Buffalo Bills: Which direction is the franchise headed?
By Andrew King
Sean McDermott will definitely rely on a lot of pressure from his defensive line and a mistake-free backfield.
Sean McDermott appears to be making the mistake of wanting to build a defense that no longer has a traditional middle linebacker on the field at all times. To be more precise, the types of linebackers that can take on pulling offensive guards, shed their blocks and make a tackle — and even at times make a few tackle for loss.
They didn’t re-sign linebacker Zac Brown, which could come back to haunt them this season. McDermott needs to determine if Ragland is athletic enough to be a true three-down linebacker or not in his defensive scheme in 2017.
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When a QB comes to the line of scrimmage or (LOS), part of his job is to count how many men are in this imaginary box. This box usually goes from the outside shoulder of the left tackle to the outside shoulder of the tight end which normally lineup next to the right tackle. This box also goes from the LOS to roughly five to seven yards away from it going toward the end zone the offense is trying to get to on a given play.
It appears coach McDermott would rather an opposing team run the ball against him than pass against him. I find this philosophy to be counter-intuitive in my opinion. Running the ball wears down a defense a lot faster than passing does. It also keeps the clock rolling and gives the defense of the opposing team time to rest.
Please forgive me now for daring to mention super bowl 25. The Giants kept the ball away from Kelly and his KGun offense. The Giants’ running the ball during that game clearly wore down Bruce Smith and the rest of his defensive teammates.
That leads me to my next point, where the direction of the NFL is headed today.