The Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills will square off in a “Thursday Night Football” battle to kick off Week 2. The Bills went through a coaching change this offseason, and while an internal promotion of Joe Brady to head coach kept their offense intact, hiring Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator has the Bills’ defense shifting from a 42 to a 34 front.
Let’s take a closer look at the Bills’ coaching staff, the scheme they run, and some scouting notes from last week’s game along with some previously
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Bills head coach: Joe Brady
NFL coaching seasons: Entering ninth season in the NFL
Offensive coordinator: Four; Bills 2024-25 and Panthers 2020-21
Passing game coordinator: LSU 2019 (National Championship – QB Joe Burrow)
Influences: Sean Payton
Coached under: Payton (Saints), McDermott (Bills), Matt Rhule (Panthers), Ed Orgeron (LSU)
Playcaller: Yes
Dan Campbell coached alongside Brady during the 2017-18 seasons in New Orleans, and has this to say about the start to Brady’s head coaching career:
“I know Joe Brady very well. That’s a heck of a start there.”
Offensive coordinator: Pete Carmichael
NFL coaching seasons: Entering 27th season in the NFL
Offensive coordinator seasons: Entering 16th season
Previous coaching positions: Senior offensive assistant, passing game coordinator, QB coach, WR coach, TE coach
Influences: Sean Payton (20 seasons), Marty Schottenheimer, Pete Carmichael Sr. (Father)
Coached under: Payton (Saints, Broncos), Schottenheimer (Chargers, Washington), Chris Palmer (Browns)
Detroit staff connection: John Fox, Senior Assistant (with Lions in 2023)
Offensive scheme
Passing game: Pro-Spread
Running scheme: Man, Inside-Zone
Scouting notes:
- Efficient offense due to success in the run game and quick pass completions
- Spread philosophies at their core
- Heavy influences from Payton (Saints) and Bengals-style (how they use Joe Burrow)
- Week 1: 11 personnel 33% of snaps, 12 for 12%, 13 for 40%
- Note: Bills spent so much time in 13 in Week 1 because Texans stayed in nickel sets
- 60/40 pass-run split in Week 1
- QB Josh Allen can throw to all levels of the field
- Tested Texans deep in Week 1 more than he’s done in the past
- Under center 65% of the time in Week 1
- Play-action 41% of the time in Week 1
- Allen has 81 career rushing TDs (most among QBs in NFL history)
- North-South rushing attack runs right at the teeth of the defense
- Week 1 blocking percentages: Man roughly 40%, Inside-Zone 30%
Dan Campbell on Bills’ offense:
“Can’t say enough about this quarterback. He’s a catalyst for them. And it’s a good O-line. They’ve got weapons, and a good back.”
“They have three tight ends. They have three real guys that have three different roles that they’re all three pretty good at. And (Jackson Hawes) 85 can block a little bit. We liked him coming out and he proved to be a pretty good blocker last year. So, he’s kind of their heavy-Y. And then Dalton (Kincaid), 86, he’s a mismatch in the pass game, man. He’s one of these big skill, get through the defense, one-on-one matchups. And then (Dawson) Knox does it all. He does everything. He’s the guy, he’s the jack of all trades and he makes it right. He’s kind of the glue that, ‘What do you need? I’m the release guy, I’m the blocker, I’m the hybrid H-back, I’m the split me out one-on-one.’ He does it all.”
Defensive coordinator: Jim Leonhard
NFL seasons as a player: 10 years at safety (Bills, Ravens, Jets, Broncos, Saints, Browns)
NFL coaching seasons: 3 years in the NFL (8 in college)
Defensive coordinator seasons: First-year
Previous roles: DBs coach, passing game coordinator, assistant head coach (Broncos)
Influences: Rex Ryan, Mike Pettine, and Vance Joseph for scheme; Sean Payton for coaching style
Coached under: Payton (Broncos), Joseph (Broncos), Bret Bielema (Illinois), Paul Chryst (Wisconsin)
Played for: Pettine (Browns, Bills, Jets), Ryan (Jets, Ravens), Payton (Saints), John Fox (Broncos), Jack Del Rio (Broncos), John Harbaugh (Ravens), Dick Jauron (Bills)
Defensive scheme
Base: 3-4 Base, attacking front
Coverage: Zone-heavy
Scouting notes (from Week 1):
- Defense modeled after the Broncos 34 attacking scheme
- Big defensive shift after previously playing in a 4-2 front; required new personnel
- Defensive philosophy switch will take time to adapt
- 5-man front in base (3 down DL, 2 pass-rushing LB) – roughly 40% of defensive snaps in Week 1
- 4-man front in subpackages (2 DL and 2 PR-LB) – roughly 60%
- Vs. 11 personnel: faced 42 snaps, 25 in nickel (36% of snaps) and 17 in dime (24%)
- Vs. 12, 13, and Jumbo: 30 snaps, 28 in Base defense (39%)
- Picks and Stunts are foundations of pass rush
- Pressure on 36% of passing snaps
- Blitz 26% of snaps
- Zone coverage around 80% — Cover-3 was highest at 31%, then Cover-6 (22%), Cover-4 (19%), Cover-2 (7%)
- Man 18% —mainly Cover-2 (10%) and Cover-1 (8%)
Dan Campbell on Saints’ defense:
“This defensive line is their catalyst over there. (DT) Ed Oliver and (EDGE Greg) Rousseau, man, really good player. Length, explosive. They’ve got (EDGE Bradley) Chubb on the other end. Big boy in the middle, man. That’s an active defense and it was a big win for them (in Week 1).”
