addai stay healthy??  Is he the same player that he once was??  I say no to both.  I think NE's running game could be a weakness for them as well.

  On the other hand, their TEs and WRs are quite could.  Can we generate enough pressure on Brady to be able to shorten the time frame to cover guys like Gronk, Welker, and Lloyd??  You can see why Wanny wants to be able to rush only four guys because he knows that he will need seven to cover NE's five skill players.  

  Since NE likes to go with 1 RB/2 TEs/2 WRs or 1 RB/1 TE/3 WRs or 1 RB/4 WRs or five receivers the Bills will need to adjust be playing more of their cover guys rather than their three starting LBs (Barnett/Sheppard/Morrison).  Most likely they will play Barnett in the middle along with six other cover guys (Gilmore, A. Williams, Wilson, Byrd Scott, and T. McGee or McKelvin).  The question is, can these guys adequately cover NE's best receivers??  Can our front four (Ma. Williams, Dareus, K. Williams, M. Anderson w/ S. Merriman, C. Kelsay, D. Edwards, and Sp. Johnson  as part of the rotation) generate enough of a pass rush to disrupt Brady??

  It's definitely going to be tough, but I think Buffalo is far better equipped to stop NE's offense than it was last year, especially if they can make the Pats one dimensional.

[taC giB ehT]

Wilson only missed three games last year, but other than that, I fully agree with your premise.
And since it's not just any old defense, but one specifically built to zero-in on the one chink in the Pats*' offensive armor, then I'd say you're right on the money.

[Teen Insight]

Why are your posts so long?

[hammie65]

We beat them once last year and almost twice if Chan hadn't pulled Stevie for the rest of the game (one move of Chan's that I seriously disagreed with, should have only pulled him for one series of downs) and contrary to those that kiss the rings of NE, I don't believe they made any great off season moves, including their draft picks. If our defense (and offense too for that matter) plays even close to the level everyone is hoping for we will hand Tom Brady two defeats and a lot of turf. Could I be wrong? Sure, but if I'm right then we'll all have a lot to celebrate this season. Keep the faith until then people.

[Pneumonic]

When it comes to the Bills supplanting NE as AFCE champs, it'll all boil down to which of Brady or Fitz plays best at critical times in games throughout the course of the season. With Brady, it is expected he'll dominant much of the season. OTOH, with Fitz ..... who knows what to expect out of him. He's the key!

[mattsox]

Pneumonic, on 21 June 2012 - 12:01 PM, said:

When it comes to the Bills supplanting NE as AFCE champs, it'll all boil down to which of Brady or Fitz plays best at critical times in games throughout the course of the season. With Brady, it is expected he'll dominant much of the season. OTOH, with Fitz ..... who knows what to expect out of him. He's the key!

Agreed it comes down to Fitz vs Brady.  Who has the better day...  Strength of QB goes to NE with Brady. So Until he becomes ineffective it's His game to lose vs the Bills...

ChanOverChin, on 21 June 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

Could the AFC East be decided by one major matchup..........namely, New England's juggeraut offense versus Buffalo's newly built, 4-3, pass rushing defense??

  I don't mean to discount the Jets or the Dolphins because anything can happen in a 16 game season, but all signs are pointing to the fact that the Bills have improved significantly enough, especially on defense, to leap frog over NYJ and Miami to finally provide a very strong challenge to New England for the division title and an automatic playoff berth.

  It's obvious that the Bills chose to put most of their resources and moola into fortifying their defense.  As  I mentioned in a previous post, they have added no less than SIX potential new starters on defense including Ma. Williams, M. Anderson, K. Morrison, K. Sheppard, S. Gilmore, and A. Williams.  These are significant addtions to the starting lineup, and what's more, these guys are tailor-made to play in the 4-3, Buffalo's new defensive alignment this year.

  If you consider that two standout starters from the previous year, K. Williams and G. Wilson, missed most of last year, then it's more like the Bills have added EIGHT new starters to their newly built defense in comparison to last year's team.  And the holdovers are no slouch either.  The three returning starters to go with the eight players mentioned above are M. Dareus, N. Barnett, and J. Byrd.  Throw in some more pretty good players like S. Merriman, C. Kelsay, D. Edwards, Sp. Johnson, A. Moats, T. McGee, L. McKelvin, and B. Scott and Dave Wannstedt certainly has a lot more to work with than his predecessor did.

  New England will field quite a talented offensive team, starting with T. Brady at QB, J. Addai and D. Woodhead at RB, Gronkowski and Hernandez at TE, and B. Lloyd, W. Welker, and D. Branch at WR.  Their one weakness on offense, which could be a big one, is that their longtime LT, M. Light, has retired and has been replaced by a relatively inexperienced N. Solder.

  I don't think NE's RBs will scare anybody.  They have a lot of no name, unproven RBs on their roster.  Can Addai stay healthy??  Is he the same player that he once was??  I say no to both.  I think NE's running game could be a weakness for them as well.

