Once again, Bills’ pass defense can give away yards, not points

By Anthony Bialy  |   Sunday, June 21, 2009  |  Comments( 29 )

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The Buffalo Bills stopped opponents’ passing offenses just soon enough last season. While foes gained some ground through the air, they were unable to score against the Bills in the same manner. With improvements looming thanks to personnel upgrades, defenders must be hopeful that they could prevent both scores and big gains this season.

The unit performed fairly in terms of ground conceded. They finished 13th out of 32 NFL teams, allowing enemy passers to throw for an average of 204.4 yards per game last season. But they were simultaneously fantastic in an even more telling column, permitting just 14 passing touchdowns (fourth in the league); the only teams to do better were the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts. Those were all playoff teams, and of course one of the three won its final game.

On the other hand, the worst team in the league in the category was the eventual league-wide runner-up in the Arizona Cardinals, who surrendered an astonishing 36 touchdown passes. But their Super Bowl journey was an aberration: A slightly above-mediocre squad got hot in the playoffs, largely because it countered its rotten pass defense with a stellar aerial offense.

The Bills may be poised to flaunt a dynamic throwing aspect of their own this year. Naturally, keeping the points down on the other side will make their own passing assault more effective. Besides, they should be aiming for higher than an Arizona-esque 9-7 regular-season mark.

Buffalo kept foes from throwing all the way to the end zone in 2008 despite the lack of interceptions, 10, and sacks, 24. The lack of game-changing incidents was partly thanks to their shallow talent pool, especially up front. But, it was also a byproduct of cautious tactics: The Bills blitzed with discretion. Relatively conservative football worked fairly well, even if it didn’t lead to dynamic moments.

With that in mind, this is an advantageous moment for optimism. Stronger contributions from certain individuals could mean there’s genuine hope Buffalo can again impede scoring throws this year. For one, Leodis McKelvin has already received his fair share of snaps during offseason activities; the Bills should be able to keep their effort going if he’s able to start looking like an 11th overall pick during camp.

Plus, the Bills could field something new this year, namely a marginally competent pass rush. Neither of last season’s feeble primary rushers, Ryan Denney and Chris Kelsay, may even start this campaign. That hopeful development relies on Aaron Schobel recovering and Aaron Maybin learning; if those respective developments occur, the ninth-year man and the rookie would together offer a fierce improvement. While that’s good news for everyone, it’s particularly so for a secondary that’s looking to again clamp down on scoring.

Last year, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell basically conceded the line of scrimmage and focused on containing damage downfield. If the line improves as much as fans hope, he can lean on the identical strategy and still get more pressure on quarterbacks. Doing nothing differently could lead to even fewer touchdowns permitted this season; the pass defense could maybe even help with the field position battle, too. What’s important once again is that they don’t give up all of the territory even if they give up some of it.
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