Head of Green Bay’s bad defense tries to make Bills’ DL good

By Anthony Bialy  |   Thursday, January 29, 2009  |  Comments( 89 )

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It’s a different Bob Sanders. The Buffalo Bills hired former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Sanders as their defensive line coach earlier this week, a letdown to those who thought they somehow nabbed current Indianapolis Colts safety Sanders to pair with Donte Whitner and inflict devastation upon every offense ever. Based on his last job performance, it’s not certain whether the NFL's more obscure Robert S. will be able to help Buffalo’s line unless he’s better at a specific defensive task than as a general assignment master.

Sanders didn’t precisely choose to seek a new job; rather, he was fired after the defense he ran helped sink the Packers. His guys finished 20th in yards allowed over 2008 with 334.3 per game and 22nd with 23.8 points surrendered every try, but what’s more disturbing is how the Packers lost, namely dramatically and late.

The team was up at the fourth quarter’s start and down at its end with alarming regularity, losing four straight in that fashion from their 12th through 15th games. It’s surprising to those who thought Aaron Rodgers didn’t deserve to fill Saint Brett’s shoes, but a shaky defense and not their young quarterback’s play was the reason the Packers finished with only six wins.

Apparently, the Bills, in their Bills way, weren’t frightened off by the implosion Sanders engineered. Perhaps they were impressed by strategy rather than results: Sanders was known for using mainly only his front four as pass rushers out of a 4-3 alignment, which sounds familiar as Buffalo’s supposed plan for centuries.

Another plus is that Sanders also spent a long career schooling college kids. Most noticeably, he coached for Florida from 1990 to 2000, filling various positional coaching roles. That included guiding players like Jevon Kearse and Kevin Carter, which incites hope for his career in Buffalo: His teaching skills may instigate good performances out of Chris Kelsay/Ryan Denney-type veterans along with youngsters like Chris Ellis and whomever they (better) draft at end.

Primary tackles Marcus Stroud and Kyle Williams don’t need much personnel aid, but they could use a little coaching up to truly collectively dominate at pass defense and truly be adept at the run game. At least Sanders’ tasks are straightforward even if accomplishing them will be a little trickier than identifying them.

Sanders might simply be a better helper than leader; he could be less Don Corleone and more of a hands-on lieutenant. Coordinator/consigliere Perry Fewell can dispatch his capo Sanders for dirty work, allowing the defensive kingpin to keep his own mitts clean.

The problem is whether Sanders can succeed at his explicit commission. His Packers only managed 27 sacks last season, a mere three more than Buffalo’s trifling accumulation. To be fair, much like the Bills tried and failed to puncture the offensive line after Aaron Schobel fell to a wound, the Packers lost a significant portion of their attack when end Cullen Jenkins was placed on injured reserve in September.

But injury-based excuses are so last year, and Sanders needs to overcome his shaky Wisconsin-based 2008. The best case is that he gets lines to perform better when he’s specifically managing them rather than running the entire defense. For him, it’s a chance to show that a demotion can actually serve as a blessing.
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