Last week the Panthers offensive line only allowed the San Francisco 49ers to touch quarterback Cam Newton four times in sixty minutes, none of those resulting in a sack. They also allowed the Panthers to rush for 116 yards, including a back-breaking, game-ending drive that took ten plays and over eight minutes off the clock as the Panthers ground out the clock on a season-opening win. Conversely, the Bills defensive front was able to hold the New York Jets to under forty yards on the ground; the big guys up front are ready to reclaim their swagger with new coach Sean McDermott after regressing under former head coach Rex Ryan in 2015 & 2016. The switch from a 4-3, in which the Bills were able to finish second in the league in sacks (behind a Carolina defense helmed by McDermott) in 2013 and first in quarterback hits during the 2014 season, to a 3-4 under Ryan caused a huge shift in momentum; the fiery head coach’s aggressive, hybrid rushing style was unsuccessful with the Bills’ personnel. With a return to the 4-3 scheme, they are ready to recoup that success.
Take a player like defensive end Jerry Hughes. Hughes was borderline unstoppable in 2013 and 2014, piling up 20 sacks and 38 hits on the quarterback between the two seasons. But in Ryan’s new system, Hughes regressed with only 11 sacks over the last two seasosn, and Hughes is excited to be back in a traditional 4-3 where he can put his hand in the dirt and attack the tackle. “Now, I get to pin my ears back, get off the football, get my hands on an offensive lineman,” Hughes said last month. “Be fast and violent and I’ve always loved that aspect.” Hughes will be matched up on the edge for the most part with tackle Matt Kalil, and while Hughes is a talented end, he tends to “overrun the hoop” when he feels he can speed past a tackle. If Kalil can move his feet correctly, as he was able to against talented edge rushers in San Francisco, he should be able to keep Hughes away from Newton as he steps into a pocket. However, Hughes can also make tackles look silly with his quick spin, as seen in the clip below. That pocket being clean is up to the interior line, which will also have their hands full.
Marcell Dareus suffered from the same fate as the rest of the defense when Rex Ryan brought his new formation in, his sack total falling from 20 (2013/14) to 10 (2015/16), but Dareus is still considered one of the most talented defensive tackles in the league. With Dareus returning from suspension and in a system in which he feels more comfortable, the interior linemen of the Panthers will have their hands full with Dareus, who has the second most sacks of any defensive tackles in Buffalo Bills history. The most by a defensive tackle? The man next to him, Kyle Williams. Dareus and Williams, who were Pro Bowl teammates in 2013 & 2014, will be asked to maintain gap discpline on both runs and passes, which is a hallmark of a Sean McDermott defense. The difference between the Panthers’ defensive line and the Bills’ is that the Buffalo tandem are involved in more tackles; last season, Short and Lotulelei had 81 combined tackles. Williams and Dareus had 105. The good news for Panthers fans is that their guard duo of Turner and Norwell rank among the best in the league, so if they can use their weight and power to move Williams and Dareus off the ball, they can be successful.
“When I heard coach McDermott was a candidate to be head coach, I was thinking yeah, he was at Carolina, they ran a 4-3, I worked out with coach McDermott (prior to the 2016 draft) and the GM (Dave Gettleman), I had a private workout for them, so I was kind of familiar with their defense. It was pretty much what I was running at Clemson for three years, so when I heard, I was very happy.”
-Bills Defensive End Shaq Lawson
Failing to excel in Rex Ryan’s scheme is the best excuse for first-round pick defensive end Shaq Lawson, as Bills’ fans were extremely disappointed with the rookie last year as he rewarded their high pick with only seventeen tackles and two sacks. Back in the 4-3 scheme, the talented player from Clemson should wreak some havoc on the outside against Daryl Williams. Don’t be surprised to see the tackles receiving help from the running backs and tight ends against the talented defensive ends.
The Bills’ front four is a talented one, but no more so than the group the Panthers were able to turn back last weekend in San Francisco. While their defensive statistics from Week 1 seem gaudy at first glance, they are not as impressive once you delve deeper. The Jets only averaged 2.5 per rush for 38 yards total, but they strangely abandoned the run almost immediately, appearing to show no confidence in their running backs with only five total rushes in the first half when the team was still within one score. In fact, in three tries from the one-yard-line, they passed twice before finally punching it in with a Josh McCown quarterback sneak.
While Sean McDermott is famous for his unique variety of blitzes and stunts, if the Panthers can play with the same violence and discipline they showed last week in San Francisco against a similarly talented group, they should be able to have the same success.
