The Buffalo Bills head into their bye week, feeling the need to help their defensive players continue to grow into the new scheme run by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. Leonhard's defense has had growing pains after facing tough teams with some elite offenses through the first six regular-season games.
The extra week off will give the team more time to get everyone up to speed on certain schemes and the adjustments needed to clear up and get them through the 18-week schedule.
5 important obstacles team must overcome to better the defense
1.) Pass-defense
The Bills' pass defense ranks 31st in the league, permitting 285.8 yards per game. To be fair, though, those first six games were against some really talented offenses that had quality quarterbacks. Also, they are in Year 1 of a new scheme after running a defensive scheme for nine years, and the trajectory was only going to decline.
If the secondary tightens up coverage against deep passes, their rankings will rise through the end of the season, putting the defense in better shape for the playoffs.
And with the signing of Tre'Davious White to the practice squad, once he gets up to speed, he will only bring value to the struggling defense.
2.) Better use of players
As a former NFL safety himself, Leonhard is trying to prioritize better production from his current middle linebacker, Terrel Bernard, and safeties Damar Hamlin and Jalon Kilgore.
The coaching staff can keep working with them on coverage and continue strengthening their abilities by continuously keeping them in the box to stop the run, a focus that has improved from 31st last year to 13th this year.
3.) Run-defense
Leonhard made it a priority to immediately improve the run defense in Year 1, more than during the last two years with Sean McDermott. They currently boast the 13th-best run defense in the NFL, but have also had an impressive mark of not allowing a 100-yard runner in the first six games of the season.
While that is an impressive start, the run defense is still giving up over 101 yards per game. Look for Leonard to work closely with Dwayne Carter, Deone Walker, and Greg Gaines to prevent giving up big explosive runs, while tackling will still be a major focus for the whole squad.
4.) Struggle with third-down plays
The Bills are in the basement of the NFL in yards allowed and just can't seem to get the defense off the field on third down.
Leonhard is trying to run a scheme which stops teams on first and second down to force third-and-long situations. The final part is getting that crucial stop to force a punt, and the Bills have only seemed to accomplish stopping offenses on first and second down.
But that also has to do with the fact that the pass offenses they have faced in the first six games have been very successful at converting third downs.
5.) Team play
Specifically, Leonhard is asking that his defense communicate better when stopping opponents in the red zone or in late-game situations when they need to close out tight games, as they have done in the first six matchups of this season.
Whether that's using the louder crowd noise at home to force more timeouts or pre-snap penalties to back up the offense, they can't use the louder crowd noise as a crutch for poor communication on defense.
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