They should learn to tackle too. That’d be a good place to start for the defense. I just can’t believe how bad some of these guys looked this year trying to make open field tackles, most notably Mr. Top Ten Draft Pick.

Do teams ever win playing Dick Jauron football? I don’t mean the run first, protect the ball, play solid D portion which most teams attempt to do anyhow. I mean the questionable playcalls, soft zone D’s, inability to fix the lines, getting outcoached every week and so on and so forth.

I think we kind of overachieved this year as well. This team is NOT very good and it would have been more evident had we played a tougher schedule. 7 wins with the players and coaches we have is pretty amazing, but such a soft schedule will do that. Wait, maybe that’s not overachieving. It’s more like ‘confusing/angering your fanbase’…

Out of curiosity, what teams have been good running the Tampa 2, besides Tampa? I feel like the defense is playing it safe and letting extraordinary players make extraordinary plays. (Brooks, Barber, Lynch, Sapp, Rice, etc.) The problem seems like that we don’t have extraordinary players, so it’s just playing it safe and hoping the other team makes a mistake and has to punt…Now add in the fact that the team struggled tackling all too often, and we see why this defense was so frustrating. Now I recognize that the defense, at 14th overall, wasn’t all that bad. But if we knew that our offense wouldn’t be a worldbeater, and, seeing as we only really added James Hardy (and barely him at that), we should’ve known that, shouldn’t we have concluded that we needed a defense that would make plays and force turnovers, not just “bend not break?”

I’ve gone a bit off topic, but it seems back to the basics would include playing a defense that suits your players, which in this case i think would be using the scheme to put pressure on your opponents, not hoping your players make extraordinary plays on their own…

food for thought.

It looks like they’re trying to master the patented BBDB defense (bend but don’t break) which can work- but they just don’t have the pieces in place for it. At some point it becomes an issue of sticking to a system or using the players you have in the best way possible. I hope Jauron can find a way to do both, but this season has me worried- especially if Jauronball is run-first-pass-second, and we can’t get the ball to Beast Mode, that means we’ve got philosophical problems between the top and the OC. If everyone gets on the same page, we could surprise people next year. And yes, this optimism is what keeps me a Bills fan.

You are correct about this fact Brian. The turnovers, especially after the San Diego game were just brutal. Consistenly Edwards looked like JP Losman instead of what Edwards was known for “game manager, smart, good decision maker and accurate.” The one statement that I’ll add is that the Bills don’t do any one thing on either side of the ball exceptionally well. They need to have more of an identity. The stat I would love to see, is how many games the Bills actually had the lead in, at halftime or beyond? Because Dick Jauron football only works with a lead against good teams. Sure you can come back against the Oakland’s and St. Louis teams. But Jauron’s defense is predicated on forcing teams into situations they don’t want to be in and then hoping they make a mistake, or someone on defense makes a play.

If we do three things in 2009:

1) Get leads in the second half
2) get personnel so we can rush the passer
3) Win the turnover battle

Then we will play into Dick Jauron’s formula. Edwards protects the ball, run the ball effectively with that Ginormous but pansy a** OL, and get a lead so our newly acquired Pass Rushing Toys can get to the QB. That would be my plan in 2009

Scoring QUICKLY……yeah….Im a firm believer in that if you can find ways to score in say oh? 1-3 plays……you as a team are much less likely to turn the ball the ball over than a team that needs 8-10-12 plays to score every time…..thats just me though.

Lets get some explosiveness in the O and some pass rush on D……and I would be willing to bet that our turnover margin will magically improve……

The age old saying that football games are won on BIG PLAYS & TURNOVERS, will never be wrong. Having some POTENCY is key. The defense has to be CONCERNED about your BIG PLAY ability. We definitely don’t scare any defense with our WR’s or DE’s

unfortunately his formula also includes:
1. Letting your coordinators call the game without giving them some helpful advice when they are making obvious errors. Like not using press coverage or getting pass happy at the wrong time.

2. Assuming you are going to see the exact same thing from your opponent as they did in their last game, resulting in coaches and players being unprepared for the game.

3. Keep your offensive play calling so obvious that the other teams, as well as the fan base and announcers, know the play by the formation.

These are things a good veteran head coach should already know.

this Alex Mack has become the enamoration of Rumblers here. I wonder if OBD really feels like Center is a high area of need? I mean they did nothing to address it last off-season so I guess by seeing what they do with Duke Preston contract wise will be a good indicator. I just don’t see a C as the pick at #11. Now, getting a DE or LB at #11 and then trading back up to get Mack in the late 1st round. That might make some sense

that maybe their philosohpy with that big ol OL, is that since they are so hugenormous, that allowing them to just move forward is the best way. That too much zone blocking or pulling isn’t what they can do. I don’t know. We should be running more OT for sure

is so depressing.

