Ed Oliver’s rookie season for the Bills is 11 games in. But he’s still searching for his first “real” sack, he said following Buffalo’s 37-20 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Technically, Oliver has two sacks to his name this season, both have come against the Dolphins. His first came in Week 7 against receiver Albert Wilson on a trick play, so a bit of an asterisk there.
Oliver did take down Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 11, but he’s still not counting it. Why? Because it was too easy, he said.
“Still not [a] legitimate [sack]. The O-line was confused. I don’t know what they was doing,” Oliver said. “I just said, they got the ball, hit the dude with the ball so that’s what I did.
“It’s not really nothing I did, besides tackle the quarterback. They messed up and I capitalized on it,” Oliver added.
To the rookie’s point, it looked like a miscommunication on the play as Oliver went in untouched and tackled Fitzpatrick for an easy sack, almost immediately after the snap.
Here comes @Edoliver_11!#BUFvsMIA | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/CVWT6JU2BM
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 17, 2019
However, the Bills’ pass rush didn’t stop there on the day. Against the Dolphins, just about everyone on the defensive line, including every interior lineman such as Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Jordan Phillips and newcomer Corey Liuget, had a sack. Buffalo totaled seven by the final whistle.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott credited an aggressive gameplan which was clearly successful for the reason why the Bills got into the backfield so often.
“They were aggressive, they were aggressive,” McDermott said. “Just the overall aggressiveness, I think overall, was there … was where it needed to be.”
But Oliver actually didn’t compliment anything on defense when giving his take on the pass rush’s success. Instead, Oliver gave the credit to a complement. The one provided from a 37-point outing from the Bills offense.
“When you get up, it opens up the game for the pass rush,” Oliver said. “Complementary football, the offense and defense working together.”
“Everybody was eating today,” Oliver added on the pass rush.
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