With a win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6, the Buffalo Bills are 5-1 heading into the bye week. New head coach Joe Brady has the offense humming. The 32.8 points per game they're averaging is tied for the most in the NFL right now.
However, they are not playing balanced football at all. The defense hasn't been good in the slightest. They gave up 30 points to a Raiders team that can't run the ball, and their No. 1 wide receiver is Tre Tucker, who would be a WR3 on many teams.
If the Bills are realistically going to compete for a Super Bowl, the team should know what to do over the bye week.
Bills' passing defense needs to be fixed immediately
Giving up 28.5 points a game isn't a winning strategy come playoff time. The Bills' run defense has been decent, allowing 101.0 yards per game, but it also helps that teams just want to pass on them.
The pass defense has been atrocious. They are giving up 285.8 passing yards per game, which is second-worst in the NFL. So far, it hasn't hurt the team too much, but competition gets a lot stiffer come playoff time.
What's surprising is that new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard played safety in the NFL for a decade. He also has a background as a defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator. The one area he should thrive in is pass defense.
At the same time, this is his first season calling defensive plays. The bye week should offer him a chance to step back and reassess his approach. He does have talent to work with. Christian Benford has been a solid player in the past, and Maxwell Hairston was a first-round pick a year ago. It also helps that rookie Davison Igbinosun has been playing extremely well early on and could be seeing more reps as the season goes on.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a big setback with getting suspended from his Week 6 actions, but he's proven he can be a good player when he's not getting ejected. Luckily, the pass defense woes haven't stopped the team from starting the season 5-1. Leonhard needs to dig deep and figure out how to slow down opposing quarterbacks. If he can't do that, he runs the risk of being one-and-done with the Bills.
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