They don't need them. If there's one thing this defense doesn't lack it's balls.

 

I'd add Jason Allen. That stealthy armbar was a vet move.

 

I was very impressed with the young D. nuff said.

 

I tell you what, this defense is FUN.

Granted we weren't playing the Packers. But we saw guys flying around, knocking the hell outta people and pressuring the QB. The pre-snap looks were exotic. We were STRONG up front. And the secondary played well overall.

It was troubling that the only obvious mental mistake ALL DAY LONG came on 4th and 11 with the game in our hands. And we dropped two Pick-6's.

But this group came together and locked it down. And they were in position to make those plays. Nolan's defense is a welcome change.

How great was the first series?

On Dansby's sack, we saw Randy Starks drop into coverage. :lol: And they could have called holding on Wake's man all day long. Eventually he's going to get those calls.

 

Nolan:





Brother, Nolan is the Voodoo Ninja bad news for Offenses Bad News dispenser.


One More Road to Cross one more risk to take:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5bE-BQVAzQ"]YouTube - DMX - One More Road To Cross[/ame]

 

I think Jason Allen did nothing to lose his place in the starting lineup. The entire secondary played pretty darn well. Again, they had that one (huge) mental error (Culver). But beyond that they were solid.

Also, big ups to the entire team for their disciplined play.

No turnovers. Very few penalties.

 

Mike Nolan.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed watching DEFENSE so much. Must be back in the Madison/Surtain days. This entire unit was swarming all over the field. It seemed as if there was always multiple players in on every tackle. Pretty consistent pass rush throughout as well.

Still have questions in the secondary opposite side of Vontae, but if the front 7 is able to play this well....

 

Clemons was everywhere. Wake was putting pressure on all day, in all situations, getting outside chasing Edwards down.

I think it's clear we need to get Davone Bess involved on offense much earlier. Keep the D offbalance. As soon as he got involved it opened up the running game IMO.

Henne was steady but not great.

Ronnie and Ricky were adequate.

That D was filthy. Vontae had a nice play on 2nd down late reading the short slant play.

I'm happy with a win, even though it wasn't dominating. Couple of those picks by JAllen or Sapp for 6 would have ended that game much quicker.

Don't forget they scored on a 4th and 11 to even make it close.

1-0 Ladies and Gents. One road game out of the way too.

 

Dan Carpenter had a bad game imo. Missed a big 46 yarder, and the kick off out of bounds lead to a score, when they were otherwise impotent.

this defense was amazing, however i wonder how much was us being good, vs the bills being terrible.

i throw a blanket on the few plays, and simply state: "we need to make those plays."
left 21 points off the board.

 

This team is only going to get better..very young and still played disciplined and once the OL and defense start to gel they are going to be dominant.

 

50 rush yards, 116 pass yards. i have to think we have the #1 defense in the league come Tuesday.

 

Game balls...

Chris Clemons: He really impressed me and was everywhere!

Ronnie Brown: He looked good, especially compared to Ricky Williams. Offense MVP this game, I would say. Marshall is close but that big drop cost him. Bess is another one who did little, yet so much.

Mike Nolan: Man he had that defense just rolling!

 

That's it. There were always multiple guys around the ball. And they were physical. They had a swagger. And they stayed strong for four quarters while the offense struggled.

Very encouraging.

 

Vontae had his side on complete lockdown too. Asomougha-esque

 

This is kinda how D's work:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsxv0zjwdYA"]YouTube - Metallica - Fuel (live 2000)[/ame]

 

Shhhh!

 

One thing we've seen the past couple years....and is relatively common early....is poor tackling.

We tackled our asses off today. Goes to coaching.

 

I love that our D played extremely well considering certain doubts we all had. But man, I swear Yeremiah Bell was literally ALL over the field. Wherever the ball was, he was there.

 

thanks for pointing that out about bess - i was so pissed in the first half henne wasnt even looking for bess at all - and i seen him open numerous times and henne kept staring down marshal. Henne has got to spread the bal around

 

Jason Allen played a pretty good game. Would have been great if he caught that ball for a pick-6. But you know what? I'll take a dropped interception by our team over a reception by the opposing team any day.

 

I loved how the D was constantly trying to get the ball. Thats gonna come in handy when they pay Old Man Favre a visit.

 

Did anyone see right before the Bills went on their one TD drive the announcers put up a graphic that stated that we haven't held the Bills to those few yards since 1973?

Oh yeah, Defense and Mike Nolan definitely get my game ball.

 

That would have been the ultimate "full circle" moment for him. Really wish he'd have gotten it.

Still, his confidence has to have grown immensely after this game. That entire defense has to be feeling like grown *** men tonight.

 

That's one thing that I take away from this game. Yes, it was Buffalo, but it's been a loooooong time since we've seen so many plays where our defensive players were even IN a position to make a game changing play. I can recall the two pick six plays that will happen 9 times out of ten (let those nerves calm a little; the first of the year is always tough), a batted ball by McDaniel that he ALMOST got his mits on for an INT, I believe it was Culver who had another near miss, and their were probably a couple I didn't even notice. This defense has certainly adopted a new mentality, one that has shifted from "don't make a mistake or give up the big play" to "let's create a big play and put the pressure on the offense to stop it from happening". Like I said, Buffalo or no Buffalo, that's progress.

 

I also want to throw this out there for what its worth.

Both Wake and Misi have more sacks than Peazy.......

Oh ya and Misi already has more sacks than Gholston has had in his entire two year career lol =)

 

and it goes to retooling the unit athletically so that they can play in space and in the flat...

I knew the defense would look so much different to us visibly, because we've had athletic atrophy for so long.

 

Nolan has instilled some fierce confidence in these guys. Hopefully they can play with this swagger all season and afford us to focus most of the draft on bolstering the offense.

 

one thing is obvious though we lack speed on offense, but i loved the look of our D, i felt that nolan after dansby sack, he called of the guards and didnt show much pressure after, our front 3 , 4 were good in creating pressure