  On the other hand, their TEs and WRs are quite could.  Can we generate enough pressure on Brady to be able to shorten the time frame to cover guys like Gronk, Welker, and Lloyd??  You can see why Wanny wants to be able to rush only four guys because he knows that he will need seven to cover NE's five skill players.  

  Since NE likes to go with 1 RB/2 TEs/2 WRs or 1 RB/1 TE/3 WRs or 1 RB/4 WRs or five receivers the Bills will need to adjust be playing more of their cover guys rather than their three starting LBs (Barnett/Sheppard/Morrison).  Most likely they will play Barnett in the middle along with six other cover guys (Gilmore, A. Williams, Wilson, Byrd Scott, and T. McGee or McKelvin).  The question is, can these guys adequately cover NE's best receivers??  Can our front four (Ma. Williams, Dareus, K. Williams, M. Anderson w/ S. Merriman, C. Kelsay, D. Edwards, and Sp. Johnson  as part of the rotation) generate enough of a pass rush to disrupt Brady??

  It's definitely going to be tough, but I think Buffalo is far better equipped to stop NE's offense than it was last year, especially if they can make the Pats one dimensional.

It's a QB League son.  NE has the Best QB in the AFC East hands down.  It's NE Division to lose...

[Chef Jim]

mattsox, on 21 June 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

Agreed it comes down to Fitz vs Brady.  Who has the better day...  Strength of QB goes to NE with Brady. So Until he becomes ineffective it's His game to lose vs the Bills...

Ineffectiveness can be forced upon him by a relentless defense.

[taC giB ehT]

Chef Jim, on 21 June 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

Ineffectiveness can be forced upon him by a relentless defense.

Right. I don't know why this point is lost on all the Brady ball-washers.
This isn't billiards, this isn't curling, bowling or golf.

In football, there's such thing as an opposition--root word: oppose, as in one's will, as in a counter force, the likes of which have been assembled almost exclusively to squash Brady's effectiveness.

So I'm confused as to why everyone keeps assuming he's still the King of the AFC East since he hasn't proven jack against THIS defense, and the one defense that resembles ours has bested him on the world's biggest stage not once but twice.

[Pneumonic]

The Big Cat, on 21 June 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Right. I don't know why this point is lost on all the Brady ball-washers.
This isn't billiards, this isn't curling, bowling or golf.

In football, there's such thing as an opposition--root word: oppose, as in one's will, as in a counter force, the likes of which have been assembled almost exclusively to squash Brady's effectiveness.

So I'm confused as to why everyone keeps assuming he's still the King of the AFC East since he hasn't proven jack against THIS defense, and the one defense that resembles ours has bested him on the world's biggest stage not once but twice.

Brady has gone up against, and beaten, oodles of the leagues best defenses for over a decade now. There is a well established pattern of success in his corner. It's not like the Bills defense is going to be anything different than what Brady has routinely dissected numerous times throughout his career.

Further, in those Giants SB wins it was Manning and his offense that won it for them. As mentioned previously, it's all about QB play over the course of a season.

[taC giB ehT]

Pneumonic, on 21 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Brady has gone up against, and beaten, oodles of the leagues best defenses for over a decade now. There is a well established pattern of success in his corner. It's not like the Bills defense is going to be anything different than what Brady has routinely dissected numerous times throughout his career.

Further, in those Giants SB wins it was Manning and his offense that won it for them. As mentioned previously, it's all about QB play over the course of a season.

And as mentioned previously, Manning's defense, and not Manning, held the 2007 Pats* (who averaged 36 points PER GAME) to only 14.

And as far as "best defenses" go, only those designed to pressure from the line have fared successful, and make no mistake they've BEEN successful at besting Brady.

Edited by The Big Cat, 21 June 2012 - 01:04 PM.

[ChanOverChin]

Sure it will be Brady vs Fitz, but our defense will have a lot to say about the overall outcome of each game vs NE.  We need to be able to at least slow down the Pats' offense.  If we can do that then we stand a chance of beating them.

The Pats have the easiest strength of schedule in the league in 2012 so they definitely have an advanteous already.  They have dominated the AFC East for many years now so they are the team to beat, like it or not.  As long as they have Belicheck and Brady (since they are about the only two who have remained constant through their years of winning the division),  they will be tough to beat.

If I'm the Bills' GM I'm trying to build my defense to contend with NE's spread, quick-hitting offense.  That means having a guy who can cover Welker and a guy who can cover Gronk, and a front four that can pressure Brady (and actually hit him on occasion).  They have the toughest offense to deal with on our schedule, and unfortunately, we have to produce more wins than them (or at least as many with the tie breaker in our favor) to win the division.  Otherwise, we have to settle for making it into the playoffs as a wildcard, which can be pretty dicey.

