NFL News & Rumors Digest

The Buffalo Bills have decided to remain out west after the beating they took in Week 5 from the San Francisco 49ers. The Bills defense gave up 1,201 yards and 97 points in the two earlier games they played in. In those same two games, the Bills were outscored 97-31 (a 68 point margin). With all of the elements stated above, predicting a Bills win is more or much less the identical as choosing the winning Mega Millions lottery numbers.

Here’s a fast appear at the teams:
Buffalo Bills (2-3)
Offense: 17th, 351. Yards Per Game (YPG)
Rush: 5th, 144.two YPG
Pass: 26th, 206.8 YPG

Defense: 9,999,9999,9999th…seriously, 31st 449.four YPG (Yes, a group is crappier than the Bills on defense [Saints])
Rush: 30th, 171.eight Miles Per Carry
Pass: 24th, 277.6 YPG

Arizona Cardinals (4-1)
Offense: 31st, 273.2 YPG
Rush: 31st 63.3 YPG
Pass: 25th 209.eight YPG

Defense: 11th, 334. YPG
Rush: 14th, 103. YPG
Pass: 234. YPG

If the Bills want to prove to themselves and the rest of the planet that they have not quit, then the time is now. Otherwise, we currently know the answer to that. Even though this is a game the Bills could win, I am going with the Cardinals, taking into consideration how pathetic the Bills have looked the prior two weeks.

Right here are the rest of my Week 6 predictions:
Steelers over the Titans
Falcons over the Raiders
Ravens over the Cowboys (Sorry Cowgirl, get ready for a Baltimore Beatdown!)
Bengals over the Browns (Get ready to commence packing Wilford Brimley)
Rams over the Dolphins
Colts over the Jets
Eagles more than the Lions (Who let the dogs out…)
Buccaneers more than the Chiefs
Patriots over the Seahawks (BAHSTON SOCKS CAWK!!!)
49ers over the Giants
Vikings more than the Redskins
Texans over the Packers
Broncos more than the Chargers

Related Posts:

• Bills – 49ers, Week 5 Matchup
• Bills – Patriots Week 4 matchup
• Bills vs Browns
• Week 1: Bills vs Jets
• Week 1: Bills vs Jets

It’s time for Week 5 in the NFL. This week, the 2-two Buffalo Bills are travelling out west to take on the 3-1 San Francisco 49ers. Let’s take a quick look at stats of both teams:
Buffalo Bills:
Total Offense: 11th (Rushing: 4th Passing: 22nd)
Starting Quarterback (QB) Ryan Fitzpatrick: 19th general 931 yards (yds), 12 Touchdowns (TDs) and 7 Interceptions (INTs)
Total Defense: 23rd (Rushing: 28th Passing: 23rd)

San Francisco 49ers:
Total Offense: 19th (Rushing: 3rd Passing: 30th)
Beginning QB Alex Smith: 28th all round 784 yds, 5 TDs and 1 INT
Total Defense: 5th (Rushing: 5th Passing: 5th)

Without having going into long boring details about this matchup, the bottom line is the 49ers are a wonderful rushing team, with Alex Smith getting employed a game manager. The Bills offense is built the identical way as the 49ers, but the primary difference between the two teams is if you can shut down the run, and force the offense to throw, then this heavily favors the 49ers. In two games so far versus AFC East divisional opponents, Ryan Fitzpatrick has thrown for 7 TDs as well as 7 INTs. The Bills just can not place the game on Fitzpatrick’s shoulders, due to the fact if they do (like in the Jets and Patriots games this season), the Bills will get blown out.

My prediction about the Bills winning in San Francisco is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI1NrcnIH00&ampfeature=fvwrel

For my predictions on the season so far, I am at 37-25 (completed 11-three last week). Here are the rest of my Week five predictions:
Cardinals over the Rams (Cards unbeaten streak continues)
Bengals over the Dolphins
Packers over the Colts
Ravens over the Chiefs (Cassell’s days are numbered in KC)
Giants over the Browns (Could the winner of the 2012 Wilford Brimley look-alike contest [Mike Holmgren] be on his way out of town at the end of this season?)
Steelers more than Eagles (Vick much better quit blowing his cash (blew $ 29 Million in the last 4 years) due to the fact if he does nott begin playing better, he could be out of a job at the finish of the season…and out of cash)
Falcons more than the Redskins
Seahawks more than the Panthers
Bears over Jaguars
Vikings more than the Titans
Patriots over the Broncos
Chargers over the Saints
Texans more than the Jets (Count on a larger beating than what the 49ers gave them)

