The Buffalo Bills have to be feeling great about themselves. After back-to-back impressive wins in a matter of four days, which included having the debut of their new Highmark Stadium, the Bills are playing like the best team in the NFL…well, atleast the offense has been.
Josh Allen has been on an entire new level, playing like the best quarterback and player in the entire league. He is the engine that keeps this offense (and the overall team) running as smooth as possible. The offense looks like the best unit in the league, but the defense under Jim Leonhard is going through some major growing pains in their new scheme.
Bills' defense has been shaky through first two games
Incase you don’t know, the defense for the Bills has been the team’s biggest liability the last few years under Sean McDermott. When Joe Brady was named the head coach, he eventually brought in Jim Leonhard to be the team’s new defensive playcaller. He has implemented a 3-4 defense that is supposed to be all about a new aggression look.
Now granted, the defense is definitely more aggressive than they were under McDermott. Two examples of players who have shined include Greg Rousseau and Deone Walker. As for the rest of the defense, it's been an inconsistent hit or miss through two games.
In Week 1 against the Texans, the defense allowed C.J. Stroud and the Houston offense to gain 381 total yards and put up 31 points. For a team that is known more for the defensive talent compared to their offense, this was not a great first look from Buffalo's defense. However, it was the first game.
Then in Thursday night's win over the Lions, the defense played great in the first half, but then slowly fell apart in the second half. Yes, Detroit has a powerful offense. However, the second half was becoming a bit concering when the Lions pulled within 10 points after being down 27-7 at one point.
Jared Goff finished with 327 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air, with most of his production coming in the second half.
The Bills might be 2-0 and playing some great offense, but Leonhard had no problem saying the quiet part out loud about the Bills' defense through their first two weeks.
Jim Leonhard's take on Bills' defense is more than fair
Leonhard spoke about the defense and how they are a "boom or bust defense" and how it's "not a sustainable way to win and play good defense throughout the season." per Sal Capaccio. Leonhard then mentioned about how the unit has to "have more emotional stability as drives go on." per Capaccio.
That last part about the emotional stability is a key thing to read into. Buffalo has already been penalized 15 times through the first two games, with a lot of them coming from the defense. A lot of it is within the secondary with holding which hurts them.
Again, it's only been two games and they happened within a matter of four days. There is still plenty of football to be played, At the same time, Leonhard is totally right to say this about the unit because there is a lot to clean up. Leonhard has extra time to prepare for a Chargers offense that is ran by Mike McDaniel, who knows the Bills very well from being the head coach of the Miami Dolphins the last few seasons.
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