ORCHARD PARK, NY — A new defensive philosophy can backfire. Instruct a pass rusher to drastically change the way they do their job and the result can be insubordination, utter disarray.
Eleven years ago, inside the same practice facility, the richest player on the Buffalo Bills essentially quit. As this 2015 season careened off course, angst reached its apex.
Mario Williams was fed up with the scheme. (Some teammates thought he had a point.)
Mario Williams was also checking out. (Some teammates were disgusted.)
I was covering the team for The Buffalo News back then. One veteran on the team put the state of affairs in blunt terms, declaring that Williams cared more about his remote-control cars than playing football for the Bills. Fun times.
“It’s been clear to me that Mario doesn’t care about anybody but himself,” this player said. “He followed that up by not giving any effort during the season and complaining about the scheme instead of manning up and saying he played like crap and doesn’t care.
“Zero effort. The tape speaks for itself. … He takes two steps and stops.”
Williams was no fan of standing up in a 3-4 defense after racking up sacks in Jim Schwartz’s Point A-to-Point B scheme one season prior. He had allies. Even Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly weighed in: “Didn’t we pay a lot of money for him to hit the quarterback?”
Whoever was right, whoever was wrong, everyone could agree the situation was exceptionally ugly.
Now, contrast all of this to today’s defensive end asked to play outside linebacker in a new scheme.
Greg Rousseau is even playing for a Rex disciple in coordinator Jim Leonhard.
But the man they call “Groot?” He’s in love with these X’s and O’s. He’s in the midst of a career year. It’s hard to imagine where the current Bills defense would be without him.
Seven games in, Rousseau has been one of the most disruptive defensive players in the sport.
So, how?
Go Long is your home for longform.
Thank you for supporting independent journalism.
Start with the big picture. Months before coaching Game No. 1, new head coach Joe Brady detailed his rise and laid out his vision. Central to everything was an unabashed “they have to play us” mentality. Offensively, that means liberating Josh Allen. Good news on this front. Statistically, through eight week, this is the best Bills offense this century. Defensively, that means more pressure. A lot more pressure. He did not want to let opposing offenses migrate down the field 10, 12, 15 plays at a time.
Philosophically, the new scheme promised to be high-risk, high-reward.
An attacking defense to marry an attacking offense.
Given how every Bills season has ended his entire pro career, Rousseau’s all-in.
“We’re going to get a three and out. We’re going to take the ball away. We’re going to get a sack-fumble, a pick, whatever it is,” Rousseau explained to Go Long in a recent 1 on 1. “That’s how you do it, bro. The whole sitting back and trying to make them... that’s what we used to do last year. That’s what we tried to do the last five years: ‘Make them go all the way down the field.’ No, we don’t want you all the way down the field. We want to stop you right here. Not over there at 4-yard line and you took eight minutes off the clock away from the best quarterback in the world.
“So now our best quarterback in the world can’t be on the field. We’re trying to step on people’s throats.”
In theory, this defense foments mesmerizing havoc with an array of blitzes. Distilled to its simplest form, this new Bills defense either takes the ball away from you or you score a touchdown. And if you score? Hey, it’s not the worst thing in the world since the ball is back in Allen’s hands.
Thing is, Leonhard didn’t bring the house much through the first six games.
Buffalo’s blitz rate never exceeded 39 percent, per Next Gen Stats.
Fresh off the bye week that changed in a 36-10 win over the shorthanded Baltimore Ravens. The new DC blitzed on 64.5 percent of dropbacks. The rest of the schedule features much better quarterbacks than Joe Fagnano, but this is a promising sign.
All along, the defense’s saving grace has been the edge rusher who’s now lining up in a two-point stance.
Next to the quarterback, Rousseau is most responsible for this team’s AFC-best 6-1 start.
He ranks first in hurries (11), first in QB hits (22), second in sacks (seven) and second in forced fumbles (four).
His blocked field goal also keyed a shootout win over the Los Angeles Rams.
There are many reasons for this Groot is much different than the last Groot. He hired a new trainer over the offseason, Todd Rice, who has him feeling fresher into each game. Rousseau is spending many more hours getting his body in peak shape.
Mainly, it’s his new vantage point.
Standing up, Rousseau can now see the entire offense.
“And feel the game more,” Rousseau says, “really feel what’s going on, how the offense is trying to attack us — it’s a lot better than being in a three-point stance. Sometimes, I get a three-point stance and will be in a six-tech in front of a tight end and it’s almost like you’re making yourself smaller. I’m a tall guy: 6-6, 6-7. You get a stance, you make yourself shorter. You make yourself play smaller. But standing up? Lining up the entire formation, being like: ‘Hey, I’m doing this or I’m doing this, I got this, I got this two-way go.’ It’s just more definitive to me.”