Related Posts:

• Grading the Bills: Week 1
• Bills – Patriots Week 4 matchup
• Bills vs Browns
• Week 1: Bills vs Jets
• Week 1: Bills vs Jets

It’s time for Week 4 in the NFL. After a third week of replacement officials, the replacements and the NFL hit an all-time low with the horrific display of officiating in the course of the Monday night football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. Because of the heavy backlash from the fans and players, the NFL and the normal referee’s finally settled their differences.

Now, onto the Week 4 matchup among the Buffalo Bills (two-1) and the New England Patriots (1-two). Following a porous outing in Week 1, the Bills have rebounded and won their final two games. On the flip side, the Patriots won their initial game of the season, and have lost their previous two games. The Patriots have not lost 3 games in a row under Bill Belichek and Tom Brady given that the 2002 season. Can the Bills be the 1st group in almost ten years that gives the Patriots their third loss in a row? Let’s take a look and see.

The Patriots are currently ranked 9th in all round offense (12th in rushing and 9th in passing), and 24th in all round defense (9th in rush defense, 24th in pass defense). The Bills are at the moment ranked 11th in all round offense (3rd in rushing, 26th in passing), and 19th in all round defense (14th in rush defense, and 19th in pass defense).

In a preceding post, I discussed how the Bills very best opportunity of beating the Patriots is in the first division game they play against them of the year. Starting from the 2003 season, here are the scores from the initial division game of the year vs the Patriots: 2003: Bills 31- Patriots , 2004: Patriots 31 – Bills 17, 2005: Patriots 21 – Bills 16, 2006: Patriots 19 – Bills 17, 2007: Patriots 38 – Bills 7, 2008: Patriots 20 – Bills 10, 2009: Patriots 25 – Bills 24, 2010: Patriots 38 – Bills 30, 2011: Bills 34 – Patriots 31. During this time span, the Patriots outscored the Bills 223-186 in the very first division games of the year. With out the two Bills victories (from 2003 and 2011), the Patriots outscored the Bills 192-121.

Now for the scary component, the second division games of the year vs the Patriots: 2003: Patriots 31 – Bills , 2004: Patriots 29 – Bills six, 2005: Patriots 35 – Bills 7, 2006: Patriots 28 – Bills six, 2007: Patriots 56 – Bills 10, 2008: Patriots 13 – Bills , 2009: Patriots 17 – Bills 10, 2010: Patriots 34 – Bills three, 2011: Patriots 49 – Bills 21. In the exact same time span as stated above, the Patriots outscored the Bills 292-57 in the second division game of the year. In each and every game considering that 2003, the Patriots have beaten and heavily outscored the Bills more in the second division game than in the 1st.
http://www.realfootball365.com/articles/bills/15076

The positives/benefits for the Bills going into this game are:
The Bills offensive line has not allowed a sack in 3 games played (I am not counting the ball slipping out of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hand as a sack).

The Bills offensive line has been really instrumental in generating holes and downfield blocks to help spring their Running Backs (RBs) for massive gains.

The Bills defensive front four has been considerably improved against the run so far this season.

The Bills defensive front 4 have been really great the last two games at collapsing the pocket, making pressure and sacks. This is massive considering Tom Brady is quite very good at stepping up into the pocket when he feels pressure coming from the edges.

RB Fred Jackson most likely will return to play on Sunday.

The Patriots offensive line has gone by way of some adjustments in the offseason, and don’t appear to be the exact same dominant force that they once were.

The negatives for the Bills are:

RB CJ Spiller is most probably out for this game due to a shoulder injury, sustained this previous Sunday against the Browns.

Even if RB Fred Jackson does play on Sunday, how productive will he be coming off a knee injury from Week 1?

Wide Receiver (WR) David Nelson is out for the season, so that requires away a large red zone target for Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The Bills secondary is very young. Even though the secondary has enhanced more than the past two games, they are still really inexperienced and are still obtaining burned for huge plays. Patriots QB Tom Brady is 1 of the very best in the league at playing the “dink and dunk” game.

