While the Buffalo Bills' pass rush has looked much better than last year in its first three games of the season, other areas of concern still remain. The defense needs to show it is ready to play as a full 11-man unit.
With new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard calling the plays, he has closely analyzed what he likes and what he doesn't like. The Bills are now 3-0 and want to keep their winning streak going; the defense knows it has to do its part and not ease up.
Defense needs to keep up pace
1.) Pass defense
The Bills' pass defense ranks 27th in the NFL after three games. This statistic shows the Bills are improving in their pass rush, as they allowed 274 yards to CJ Stroud of the Texans and over 320 yards to Jared Goff of the Lions.
The pass rush was at least effective against the Chargers, holding Justin Herbert to just 226 passing yards.
Despite their low overall ranking, they are tied for fourth in the league with nine sacks, including the NFL's sack leader, Greg Rousseau, with six in three games.
2.) Adjusting to blitz
Despite bringing in a more aggressive-minded defensive coach in Jim Leonhard, the Bills still rank 14th in NFL blitz rate, meaning they prefer to generate pressure with their front four rather than sending the house.
So far, this strategy has worked; they preferred to put about 6 in the box at a light-box rate, which has contributed to an improved run defense. On the flip side, the Patriots have the second-highest blitz rate in the NFL. They also use a light-box rate, so the Bills should try to get Josh Allen to make shorter, quicker passes to avoid the blitz and then get their running game going with James Cook.
While it's nice that the low blitz rate-high light box rate has paid off so far, the Bills may want to consider blitzing more this week to get after Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye.
3.) Depth and versatility
The Bills are loaded in the front seven, with depth on the defensive line and on the edge rushers. The linebacking corps' depth isn't too shabby either.
The only position group on the defense with depth concerns is the secondary; however, that may all change now that Christian Benford is dealing with a toe injury.
Look for Davison Igbinosun and Maxwell Hairston to keep locking down opposing outside wideouts with their excellence in man coverage. It's time to be honest with Benford, though, as he has been a solid corner for the Bills since being drafted in the sixth round in 2022, but that was back when Sean McDermott preferred tall, lengthy zone-coverage corners.
Leonhard is slowly transitioning to a more man-coverage scheme, which doesn't seem like the right fit for Benford right now, but it might be a better fit for Hairston and Igbinosun.
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