Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
It wasn’t an easy start to the season for Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills. The team had a rough start to the year after heading into it with high expectations, and the team’s defense wasn’t playing on the high level that many had expected. In the past couple of weeks, the unit has seemingly regained form, and they are playing at a borderline elite level at the moment.
Although the Bills surrendered 17 points in each of the past two weeks, they have still been able to find success for portions of the game. Against the Miami Dolphins, the Bills were able to get a lot of pressure on Ryan Tannehill. Jerry Hughes looked good during that game, and the pass rush presence really gave the Bills the upper hand in that contest.
In their Thursday night game against the New York Jets, the team was absolutely terrific for most of the game. The Bills managed to force four turnovers on the day, and two of them came at key times. One of the fumbles was returned for a touchdown by Duke Williams to give the Bills a 9-3 lead. The last turnover was an interception that Bacarri Rambo had that ended up icing the game. The whole unit showed great effort throughout the entire night, and they look like they are finally playing up to expectations.
The Bills do have some of the best defensive players in the league, and their secondary is looking particularly good. Leodis McKelvin recently returned from injury to join the already stellar corps that includes Stephon Gilmore and Ronald Darby, and they should be able to thrive if the team can improve their pass rush. That was the case against the Jets, as the line was constantly able to pressure Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Bills look like they are going to be a feared defensively for the rest of the season. The team is finally healthy, and they would have performed even better against the Jets if their offense could have stayed on the field. Ryan should be proud of the adjustments that he made to the team, as they have seemingly paid off.
Jacob Camenker is an NFL Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can like him on Facebook here, follow him on Twitter @jacobyhorse, or add him to your network on Google.
