Bills Defense Has to Stand and Be Counted

GREGORY BROWN

Bills Coach Sean McDermott

The Buffalo Bills entered the bye week licking their wounds and wondering what’s gone wrong. But more importantly, they must be asking themselves what they need to do to fix it. The NFL season is now past the quarter pole and the Bills no longer look like the Super Bowl favorite that so many in the national media had predicted.

The problem starts with the defense, whose troubles are multi layered. So far, the Bills have shown a consistent inability to stop the opposing team’s run game or put consistent pressure on the quarterback. Despite a large investment in both the draft and free agent acquisitions, the Bills still haven’t solved what has always been a chronic issue for the defense. Some of that targeted effort was derailed by a key injury to DT Ed Oliver, and now, a calf injury to DT Daquan Jones, about which little is still known.

The absence of the oft injured LB, Matt Milano, hasn’t helped either, but it also seems that the Bills have pretty much learned to live without him. Big things were expected from rookie defensive tackle, TJ Sanders, their second round draft pick, now on injured reserve. Sanders was expected to provide pass rushing juice up the middle; help plug deficiencies in the run game; and be a nice complement to Oliver. But because of both injury and rookie inexperience, Sanders has not delivered. But even before he went on injured reserve, Sanders had not provided the upgrade that Bills brass had hoped.

Parenthetically, it’s been the fourth-round rookie DT, Deone Walker, who has provided the juice, just not enough of it to make a big difference.

On the back end, Buffalo’s zone defense has more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese. Teams have carved them up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Veteran CB Tre’Davious White - one of my all-time favorite Bills - no longer has the wheels to be the All-pro cornerback that he was back in the day. Although White makes up for some of his deficiencies with veteran savvy and a thorough command of the Bills defensive scheme, he is now overmatched against speedy wideouts, or quick, crafty route runners.

On the other side, CB Christian Benford, hasn’t played up to the standard we’ve seen in previous campaigns, all of which earned him a lucrative and well-deserved pay raise. However, with the big contract, come big expectations. Although still solid, Benford needs to be the Bills ace in the secondary and right now, he just isn’t there.

It may be just me, but it also appears that Taylor Rapp’s performance has fallen sharply. Dare it be said that after multiple concussions, Rapp may have become just a little gun shy and thus, more prone to making “business decisions” when it comes to throwing his body around in reckless abandon. In the dorky looking helmet protector he now wears, Rapp does not appear to be the same fearless hitter he once was.

The Bills problems on defense are not ones that can be fixed overnight, or on the trade market. For one thing, the Bills don’t have the cap space to sign the kind difference making player that would wind up on the trade market. Whatever problems the Bills have on defense – and there are many – they will have to be addressed by the players now on the roster. There won’t be any white knight riding in to save the day.

What will help the Bills are the reinforcements on the D-line in the persons of Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi, both of whom will be returning from their six game suspensions. But we should not expect miracles. There is a ceiling on just how good this defense can become. However, there is almost no floor on how bad they can be. While they will never be the ’85 Chicago Bears, there is plenty of room for improvement, which I think will happen gradually and organically over the remaining course of the season. If not, DC Bobby Babich could be looking for a new job.

What about the offense, you may ask? Personally, I think this unit is going to be okay? Despite their recent missteps, Josh Allen is not about to surrender his cape. And for that reason alone, the Bills will be a playoff team – count on it. However, in his “everybody eats” offense, OC Joe Brady needs to know that RB James Cook, may need to eat a little bit more.