Buffalo Bills: 5 key takeaways from the loss in Week 1

Buffalo Bills pass rush looks better in Week 1

On the defensive side of the ball, one of the focuses for this team in the offseason was to improve the pass rush. They saw, specifically in the AFC Championship Game, that they need to do better at generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks, especially with their front four.

The Bills went out and used their first two picks on defensive ends with Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham, as well as signed free agent Efe Obada. In the preseason, the optimism continued to build as the Bills defense really did a good job in those games to disrupt quarterbacks.

However, it was easy to be skeptical due to it being the preseason but after the game against the Steelers, there is no question this will be improved. Ben Roethlisberger does a great job of getting the ball out quickly and in turn, limits the hits and sacks he takes.

This didn’t necessarily stop the Bills as they came away with two sacks and six QB hits. It was particularly good to see Mario Addison get the first sack, after the disappointing year he had last year, as well as A.J. Epenesa get a QB hit.

The additions the Buffalo Bills made, along with the development of a player like Epensa, should help the defense surpass the sacks and pressures from a season ago.