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00:00I talked about the Bills being 2-0 and being sort of the, I mean, after one week, they were
00:05kind of the talk of the league.
00:06And then now it's two weeks, and I think collectively, the world is looking at the offense going, I have
00:13no idea what to do with that.
00:14And then also saying, but they are giving up a ton on defense, but I think that's, I don't know,
00:19do you feel like 31 points a game is an accurate reflection of Jim Leonard's, like, if you were to
00:26describe Jim Leonard's defense so far?
00:29Is that where you would start, is they've given up 62 points in two weeks?
00:34Because, I mean, you couldn't criticize somebody for starting there.
00:36It's correct.
00:37No, and I think that, you know, this is something that Owen and I talked about yesterday, is that the
00:43Bills' defense, I think in the first game, yes, you'd show a lot more concern than you did in the
00:50second game.
00:51Not only was the competition better in the second game, but also it's situational football.
00:56And it goes back to what Sean McDermott always used to talk about, is complimentary football.
01:01And you'd roll your eyes, and you'd be like, that means we're going to bend but don't break, and we're
01:06going to sit back, we're not going to be aggressive.
01:08Well, the Bills were up 21-0 early in that game.
01:11And even though the Lions did get their chunk plays and did score their points eventually, they never really felt
01:17like they were threatening.
01:19They were sometimes, you felt, threatening to get back in the game.
01:22Right.
01:22Like, is this going to be a game?
01:25Could this become a game?
01:27That.
01:27But there was never, the Lions might win this game.
01:30And I think that that lends itself to the quick start that the offense got onto for touchdowns in their
01:38first four drives.
01:38And the defense had the luxury of playing, all right, let's work the clock here, let's make you beat us,
01:47we're going to give you some stuff underneath.
01:48Now, that doesn't mean that they weren't trying to stop those individual plays.
01:52They weren't just giving up that turf.
01:57So, I'm sure Jim Leonard is very disappointed, and the players on that team are very disappointed that they didn't
02:01come up with individual stops.
02:03But it was the style of defense that they were playing.
02:06Well, not to oversimplify, but it's almost three quarters of garbage time, right?
02:11Like, when you look at it statistically, here's a great example.
02:14I watched the Bills crush the Lions.
02:17And then at the end, I looked at my fantasy thing, forgot I had Jared Goff as my starting quarterback.
02:22Like, 324 yards, four touchdown passes.
02:25Like, he did great in a bubble.
02:27But it still wasn't a real contest.
02:30He didn't throw a lot of incomplete passes, even with trying to think of how much time was left in
02:35the game.
02:36But I even made it a point on social media to say, you wouldn't know it, but Jared Goff's only
02:41thrown six incomplete passes.
02:43And it was late in the game.
02:45So, they were hitting the underneath stuff.
02:48High efficiency, or I should say, high percentage passes.
02:53Not necessarily high efficiency.
02:54Jared Goff type of passes.
02:55Yeah, they were getting productivity.
02:57Yeah.
02:58So, yeah, I guess my overall point is, I'm still, my excitement meter about the defense is still climbing.
03:08But it is jarring to then look at, I think about 31 points twice.
03:13Like, I do think most weeks the Bills will score in the 30s.
03:16And most weeks, holding the other team to 31 is probably a recipe for victory.
03:22But I don't want to rely on that.
03:24So, it's, I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing, but I'm spooked a little bit by numbers.
03:27This could be a big week for Jim Leonard's defense, going up against the Chargers, who embarrass themselves against Las
03:37Vegas.
03:39And, you know, Justin Herbert throws two interceptions.
03:46There were six fumbles in the game.
03:48Only four of them forced.
03:50So, the Chargers also just coughed it up a couple of times on their own volition.
03:54But, yeah, Justin Herbert, three fumbles, and then three others from one player apiece.
04:02And then, it was just one of those get-after-it games by Las Vegas' defense.
04:08And they, it wasn't Max Crosby.
04:10You'd think, all right, well, that's what the Raiders do.
04:13Max Crosby's going to have his day.
04:14Max Crosby had only one quarterback hit out of a total of two, four, six, nine.
04:20The Raiders had nine quarterback hits.
04:22Max Crosby had no sacks, one quarterback hit.
04:25They got after these guys.
04:27And so, if the Raiders can do it, I would like to think that Jim Leonard's defense at home against
04:33a wounded opponent,
04:36extra rest.
04:37I mean, some of those things, I think, don't mean as much as people would like to think.
04:42But, there are a lot of things tracking in the Bills' direction to have a couple extra days to work
04:48on this defense,
04:49have an extra meeting or two, whatever it takes for Jim Leonard to get the message through to these guys
04:55and to pick up this defense.
04:58I would like to think that the Bills would show a more explosive defense against the Chargers.
05:07And then, if not, then maybe it's, hey, wait a minute.
05:10What's going on here?
05:11Why aren't they kicking into high gear?
05:14Yeah.
05:17Raiders might not be terrible.
05:21I mean, there's, what, four 2-0 teams in the East, or in the AFC, I should say.
05:26And the Raiders are the surprise among them.
05:30Bengals at 2-0 is interesting.
05:31They've been a good team for a while, but they traditionally have been starting slowly.
05:36The Bills are 2-0.
05:38Like, I don't know, that's not a surprise to the world.
05:40Bengals, not really a surprise to the world.
05:42Well, Chiefs, you know, maybe it's a little comeback story, but not a surprise to the world.
05:46The Raiders are the story that you go, oh, wait.
05:50They might be in the conversation.
