The Bills Pass Rush Will Snatch Your Soul
The Buffalo Bills are currently 2-0 with wins against the Texans and the Lions, two of the better teams in the league. Everyone is raving about their offense and how could you not? Josh Allen has yet to throw an interception and has nine total touchdowns. On top of this, their run game has been incredible, averaging 144.5 yards per game and +0.17 EPA/rush, both top ten marks. They might just have the best offense in the NFL.
But I don't want to talk about their unstoppable offense. I want to focus on their abiliy to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. I think what we've seen from their pass rush has been an interesting development two weeks into the season. Per PFF, the Bills rank top ten in both pressure rate over expectation and sack rate.
There are two reasons why the Bills have been generating pressures and sacks at a high rate. Their names are Greg Rousseau and Deone Walker and these guys have been eviscerating opposing offensive lines.
Greg Rousseau has been one of the best pass rushing edges in the NFL early in the season. Through two games, he has recorded four sacks and a ridiculous 16 pressures. He had 7 pressures against the Texans and 9 pressures against the Lions. That's absurd levels of production.
The reason why he's been so effective as a pass rusher is because he's utilizing his power really well. On this play below, Rousseau takes on a chip block from the tight end and then utilizes a long arm move to get inside the tackle then he forces a fumble.
This next play is probably an even more impressive example of how good his play strength is as a pass rusher. Here, he does a great job of landing his punch before the tackle can get his hands on him, he then eviscerates the tackle's anchor to get the pressure.
Rousseau doesn't only win with power, though. He's a very good athlete for his size (1.57s 10-yard split | 91st percentile) and he can beat tackles with his speed. He did that on this play vs. the Lions. The Lions run play action and the right tackle struggles to slide far enough off the snap, which makes it difficult for him to have an advantage on Rousseau throughout the rep.
Another issue for the tackle is he struggles to establish a strong grip on Rousseau and Rousseau is able to put his arm under the tackle's right arm which allows him to win the rep and get the pressure.
Deon Walker has been incredible as a pass rusher as well. He only has one sack so far, but he has nine pressures, including seven pressures that he generated vs. the Lions.
Through two games, he has been dominating his matchups largely because he is insanely twitchy for a defensive tackle who is 6'7 and 331 lbs. This play from his performance against the Texans is a good example of this. Right off the snap, Walker utilizes a swim move that works to perfection and he gets past the guard immediately.
Walker has a lot of upper body strength and his hand usage as a pass rusher is very impressive. He also shows that he understands how he can use his pass rush path to manipulate his matchup and create andvanatge by changing directions quickly. He did that on this rep vs. the Lions. He begins the play by going to the right before violently swiping the guard's hands which gives him an open path to the quarterback.
Gregg Rousseau and Deone Walker have both been one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL at their respective positions, ranking top ten in PFF's pass rush win rate and pass rush productivity metrics, which you can see in the scatter plots below.
The Bills' defense hasn't been great early on in the season, allowing 62 points through two games. However, I'm excited to see if Rousseau and Walker continue to be elite pass rushers and how that effects the Bills' defense as they face easier opponents.
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