Defense earns kudos after win over Vikings
While so much of the spotlight shined brightly on rookie quarterback Josh Allen following last week’s stunning rout of the Minnesota Vikings, it was actually the Bills’ defense — written off as horrendous after two weeks — that deserved the bulk of the praise.
After allowing 78 points in its two season-opening losses, 75 coming in the first six quarters before things began to settle in the second half against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Bills were dynamic against quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings.
“It was great to see our defense step up and play as well as they did,” said defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who had been stripped by head coach Sean McDermott of his play-calling duties in the second half against Los Angeles, but then was given those duties back in Minnesota. “We came really close to pitching a shutout, so it was a great effort by a lot of guys throughout the day.”
This is the kind of defense the Bills have to play given the state of their offense, if they hope to win more than they lose in 2018. While Allen provided a spark in his second career start, a closer examination reveals that the defense was responsible for a chunk of his success.
Allen led an impressive game-opening 75-yard drive as he rolled up five first downs and then capped it with a 10-yard touchdown run. He also had a nice 65-yard drive that included four first downs leading to his one-yard plunge that increased Buffalo’s lead to 24-0.
But the defense forced two turnovers in the first quarter that gave Allen drive starts at the Vikings 15 and 25, and those resulted in 10 Buffalo points. Also, the defense forced a punt from deep in Minnesota territory that gave Allen a drive start at the Vikings 48 and that turned into a field goal.
Outside of the two lengthy TD drives, the Bills had nine possessions of two first downs or less, and they punted six times. Much of that came in the second half when they were content to sit on a 27-0 halftime lead, but again, the reason they were able to play it conservatively was because the defense continually stopped the Vikings.
“I think guys are starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” said defensive end Jerry Hughes, who was dominant on the edge with 10 quarterback pressures, one of which resulted in a strip-sack of Cousins.
One of those guys was linebacker Matt Milano, who filled the stat sheet all the way across with eight tackles, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery, all of which earned him AFC defensive player of the week honors.
“In this game, you either make big plays or you don’t, and certainly we had our fair share of them,” Hughes said.
Pass rush was a major problem for the Bills last season as they ranked 31st in sacks per pass attempt. There wasn’t much happening in the first two games, either, but in Minnesota it all came together as the Bills had four sacks and, according to Pro Football Focus, 40 individual pressures.
“A lot of times, the difference between having monster games and guys just having solid games is this,” tackle Kyle Williams said, mimicking a quarterback tapping the ball. “It’s a quarter second, third of a second, but it makes all the difference. No pressure to a pressure to a hit to a sack, that’s how it works.”
As impressive as they were in Minnesota, it will likely be tougher in Green Bay, because this time they’ll be going against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
If the Bills don’t generate the same type of pressure, Rodgers, even on his gimpy knee, will give the Bills’ defense fits.
“I’ll take Aaron Rodgers hobbling over most of the quarterbacks in the league,” said safety Micah Hyde, who was Rodgers’ Green Bay teammate for four years before joining the Bills last season. “He still has the intelligence, the arm, he’s going to get it done regardless. We know he’s going to play his A-game, we know what type of quarterback he is, so we have to play accordingly.”
SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Bills lead series, 8-4. The Bills haven’t played in Green Bay since 2010 when they suffered a 34-7 wipeout. All-time in Green Bay/Milwaukee, the Bills are 2-4, but they have never lost to the Packers at home (6-0). In the last meeting, they stunned Green Bay 21-13 in a game where they held Aaron Rodgers to a 34.3 passer rating, the lowest of his career, and a 40.4 completion percentage, which was the second-worst of his career.