I confess that this week I was not very clear where I was going to direct my tactical gaze. He had several defenses on his radar, including Steve Spagnuolo on the Kansas City Chiefs. Eventually we will talk about that unit again, but in the end I have decided to opt for the Buffalo Bills for two fundamental reasons: on the one hand, because I had never fully immersed myself in the performance of this group despite the fact that it generally offers great performance , and on the other hand, because the focus of attention on this team practically always points to the figure of Josh Allen and the offense. So this is our opportunity to learn more about their main defensive strengths and also to understand a little better the tactical approaches of the head coach and architect of the project, Sean McDermott.
McDermott came up with Andy Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles at the beginning of the century. There he shared a staff precisely with Spagnuolo and learned under the tutelage of the historic defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, one of the most aggressive in his use of the blitz. His second step at the professional level was with the Carolina Panthers, where he arrived with the help of his former colleague in Philly, Ron Rivera. With the Panthers, McDermott created a very solid unit that didn’t rely as much on the blitz as Johnson liked. Unfortunately for him, neither in Philadelphia nor in Carolina could he obtain the championship ring as an assistant. The Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, while the Panthers succumbed in Super Bowl 50 to the soon-to-retire Denver Broncos. A year after the bad experience of losing in the finals for the second time, McDermott was hired to be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
In his seven seasons at the helm of the New York State franchise, the head coach has changed the course of a team that was unable to conquer its own division for more than twenty years, but is now the defending champion of the same four consecutive campaigns. McDermott relied on another of his Philadelphia teammates, Leslie Frazier, to lead the defense. During the first five seasons the couple worked perfectly. The team was gradually taking steps in the right direction: wild cards in 2017 and 2019, division title and advance to the conference final in 2020 and again division title and defeat in the second round of the playoffs in 2021, in which It was one of the great games in league history against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, in 2022 he fell short of the only remaining goal, reaching the Super Bowl, and McDermott decided to part with Frazier’s services after the ugly divisional round loss at home at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals. Last year McDermott took on the arduous job of doubling as head coach and defensive coordinator, with himself making the calls during games. The unit continued to perform at a high level despite injuries, which finally became too much when the team lost for the third time in four years in January against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Shortly after, McDermott elevated Bobby Babich, a defensive assistant in Buffalo since he arrived at the franchise, to the position of coordinator, and after giving him the opportunity during the preseason he finally agreed to give him the “play-caller” stripes in the games.
In his time as head coach, McDermott has proven to be a flexible coach in his approaches, capable of adapting to the circumstances of each season and each game. There are times when he has literally thrown the rival quarterback into the “sink”, while I remember duels with Mahomes in which he did not order a single blitz in the entire match. Likewise, the team has had campaigns at the top of the blitz category, emulating the steps of its teacher Jim Johnson and his best disciple Steve Spagnuolo, and others in which it has finished at the bottom. What the head coach has remained firm on is the use of personnel. The Bills play almost exclusively in nickel, this formation being their base personnel. Having one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league, Taron Johnson, undoubtedly puts a lot of weight in the balance when making that decision. However, Buffalo has maintained that strategy in the games that Johnson has not played since it gives the unit extra speed and versatility that the head coach prefers. Johnson missed games at the beginning of the league, but with his return the team has put together three very good defensive performances. The number 7 is not only brilliant in coverage, but he knows how to get away from possible blockers and contribute against the running game like few others know how to do in his position.