05:53That AFC West is tough, man.
05:56And they might belong in the group.
05:58It's kind of been the three plus the Raiders the last several years.
06:01Maybe they're in the group.
06:02So maybe that's not a super strong indication that the Chargers are in massive trouble.
06:10But I bet most people don't view this daunting Bills schedule, the start to this daunting Bills schedule, the same
06:18way right now after seeing how the Chargers have performed, how the Patriots have performed, and how the Rams performed
06:23at least in week one.
06:24Although I think they might have just sacrificed that game.
06:27The whole thing about when we're traveling, like, eh, forget it.
06:30If we're 0-1, we're 0-1.
06:32We'll just fight from there.
06:33We'll make sure we're ready for week two and start our season then.
06:35I think that might be what's up with the Rams.
06:37So that's still a crazy fun game in week five on Monday Night Football.
06:43But these other ones, these next two, I mean, this looks like such a hazardous path for the Bills going
06:49in.
06:49They take care of the Texans on the road.
06:51They take care of the Lions at home.
06:53The Chargers look bad.
06:55The Bills are going to look equally bad because they'll be wearing Nickel City uniforms this week.
07:00But then the Patriots, I think that's kind of what I'm targeting.
07:06I'm guilty of looking past the Chargers right now, and I'm trying to program myself not to.
07:10Trap game.
07:11Yeah, very much trap game, in large part because we laugh at a loss to the Raiders, which maybe we
07:16shouldn't.
07:17Maybe that's a team that was kind of ready to go and then found a veteran perfect quarterback to fit
07:21in and, you know, matriculate the ball down the field.
07:24It might be that I would like to say we talk about the Bills defense and how it makes you
07:30wonder or have a little angst as to Jim Leonard and what he's going to be able to do here.
07:39But the front four, the front six, all the different guys that have rotated in there have been playing pretty
07:46well.
07:47Maybe you want to see a little bit more out of Terrell Bernard.
07:51He's got a fumble recovery and, you know, he's got some plays here and there.
07:55He's making a lot of tackles.
07:59But Greg Rousseau has skyrocketed up the Defensive Player of the Year.
08:03I was just wondering that.
08:05Do you have the numbers in front of you?
08:07I do.
08:07I was just wondering that.
08:08He's 33-1, or 33-1, excuse me, tied for 11th, which was probably not even on the board.
08:16No, he was one of the two listed.
08:18Well, if we're talking about the BetOnline numbers that they email us, he was one of two Bills defensive players
08:25who were even listed, who even had a number attached to them on the first thing that came out.
08:30And he was the highest, and I think—
08:31Oh, he was 100-1.
08:32Okay, so he was 100, and then Bradley Chubb might have been 150 or 200, something like that.
08:36He's now 33-1, so that's a huge jump for him, obviously.
08:41And ahead of him are Aiden Hutchinson, Will Anderson Jr., T.J. Watt, Max Crosby, guys like that.
08:46Right, and he's been more prominent in the first two weeks, but they have clout from what they've done in
08:54the past.
08:55Four sacks and three forced fumbles lead the NFL, both of those categories, and he has nine quarterback hits.
09:02All those numbers lead the Bills.
09:05Deion Walker is not on the list yet, but he might get in there eventually.
09:09He's getting a lot of love nationally, and he's had some interesting stats.
09:13Not a lot of sacks.
09:14He has only one, and he has only four quarterback hits, but as an interior defensive lineman, you don't necessarily
09:20get those.
09:21But he has three pass breakups already, and he has just been a monster inside and really helping out those
09:28other dudes.
09:29Bradley Chubb has a sack and a half.
09:31Michael Hoyt has half a sack.
09:34So the front four, I did say the front six, but I think maybe the front four are finding ways
09:39to get after it in ways that they hadn't before.
09:42When it comes to stuff like Defensive Player of the Year, I think interior linemen take a while to get
09:47on the radar, whereas Russo's out there putting up numbers.
09:52Deion Walker is, and especially if he's hanging out, you tell me that Deion Walker's presence isn't a major factor
09:59in why Russo's able to do the things he's doing statistically.
10:02I just think it's going to take longer for him to get the full-on recognition.
10:07If his trajectory continues, but I'm looking at an absolute monster at defensive tackle that takes a couple years of
10:14a defense being prominently on television a bunch of times.
10:18Numbers happen.
10:20It's going to take multiple games where, we'll use Chris Collinsworth as an example, is like, you know, everybody's talking
10:27about Russo as a pass rusher.
10:30How good is Greg Russo?
10:31He's a great pass rusher, but I'm going to tell you, here's a guy in Deion Walker, and then they
10:38highlight this stuff, and then that happens three weeks later on Monday Night Football, and then it happens on a
10:44Thanksgiving Day game, and then by next offseason, the number 84 player in the league is Deion Walker.
10:52It's a slow burn.
10:53Yeah, it takes longer, but what I'm seeing is a monster in the middle, and a guy that looks like
10:58he's becoming an absolute star.
11:01Pro football focus has Greg Russo as the NFL's leader in pass rush win percentage at 30.6%.
11:10Deion Walker is 11th at 20.8%.
11:15So, pretty impressive so far for the Buffalo Bills, thanks to Senior Advisor Dan Dale for passing those along.
11:21Look at you!
11:22What's up, Dan?
11:22On the spot.
11:23What's up?
11:24Johnny on the spot.
11:25Danny on the spot.
11:27Let's take a timeout.
11:28It is WGR Middays, driven by Northtown Automotive.
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