If each Spiller and Jackson had been 100%, and the Bills didn’t manhandled by the Jets in Week 1, I would predict the Bills to win this one particular. But, contemplating the injuries to the Bills, and the truth that the Patriots will be playing with a large chip on their shoulders following losing two games in a row, I’m going with my gut feeling and taking the Patriots on this 1.

I went 7-9 in my Week 3 predictions (26-22 for the season). Right here are my other Week 4 predictions:
Ravens more than Browns
Falcons over Panthers
Lions over Vikings
Texans more than Titans
Chargers more than Chiefs
Seahawks over Rams
Cardinals over Dolphins
Broncos more than Raiders
Bengals more than Jaguars
Packers over Saints
Redskins over Buccaneers
Giants over Eagles
Bears more than Cowboys

Related Posts:

• Bills – 49ers, Week 5 Matchup
• Bills vs Browns
• Grading the Bills: Week 1
• Bills vs Jets this week is BIG
• Can the Bills start to win close games in which they lost before?

It’s time for Week 3 in the NFL. First, I’ll talk about the meeting between the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns. After two weeks of play, the Bills offense ranks at 7th general (1st in rushing, 28th in passing…OUCH!!), and the defense ranks tied for 25th (24th rush, 23rd pass). The Browns offense ranks 22nd overall (tied for 11th in rushing, and 23rd in passing), and the defense ranks tied for 29th overall (18th rush, and 28th pass). Each the Bills and the Browns have really very good offensive lines, and extremely excellent running backs (RB’s). Both teams’ defensive coordinators [Dave Wannstedt and Dick Jauron] will have their hands complete on Sunday as they try and slow down their opponents rushing attacks.

This game will be a hard battle, so do not let the Browns -two record fool you. The Browns are a difficult, young team with a lot of talent and upside. The Bills will have to play a very good game to come away with their 1st road win considering that opening day in 2011. My prediction for the game: Bills 23, Browns 17.

Immediately after going 11-five in my predictions for Week 1, I went 8-8 final week (19-13 all round). Let’s see if I can rebound on my predictions for Week 3:
Panthers more than the Giants (Giants have too many injuries)
Rams over the Bears (Dissention is starting in Chicago)
Bills over the Browns (Spiller the Thriller continues…)
Cowboys over the Buccaneers (watch out for the kneel downs)
Colts over Jaguars (Hey Ray Bentley, its JAG-WARS not JAG-WIRES!!)
Jets more than Dolphins
49ers over the Vikings
Saints over the Chiefs
Lions more than the Titans
Bengals more than the Redskins (Losing Orakpo &amp Carriker is going to hurt the Redskins D large time)
Eagles over Cardinals
Falcons more than the Chargers
Texans over the Broncos
Steelers more than the Raiders
Ravens more than the Patriots
Packers over the Seahawks

Related Posts:

• Grading the Bills: Week 1
• Bills – 49ers, Week 5 Matchup
• Bills – Patriots Week 4 matchup
• Bills vs Cardinals Week 6
• Week 1: Bills vs Jets

The Bills and Jets open the regular season this Sunday against each other in New Jersey. The Jets currently have a five-game win streak against the Bills. Let’s take a look at some of the matchups we’ll most likely see on Sunday:

WR Stevie Johnson vs. CB Darrelle Revis:
Steve Johnson averaged over 70 yards a game last year against Darrell Revis, who is considered the best CB in the league. But with Johnson being held out of practice this week, and recovering from the effects of groin surgery, will this impact Johnson’s game on Sunday. Also, is Revis amped up for this game, considering the media brought up the question “Does Johnson own Revis Island?”

LT Cordy Glenn vs. LB Calvin Pace:
Bills rookie LT Cordy Glenn will make his NFL debut on Sunday, and will face off against Calvin Pace. Glenn needs to hold his own to give Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick time in the pocket to throw, plus be ready for all the different blitz schemes that the Jets will throw at him. If Glenn struggles, he’ll have to put a TE or RB to help out Glenn.

