Bills defensive line dominates in season opener

Bills start hot on defense, recording seven sacks and forcing three INTs

The Bills defensive line was dominant in the 31-10 win over the Rams in Thursday’s season opener.

“Bills can’t rush the passer!” “Von Miller is washed!”

Blah, blah, blah. None of that proved to be true Thursday, as the Bills defensive line exploded for seven sacks on quarterback Matthew Stafford. Two of them came at the hands of the newly-acquired Von Miller.

Greg Rousseau contributed a sack, Jordan Phillips and AJ Epenesa both recorded 1.5 sacks, and Boogie Basham recorded a sack and an interception.

The entire defensive line feasted on their matchups last night, and they were a huge reason why the Bills are starting off this season 1-0. They were in the backfield often, forcing Stafford off his spot and making him uncomfortable back there. That’s something that the Bills were missing the past two seasons.

The Bills did not blitz yesterday. All of their pressures were generated by the four defenders up front. If you can get consistent pressure up front with your four guys, while you can drop the other seven back into zone coverage, it’s going to be very hard for opposing teams to consistently beat you down the field.

Von Miller looked like prime Von Miller last night and he seems to be the exact piece that Buffalo has been missing. Miller is so good at getting low, being bendy and attacking you in different ways. We saw his first sack come against Noteboom in which Miller bull rushed him. He got him off balance and drove him into the back of Stafford and eventually got around to the sack. For his second sack, he ducked low and slipped underneath not one, but two blockers in his way to get to Stafford once again. They call it the “ghost” move:

All the moves, techniques and attributes this guy brings to the team can not be understated. I’m sure a lot of us were curious to see how Miller would look Week 1, and it’s obvious he’s still able to be effective at age 33. And, he did so while only playing 52% of the snaps.

On the flip side, it looks like Miller’s presence is already having an impact on the young defensive players that Buffalo has. Rousseau, Basham, and Epenesa all made their share of plays. When Miller draws the double team, and he will a lot this year, that’s when the other guys on the line can step up and make some big plays.

Another player I want to talk about is DT Jordan Phillips. Wow, did that man look great last night. He had 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss and 3 QB hits. His one full sack came on a nifty spin move in the interior of the line:

Phillips was constantly generating pressure and even on some plays he didn’t get a sack, he was still laying a lick on Stafford. I can’t wait to see how Phillips progresses the rest of this year and if he can break out and turn into that big bad defensive tackle the Bills need.

We did see one down side from last night and that was the injury of Ed Oliver. He tweaked his ankle early in the game, and after trying it out a bit, he was forced to sit out for the rest of the game.

The good news is that it doesn’t look too serious right now and Oliver said himself that it wasn’t anything too concerning. He’ll have 11 days off to rest that ankle and get back to full health so he can join an already-buzzing defensive line.

Aside from Josh Allen doing Josh Allen things last night like stiff arming defenders and throwing 50-yard bombs on the run, the defenisve line stole the show. They were dominant, physical and the impact that Miller is going to have is something that should make you giddy with excitement.

If they rush the passer like this every week, along with the elite secondary they have, opposing QBs are going to have nightmares when they see the Bills on their schedule.