I agree with some of the statements, but if Bills are to win with defense like the Ravens, Titans, Giants, etc., then they need to start drafting linemen. Titans G.M. Jim Schwartz say’s the key to an organizations sucess is having 8 stellar lineman on defense. Haynesworth went out and rookie backup had 4 sacks against Pittsburgh. Bills did draft McCargo, a bust, so it comes down to scouting. Years ago they drafted Donte Whitner over Ngata, the run stuffing Nose Tackle for the Ravens.
It seems like Edwards has had a lot of problems against 3-4 defenses, so he better get better in this area.
This offseason will determine how next season goes, since they have a brutal schedule. I am not optimistic unless they address all the needs they have, namely getting a better pass rush, a center, tight end, and another receiver, as well as a backup QB.

is true. Jauron wants that dominant DEFENSE. We don’t have it. But that’s what we need. And I agree our DL is the real problem. Fortunately McKelvin is a PLAYMAKER that they drafted. That’s why I’m leaning towards a LB in the draft. Drafting a PLAYMAKING LB, might be the spark that this defense needs.

and, if Whitner was a stud of a S, why would they have toyed with moving him around? Shouldn’t he have excelled enough not to warrent the change?

Perhaps i’m uninformed on the intracacies of his position, but i’d rather have a player hugely successful at his drafted position, than one who’s servicable in multiple similar ones.

IF this organization makes a commitment to running the ball. I don’t know how many more games I can take watching them coach as though they’re playing a damned video game.

Well, as mentioned by some of you guys. The main problem is that we don’t play the type of football that Jauron wants us to. He wants us to have a very strong defense that makes plays and stops teams short of scoring a whole lot of points. The first problem is that we don’t have good enough players to run that scheme. Donte Whitner has frankly been a bust to this point. He nevers makes plays and is in my opinion overrated as a pass-defender; just watch the game against the Broncos, where he couldn’t anybody. The reason I mention Donte is because, when we drafted him at the 8th overall spot, we expected him to become a special player. Somebody, whom our defense could lean on to make the big plays, when we needed them. He has never been that player to this point.

The fact that we don’t have an extremely underachieving offense makes it even worse. Turk Schonert was a failure the first season in charge. He proved way too often to be pass-happy, which was as stupid as anything, since we had a second QB, WR’s who didn’t get open on a consistent enough basis and because the strength of this team was our two tremendous RB’s in Marshawn and Fred.

The following things need to happen, if we’re to make the playoffs, which I don’t expect:

1. Go out and acquire a true 2. WR (please don’t tell for one second that Josh Reed should be your 2. WR, because that’s not going to get the job done enough)

2. Get a sack-master like Brian Orakpo (he’s going to be something special)

3. Get a powerful center, who can actually run-block, which Duke Preston and Melvin Fowler don’t know how to. 320-pound Jason Brown would be interesting in FA, since he’s a very solid starting center, who can run-block adequately. Otherwise, Matt Birk or drafting Alex Mack (he is as good as advertised, I can assure you) would be good moves.

3. Get Keith ’I’m getting dominated all day long’ Ellison back to his role as a backup, and in other words either get Crowell back in the fold or pick up a guy in FA or via. the draft to start at OLB.

4. Get a TE in here, who can actually stretch the field. Derek Fine is a terrific blocker, and he would serve as a very solid 2. TE, but we need a guy like Jermaine Gresham, who can stretch the field and threaten a defense. I don’t see anybody worth of interest in FA as far as TE’s go.

5. Get another DT to the rotation. As the season went on, Kyle Williams and Marcus Stroud wore down. We need more than anything to have solid guys come of the bench, and having only Spencer Johnson as depth, I think we seriously need to take a long and hard look at guys like B.J. Raji (if he’s for some reason still on the board when we draft in the second round), Peria Jerry, Fili Moala (could right now be acquired in the third or fourth round).

6. Way more aggresisive approach from the coaches. What has three years proven? That, you aren’t going anywhere unless you play to win the game. Dick Jauron seems to play to lose games with his ’it’s okay our offense consists of field goal kicks’-mentality, and if we want to stand a chance winning more games than we did in 2008, then aggressive play-calling is a virtue.

I mean to say that: “the fact that we have an extremely underachieving offense…”