DE Mario Williams vs. RT Austin Howard:
The most talked about player on the Bills roster this offseason is Defensive End (DE) Mario Williams. Williams is making his Bills debut and will be lining up on left end against former undrafted Free Agent Austin Howard, who was recently named the starting Right Tackle for the Jets. If the Jets don’t bring in an extra TE and RB to help slow down Super Mario, then it will be a very long day for Howard.

CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Santonio Holmes:
The Bills selected CB Stephon Gilmore in the first round of the draft this year to help shore up the Bills secondary. So far, Gilmore has shown a lot of promise in the offseason, but remember folks, the regular season is a different animal than preseason and training camp. Gilmore will have his hands full against Holmes, as Sanchez and new Jets Offensive Coordinator (OC) Tony Sparano will be targeting the rookie CB early and often.

DC Dave Wannstedt vs OC Tony Sparano
Both Dave Wannstedt and Tony Sparano are in new positions this year. Wannstedt was promoted from Inside Linebackers (ILB)/Assistant HC to Defensive Coordinator (DC) this offseason after George Edwards was fired. Tony Sparano was fired as HC of the Miami Dolphins, and replaced Brian Schottenheimer as the Jets OC. While neither one have been great HC’s, they have both been very successful coordinators. The Bills are expected to send a barrage of pressure with their highly touted front 4 consisting of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Mark Anderson. Expect the Jets to use the wildcat often, and a lot of quick screen and sidelines passes to slow down the Bills pass rush.

In the past, the Jets have been able to pound the Bills with their run game, and QB Mark Sanchez has had all day long in the pocket. That appears to be different this year as the Bills made heavy investments to shore up their run defense and especially their abysmal pass rush. My final prediction: Bills 27, Jets 13.

Related Posts:

• Week 1: Bills vs Jets

The Bills and Jets open the normal season this Sunday against each other in New Jersey. The Jets currently have a 5-game win streak against the Bills. Let’s take a look at some of the matchups we’ll most likely see on Sunday:

WR Stevie Johnson vs. CB Darrelle Revis:
Steve Johnson averaged over 70 yards a game last year against Darrell Revis, who is considered the greatest CB in the league. But with Johnson getting held out of practice this week, and recovering from the effects of groin surgery, will this effect Johnson’s game on Sunday. Also, is Revis amped up for this game, thinking about the media brought up the query “Does Johnson own Revis Island?”

LT Cordy Glenn vs. LB Calvin Pace:
Bills rookie LT Cordy Glenn will make his NFL debut on Sunday, and will face off against Calvin Pace. Glenn needs to hold his personal to give Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick time in the pocket to throw, plus be ready for all the distinct blitz schemes that the Jets will throw at him. If Glenn struggles, he’ll have to place a TE or RB to aid out Glenn.

DE Mario Williams vs. RT Austin Howard:
The most talked about player on the Bills roster this offseason is Defensive End (DE) Mario Williams. Williams is making his Bills debut and will be lining up on left end against former undrafted Free Agent Austin Howard, who was not too long ago named the beginning Appropriate Tackle for the Jets. If the Jets do not bring in an added TE and RB to support slow down Super Mario, then it will be a extremely lengthy day for Howard.

CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Santonio Holmes:
The Bills selected CB Stephon Gilmore in the first round of the draft this year to help shore up the Bills secondary. So far, Gilmore has shown a lot of promise in the offseason, but remember folks, the regular season is a different animal than preseason and education camp. Gilmore will have his hands full against Holmes, as Sanchez and new Jets Offensive Coordinator (OC) Tony Sparano will be targeting the rookie CB early and frequently.

DC Dave Wannstedt vs OC Tony Sparano
Each Dave Wannstedt and Tony Sparano are in new positions this year. Wannstedt was promoted from Inside Linebackers (ILB)/Assistant HC to Defensive Coordinator (DC) this offseason immediately after George Edwards was fired. Tony Sparano was fired as HC of the Miami Dolphins, and replaced Brian Schottenheimer as the Jets OC. Whilst neither one have been fantastic HC’s, they have both been really profitable coordinators. The Bills are expected to send a barrage of pressure with their extremely touted front 4 consisting of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Mark Anderson. Expect the Jets to use the wildcat typically, and a lot of rapid screen and sidelines passes to slow down the Bills pass rush.

