The Buffalo Bills had a defensive culture for nearly a decade under former head coach Sean McDermott, but decided to go in an offensive direction this offseason. It has mostly paid off so far, as the Bills have one of the best offensive units in the NFL right now.
Head coach and offensive playcaller Joe Brady has that side of the ball locked down. Unfortunately, the defense has taken a pretty big step back. Last season, the defense was seventh-best in yards allowed. This season, there is only one team allowing more yards. This is Jim Leonhard's first year as a defensive coordinator, but if he doesn't fix things eventually, it could be his only.
Pressure building for Jim Leonhard to turn things around
The Bills are 5-1, so they aren't going to make any big changes right now. Leonhard hasn't called defensive plays at the NFL level before. He deserves some time to work out the issues. It doesn't help that there are real talent issues in the Bills' secondary.
However, this is a team that has its sights set on the Super Bowl. If the defense is the reason they don't bring a Lombardi Trophy back to Buffalo this season, Leonhard could be the scapegoat. Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA Today put together a list of coordinators around the NFL under the most pressure. Leonhard made an appearance on the list.
"Unlike some others on this list, Leonhard probably isn't facing questions of job security as he oversees a fairly significant shift in adapting former coach Sean McDermott's defense to a radically different scheme. But with Buffalo otherwise looking capable of competing for its first title, he's hardly off the hook." wrote Middlehurst-Schwartz.
"There might be only so much that Leonhard can do to cover for a glaring problem at corner and other holes, but this might be the greatest impediment to a Josh Allen Super Bowl run if left unaddressed." Middlehurst-Schwartz added.
Bills' defense faces major uphill battle after bye week
Leonhard has only been coaching at the NFL level since 2024, but he quickly became a key assistant to Vance Joseph for a couple of very good Denver Broncos defenses. He's also a former defensive back for the Bills, so that could keep some fan pressure to move on from him at bay.
Now, it would help Leonhard a lot if the defense showed some signs of improvement after their bye week. That would show that the defense is at least headed in the right direction. If the defense continues to struggle and it starts to cost the Bills games, Leonhard's seat is going to start getting very hot.
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