[Pneumonic]

The Big Cat, on 21 June 2012 - 01:04 PM, said:

And as mentioned previously, Manning's defense, and not Manning, held the 2007 Pats* (who averaged 36 points PER GAME) to only 14.

And as far as "best defenses" go, only those designed to pressure from the line have fared successful, and make no mistake they've BEEN successful at besting Brady.

The best defense to go up against Brady is one of confusion. The Jets defense for example is probably best in this respect. If you can stick a bunch of DE all over the line and go NASCAR like what the Giants do when facing Brady that works too. But, over the course of the season, Brady wins MUCH more than he loses and, if we are talking winning the division, you have to look at a 16 game sked and project beating them over the course of it. It's likely going to take 14 wins to do so. Does Fitz have it in to win that many games? We know Brady does!

[taC giB ehT]

Pneumonic, on 21 June 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

The best defense to go up against Brady is one of confusion. The Jets defense for example is probably best in this respect. If you can stick a bunch of DE all over the line and go NASCAR like what the Giants do when facing Brady that works too. But, over the course of the season, Brady wins MUCH more than he loses and, if we are talking winning the division, you have to look at a 16 game sked and project beating them over the course of it. It's likely going to take 14 wins to do so. Does Fitz have it in to win that many games? We know Brady does!

A completely fair point. Just because we're designed to beat them, doesn't mean everyone else is.

[AJ1]

The Big Cat, on 21 June 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Right. I don't know why this point is lost on all the Brady ball-washers.
This isn't billiards, this isn't curling, bowling or golf.

In football, there's such thing as an opposition--root word: oppose, as in one's will, as in a counter force, the likes of which have been assembled almost exclusively to squash Brady's effectiveness.

So I'm confused as to why everyone keeps assuming he's still the King of the AFC East since he hasn't proven jack against THIS defense, and the one defense that resembles ours has bested him on the world's biggest stage not once but twice.

Yes, if there is a model defense for the Bills it's the Giants.  I'd like to see what Brady's accuracy stats are when he is forced to throw on the run instead of rooted to the field like a tree.  That's what the Bills' defense will be designed to accomplish:  force him out of the pocket and throw on the run.  If the Bills DL disrupts his comfortablity, not even needing sacks, the Bills win.

[Captain Hindsight]

Pneumonic, on 21 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Brady has gone up against, and beaten, oodles of the leagues best defenses for over a decade now. There is a well established pattern of success in his corner. It's not like the Bills defense is going to be anything different than what Brady has routinely dissected numerous times throughout his career.

Further, in those Giants SB wins it was Manning and his offense that won it for them. As mentioned previously, it's all about QB play over the course of a season.

Uh no. Not in the first one at least. That was the d line

[Duck_dodgers007]

Can our linebackers cover their tight ends???  

[ChanOverChin]

We won't try to use our LBs to cover their TEs.  We'll likely use B. Scott to cover Gronk and G. Wilson to cover Hernandez.

The Bills won't likely play a standard 4-3 vs NE since NE is normally in pass mode and will use four receivers (i.e. combination of TEs and WRs) most of the time.

We may use one LB (Barnett) or evn no LB (all DBs) plus a four man rush.

[Rockinon]

ChanOverChin, on 21 June 2012 - 01:04 PM, said:

Sure it will be Brady vs Fitz, but our defense will have a lot to say about the overall outcome of each game vs NE.  We need to be able to at least slow down the Pats' offense.  If we can do that then we stand a chance of beating them.

The Pats have the easiest strength of schedule in the league in 2012 so they definitely have an advanteous already.  They have dominated the AFC East for many years now so they are the team to beat, like it or not.  As long as they have Belicheck and Brady (since they are about the only two who have remained constant through their years of winning the division),  they will be tough to beat.

If I'm the Bills' GM I'm trying to build my defense to contend with NE's spread, quick-hitting offense.  That means having a guy who can cover Welker and a guy who can cover Gronk, and a front four that can pressure Brady (and actually hit him on occasion).  They have the toughest offense to deal with on our schedule, and unfortunately, we have to produce more wins than them (or at least as many with the tie breaker in our favor) to win the division.  Otherwise, we have to settle for making it into the playoffs as a wildcard, which can be pretty dicey.

New England has to play Buffalo twice this year.  We'll see how easy their strength of schedule really is soon enough.  All this strength of schedule stuff is nonsense.  Last year was last year.  This year is this year.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Captain Hindsight, on 21 June 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

Uh no. Not in the first one at least. That was the d line

Even ini the second one, the Giants Dline was all over him.
And for those who bring up the point about other teams not being able to beat NE, i say this- IF, and big IF, Buffalo wins both against NE, i can not wait to see what they do to the rest of the league. NE is the model for what the NFL wants- pass happy teams. Buffalo is trying to counter that.

[Meathead]

The Big Cat, on 21 June 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

one specifically built to zero-in on the one chink in the Pats*' offensive armor,

did ed wang sign with the cheaters?