In the previous, the Jets have been able to pound the Bills with their run game, and QB Mark Sanchez has had all day lengthy in the pocket. That seems to be various this year as the Bills created heavy investments to shore up their run defense and especially their abysmal pass rush. My final prediction: Bills 27, Jets 13.

Related Posts:

• Week 1: Bills vs Jets
• Bills – 49ers, Week 5 Matchup
• Bills vs Jets this week is BIG
• Jets QB Sanchez to start against Bills
• Bills vs Cardinals Week 6

Following Sunday’s gut-wrenching loss to the New York Jets, it’s very tough to try and muster up anything positive about the Buffalo Bills. Listed below are the grades I’m handing out to the team. We’ll start off off with the offense 1st.

Offense: D
What stopped the grade from getting an “F” was Bills Running Back (RB) CJ Spiller’s rushing efficiency. Spiller ripped off a 56 yarder for a Touchdown (TD) in the second quarter. But, the Bills would not get on the scoreboard again until the score was 41-7 in the third quarter. At that point in the game, New York Jets Head Coach (HC) Rex Ryan had place in most of his backup players in on defense, and eased up on their attack of the Bills offense. By Ryan doing such, the Bills had been in a position to score 3 TD’s in between the third and fourth quarters. By that time, it was too little, too late for the Bills as the Jets went on to win 48-28.

RB’s: A+
CJ Spiller had 169 yards (yds) on 14 carries and a single rushing TD. Spiller had a 56 yd TD run, a 49 yd run, and practically broke a handful of far more for enormous gains. All round, the Bills had 195 yds rushing on the day. Presently, Spiller, as effectively as the Bills offense ranks #1 in the NFL in rushing yds.

Wide Receiver’s (WRs): C
When your starting Quarterback (QB) is either telegraphing his passes, throwing behind you or is late with his throws, it’s very hard for a WR to make any plays. Bills WR’s Steve Johnson and Donald Jones had combined for 9 receptions (rec), 96 yds and 2 TD’s. Jones was the best pass defender on the field as he batted down a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass that would have been intercepted by the Jets. Too undesirable Jones couldn’t play both WR and Cornerback (CB).

Tight Ends (TEs): B
Starting Bills TE Scott Chandler had four rec’s for 38 yds and 1 TD. Chandler played as effectively as you could have expected from him, offered the limited quantity of throws from Fitzpatrick. Lee Smith had 1 rec for 5 yds.

QB: F
Regrettably, F is the lowest grade you can give a particular person. If someone could have the honor bestowed upon them with possessing a lower grade than F, the honor would belong to Fitzpatrick. Even although Fitzpatrick was late getting the ball out to WR Steve Johnson on the 1st choose, if that ball was thrown far sufficient to the outside, it’s either incomplete or caught by Johnson. The second interception was thrown behind an open David Nelson. Individuals were not undesirable decisions, individuals had been just poor throws by Fitzpatrick. The third pick that the Jets returned for a pick six was indeed a negative decision from which you see from the likes of High School QB’s, not beginning NFL QB’s. Fitzpatrick was either throwing behind his WR’s, slow to throw the pass or telegraphing his passes.

Offensive Line: A
The Offensive Line gave Fitzpatrick adequate time in the pocket on Sunday to make his throws, and did not allow a sack. Also, the line opened some excellent holes for Spiller to blast by way of.

Defense: D-
When it takes almost to the fourth quarter to force a punt, then you know your team is in trouble. When your offense turns it over 4 occasions, it tends to make everyone’s job on defense that significantly harder.

Run Defense: B-
The Bills run defense, especially in years previous against the Jets was putrid. But on Sunday, the Bills run defense held the Jets to 118 rushing yds at three.three yards per carry. While the run defense showed significant improvements, primarily due to the highly touted defensive front four of Buffalo, they could not hold the Jets in 3rd and brief circumstances.

Pass Rush: F
No sacks on Sanchez, and there had been only a couple of instances where the Bills were capable to chase Sanchez out of the pocket. In week 1, the $ 100+ Million dollar investment to shore up the pass rush did not payoff.

