New York Giants Week 6: Examining the Buffalo Bills Defense
Over the past few seasons under head coach Sean McDermott, the Buffalo Bills have had one of the best defenses in the NFL. Now, in their first game back in the U.S. after an overseas loss to the Jaguars, they host the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
Let's get to know the league's team sack leader (21), who is also tied for fifth in the league in points allowed (16).
Personnel
The Bills have arguably the best safety duo in football, with Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer as the deep pair. Hyde and Poyer have some of the highest football IQs in the league, and although they may have slowed down a little bit at this point, their eyes and brains still make them a phenomenal combo.
Starting with the safeties isn’t something we typically do here. Still, it’s important for the Bills because with how versatile their coverages are, quality safety play is the key to making this defense elite. They limit big plays over the middle and quarterback this defense, especially with linebacker Matt Milano out.
To this point, Milano’s running mate at linebacker had been Terrel Bernard, the second-year man out of Baylor who has been exceeding expectations early on. With Milano out of the lineup, expect third-round rookie Dorian Williams out of Tulane to take his place.
Williams will have his ups and downs, especially trying to learn the intricacies of this defensive system, but his athleticism will be key in his development. It’s fully possible that McDermott practically weaponizes Williams by getting a bit more aggressive schematically.
The front four of Buffalo has wreaked more havoc than usual this season as several players have stepped up. They also have veteran Von Miller returning from a torn ACL suffered last Thanksgiving. A heavy rotation allows the Bills to consistently have fresh legs on the field to attack the backfield as a team that lets their front four do almost all of the work as pass-rushers.
Ed Oliver, Leonard Floyd, AJ Epenesa, and Jordan Phillips will see the majority of snaps as they ease Miller back into the lineup. Oliver and Floyd have formed a tenacious pass-rush duo that’s combined for 30 pressures and 11 sacks so far--numbers that will likely increase against the Giants.
Having multiple threats lined up in various spots along the line of scrimmage could throw this Giants offensive line for a loop, as the Bills will be willing and able to rotate players into whatever position gives them an advantage as rushers.
The biggest question mark unit on this Bills defense is the cornerback room, which features Kaiir Elam, Dane Jackson, and Taron Johnson in the slot. There’s not a lot of confidence in the corner room for the Bills here--Elam is someone the team kept as a healthy inactive heading into the year.
The Bills also recently placed Milano, DaQuan Jones, and Tre’Davious White on Injured Reserve, so they will all be unavailable.
Scheme
McDermott had previously allowed Leslie Frazier to call the defense, but Frazier is taking a year off from coaching. However, the scheme hasn’t changed as McDermott and Frazier worked hand in hand, so this isn’t an instance where the Giants can take advantage of a scheme change.
The Bills play four primary coverages and tend to rush just four defenders, hoping to either get home with their natural pass-rush to make quarterbacks hold onto the ball longer. The Bills do, however, like to run simulated pressures and give opposing quarterbacks different looks pre-snap to further slow their processing.
Coverage-wise, the Bills will operate frequently with Covers 1, 2, 3, and 6. They’ll also sprinkle in other coverages, but most of their snaps will be out of those four looks. Given all of the recent injuries, it will be interesting to see how those tendencies change.
The heavy zone usage could prove to be a problem for the Giants, as there will be eyes in the backfield almost always. This likely leads to more turnover opportunities and fewer scramble opportunities for whoever plays quarterback for the Giants this weekend.
When the Bills decide to bring an extra blitzer, it’s almost always been from the linebacker spot. With Milano gone, the expectation should be for Bernard and Dorian Williams to be the primary off-ball rushers. Bernard has blitzed 18 times this season and has generated five pressures with three sacks.
Circling back to simulated pressures, expect the Bills to run them more often than usual, as the Giants have had issues properly communicating protection calls between Jones and the offensive line.
What This Means for the Giants
Communication between whoever is at quarterback and the offensive line has never been more important than it is this week. This is a Bills defensive line that will run simulated pressures that will see them crowd the line of scrimmage but only rush four defenders. The QB-center communication needs to be sound enough so that everybody knows their responsibility for every potential rusher so that there’s no “this guy ran in unblocked” situations.
The Bills have yet to allow over 25 points this season, which doesn’t bode well for a Giants team with an impressively anemic offense. Against the Bills, the name of the game should be ball control for the Giants.
Picking up a handful of yards consistently with a few deep shot chances throughout the game. Remember that it’s not necessarily important to connect on those deep shots--it would be great, but just having the deep ball threat should help open up both the rushing attack and the underneath passing game.
Jalin Hyatt should see more time in the slot this weekend. The Bills have shown they’re willing to put a safety on a wide receiver in the slot, and we don't think there is a safety on that Bills roster that could keep up with Hyatt on a go, fade, or corner route.
Final Thoughts
This Giants offense has collapsed practically every step of the way this season. With the potential return of Saquon Barkley, things can improve a bit, but with Daniel Jones either playing hurt or not playing at all, expectations shouldn’t be high this week.
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