All of us tend to make football more complicated than it needs to be.
Before, his eyes were down. A three-point stance might’ve aided his get-off burst, but what good is that burst if you don’t always know what play is coming?
Now, his eyes are up. He’s seeing a completely new game… and it’s triggering big plays.
This chat, Rousseau points to his strip-sack vs. the Detroit Lions.
Eyes up, he knew the Lions would try to block him with tight end Brock Wright. Years past, such an adversary would’ve surprised him because his head’s down in a nine-tech position.
“You’re looking at grass and feet when you’re in the stance, and kind of the ball. So it’s going to shock you,” Rousseau says. “But in a two-point stance? I was just like, ‘Bro, when he tries to come out here and block me, I’m swiping his hands out and going straight to the quarterback. I can feel it’s going to be play-action.”
Seated here, Rousseau holds his hands over his eyes like an oversized visor. This is what it felt like playing defense his first five pro seasons. The “forehead pad” obstructed his view. Head down, he could only compute a fraction of action before the snap. It’s a simpler pass-rushing life and — for many players, like Mario Williams — simpler is better. They prefer reading their one key. A see ball, get ball approach.
Rousseau acknowledges there are pros and cons to both stances, but for him? He bluntly states he never wants to play in a three-point stance the rest of his career.
By staying one step ahead mentally, he’s playing faster than ever.
When the Bills shifted from Sean McDermott’s 4-3 to Leonhard’s 3-4, Rousseau wasn’t sure if this would all feel natural or unnatural. He was optimistic. He had success the handful of times he stood up last season. After coming so close to sacks for so long, it feels good to finally drop the hammer. Knowing what the offense is trying to do is allowing this 6-foot-6, 266-pounder to maximize the physical traits that’ve been there all along.
“It is satisfying,” Rousseau says. “Can’t even lie. It definitely is because I was close a lot of times and the quarterback throws the ball. But those plays this year, he’s holding it and I’m getting there a little bit quicker.”
New training helped, too. Rousseau found Rice through ex-Bill Joey Bosa last season. They’ve zeroed in on overall flexibility and lower-body strength to help him drive through contact. Into the season, Rice has sent him different exercises to work on from home.
Rousseau wasn’t shy in discussing the “monster” on this D-Line: Deone Walker. He predicts the 2025 fourth-round pick will be in Canton one day. Of course, he harbors similar dreams for himself. For now? His first Pro Bowl berth would suffice. At this clip, he’s a shoe-in. Rousseau is currently on pace for 17 sacks and seven forced fumbles.
Nobody’s been more valuable on this side of the ball — he’s covering up some troubling blemishes at linebacker and defensive back.
Indeed, the Bills have a ton of work to do before thinking they can harass the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Drake Maye, whoever in January. Rousseau says it’s on the players to look in the mirror and ask what they can do better. But he’s confident — very confident — the entire Bills defense will hit its stride by then.
Rousseau calls this playbook “boom or bust,” adding that it’s on the players to bring the boom.
He’s convinced the bend-don’t-break playoff days are over.
“You can’t sit back,” Rousseau says. “You’ve got to make plays. You have to win your 1 on 1’s up front. You’ve got to hit them and repeat it over and over and over until the game hits triple zeros.
“If we can hold these teams under 20, we’re going to win a lot of games. We’re going to the Super Bowl.”
There’s hope in the tip of the spear who’s seeing a whole new game.
He won’t be fussing around with remote-control cars, either.
Related:
‘Making the impossible plays possible:’ Why DJ Moore changes the Buffalo Bills
‘Legacy:’ Terry Pegula opens up on his mission to keep the Bills in Buffalo
‘This is our identity:’ A chat with NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul on keeping the Bills in WNY
Longform:
The Wisdom of Justice Hill
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Arms crossed, he stares off toward the sprawling practice fields in the distance. Justice Hill is a seasoned vet now. This is Year 8, and he has spent the entirety of his NFL career with these Baltimore Ravens. Despite all excruciating playoff defeats, his full beard consists of exactly zero white strands.
Agree wholeheartedly with attacking on defense. Having Bowen as DC for the Giants the two plus years prior to this season and seeing leads disappear late in games playing that “prevent” D. Prevent defense means preventing you from winning games in my humble opinion. I also believe guys want to play with that boom or bust mentality. It’s puts the onus on them to make the plays that lead to wins. It’s not a gamble if you have the guys.