Pass Defense: F
The Bills CB’s and Safeties had been either providing the Jets WR’s &amp TE’s a 10-15 yard cushion, or becoming physically manhandled at the line of scrimmage. By far, this was the Bills weakest group of the whole team.

Particular Teams: D-
Looks like the only ones that showed up for the unit were Bills kickers, John Potter and Rian Lindell. The specific teams unit gave up a costly 68 yd punt return for a TD.

Coaching: F
Just like Fitzpatrick, if anybody deserves a lower grade than F, then that honor must be shared with Chan Gailey, Bruce DeHaven and Dave Wannstedt. The Bills looked like they had been still in preseason mode. The Bills defense looked very vanilla, and barely brought any blitzes. Wannstedt did a quite poor job of generating modifications throughout the game.

Here are some post game quotes from Gailey: ‘”We want to tighten up our coverage which will assist our pass rush,” why thank you, Captain Clear!

“This is a cliché and I recognize it. It is one of sixteen and if you win adequate, you get in the playoffs.” I have two difficulties with this quote. 1st off, Gailey has been preaching given that day 1 as Bills HC that he doesn’t hope to win, he expects to win. So, now Gailey has either lowered his expectations, or has been blowing smoke up our collective butts. Second, even though Sunday’s game was only 1 of 16, it was against a division rival [Jets], and the game is only one particular of six. Correct now, the Bills are -1 in the AFC East. Last season, the Bills were 1-5 in the division. The better your win/loss record is in the division, the far better the probabilities you will have of producing the playoffs.

1 point is for confident, the whole Bills group, each players and coaches need to straighten this ship out rapid before there is a mass mutiny amongst the natives [Bills fans].

Related Posts:

• Bills – 49ers, Week 5 Matchup
• Bills vs Browns
• Bills – Patriots Week 4 matchup
• Can the Bills start to win close games in which they lost before?
• Bills finish three-QB week by visiting with Missouri’s Gabbert

The final player on this series that we’ll be discussing is Totally free Safety (FS) Jairus Byrd. Byrd was an anomaly in his first season with the Bills as he recorded nine Interceptions (INT’s) in his rookie campaign. But, right after the 2009 season, Byrd’s INT’s total went down considerably. What made Byrd’s nine INT’s much more impressive, was the fact that he played in 14 games, and started in 11.

In the 2011 season, Byrd place with each other his finest total stats to date with 98 Tackles (T) (75 solo/23 assisted), 1 Sack, eight Passes Defended (PD), 3 Interceptions (INT’s), 1 Touchdown (TD), and 3 Forced Fumbles (FF).

Now, for the massive question, why did Byrd have so significantly achievement in 2009 with INT’s, but not so significantly the following two seasons? The answer: lack of a pass rush. 2009 was the last time the Bills employed a consistent pass rusher in Aaron Schobel. In 2009, Schobel had 10 sacks in his final season in a Bills uniform. Since then, Defensive Tackles (DT’s) Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus led the Bills in sacks as Williams had five.five sacks in 2010, and Dareus repeated individuals numbers in 2011. At the time when Williams and Dareus had five.five sacks, they have been playing as Nose Tackles (NT’s) in a hybrid 3-four/4-3 defense. If the NT’s are leading the team in sacks, that indicates that the defense is creating no pressure from the edge, meaning that there are no elite edge rushers that the offense has to be concerned about double teaming, and the line can focus even much more interest to stopping the nose tackle.

As stated in the preceding articles, the Bills lastly have four guys on the defensive line that can produce pressure, close in the pocket and force the opposing Quarterback (QB) to throw the quicker than he would like to, as effectively as finding bodies/arms/hands in the QB’s throwing lane. Add in Bills new Defensive Coordinator Dave Wannstedt implementing his 4-three defensive method where the Defensive front four’s certain jobs are to penetrate the Offensive line and develop pressure. With every little thing put together on defense this previous offseason, we can expect Byrd’s INT total to go up once again and look for him to place up the very best numbers of his young NFL career to date this season.

Related Posts:

• Which Bills player could have a career year in 2012, Part 2.
• Which Bills player could have a career year in 2012, Part 1
• Which Bills player could have a career year, Part 4.
• Which Bills player will put up career numbers in 2012, Part 3.
• Which player(s) will have a career year in 2012, Part 5 – Defensive Ends