Run defense hasn’t solved its problems
The struggles of the Bills’ run defense were highlighted during their three-game homestand against Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington. It proved to be a fatal flaw during the loss against the Eagles. After Adrian Peterson ripped through the Bills’ defense during the first half of last week’s win, the Bills began to make some changes to shore up the ground defense.
The Bills played their run gap assignments much better in the second half against Washington and shut Peterson down last Sunday. Still, they felt the need to sign a new defensive tackle, former first round pick Corey Liuget, during the week to get better on run defense heading into the Cleveland game.
Well, whatever the Bills did to get better on run defense wasn’t good enough on Sunday against the Browns.
The Bills again had trouble stopping the run as Cleveland ran for 147 yards. Nick Chubb had 116 of those rushing yards on 20 carries, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt. Kareem Hunt returned from his eight-game suspension for a disgusting, violent altercation with a woman to average 7.5 yards per carry on his four carries against the Bills defense. The Browns for some reason decided to stop running Chubb in the second half, luckily for the Bills.
Again, we saw the Bills’ defense yield big chunk plays on the ground. Chubb had two 21-yard carries, as well as a 24-yard run. His second 21-yard run came on the Browns’ final drive and took them into Buffalo territory.
It’s clear that run defense is the Bills’ Achilles heel on the defensive side of the ball. The Bills’ pass defense, while it did not have its best day against Baker Mayfield on Sunday, continues to be the strength of this team. But opposing offenses have found ways to move the ball by finding holes on the ground.
The Bills are still searching for answers here and the changes on the defensive line rotating haven’t fixed this. Liuget had one lone tackle (an assist) in his Bills’ debut Sunday. In fact, the Bills did not have a single solo tackle from any of their defensive tackles. Ed Oliver was not on the stat sheet, nor was Star Lotulelei. The struggles to get stops from their defensive line highlights the Bills’ problems with run defense.
It cannot be overstated how much the Bills miss Harrison Phillips. Since he was lost for the season with a knee injury in Week 3, the Bills’ run defense has been significantly worse. Buffalo was counting on him as being a big part of their defensive line rotation to shut down the run game. The Bills’ have struggled to replace his presence on the defensive line.
Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier have moved away from the regular rotation they had been using on the defensive line and are mainly sticking with their four starters. Lotulelei, Jordan Phillips, Trent Murphy, and Jerry Hughes each were on the field for more than 70 percent of the snaps during Sunday’s game. Shaq Lawson saw less than 50 percent of the snaps, while Oliver once again was relegated to second-team duties, seeing just 33 percent of the snaps. However you may feel about Oliver’s overall performance so far this season, him seeing the field only a third of the game is not ideal.
The next two rushing offenses the Bills will face are not as daunting as what they had against Cleveland on Sunday, but the Bills need to show they can stop an opposing run game and eliminate a major issue that has been plaguing them recently.