The Bills came out blitzing on the first defensive snap Sunday and never let up.
And that plan didn't change when Ravens QB Lamar Jackson left the game following the first play.
"The game plan was going to be planning on being aggressive," defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said Monday.
Buffalo brought pressure on 64.5% of the Ravens quarterback dropbacks in a 36-10 win at Highmark Stadium. The defense took the ball away three times, sacked the quarterback four times and held Baltimore to 144 total yards while making stars like receiver Zay Flowers and running back Derek Henry non-factors.
Jackson's throwing-hand thumb hit Greg Rousseau's arm on his first pass attempt and he never came back. Backup Tyler Huntley left with a toe injury in relief
of Jackson, and un-drafted rookie signal caller Joe Fagnano finished the game.
The plan held because it was built for the Ravens offense. Still, Leonhard explained that a four-man rush plays into Jackson's hands, letting him stretch plays alive and turn broken ones into big gains.
"Sometimes the worst thing you can do is get him off his first read and he starts extending plays and things like that," Leonhard shared. "So there were definitely different elements of the game plan that were going to be aggressive and partly just to change the looks and the coverage around it."
Buffalo sent a rusher on the opening snap and 19 more after it.
"I thought we did a great job of designing different things to get speed in different areas of the field and create levels to our rush to allow guys to really impact the quarterback," the defensive coordinator added.
The week also brought a change behind the scenes. For the first time this season, the first-year coordinator called plays from the coach's booth instead of the sideline, a move he settled on during the bye.
"I just felt like it was going to give me the best opportunity to call a clean game," he shared. "I can sit up there and just kind of get in the lab and get my thoughts rolling, get ahead of things. I know what I'm looking for from a substitution standpoint and different areas of the field."
Leonhard said he will keep calling the game from up there, which bodes well for Buffalo based on the early results.
The numbers backed the switch. The Bills defense gave up its lowest point total, yardage total, yards-per-play figure and third-down conversion rate of the season, and its three takeaways were a season high while the four sacks matched one.
"We learned a lot during the bye and kind of said there's going to be some things that changed," Leonhard said. "And I think guys really bought into what the plan was throughout the week. It was by far the best week we've had from a preparation standpoint. You're not guaranteed to get results when that happens, but it happened. So I'm just happy for them."
The defense played the way Leonhard drew it up, and played better overall with the DC up top in the box.
The Bills (6-1) go back on the road for "Monday Night Football," visiting the Vikings on Nov. 9th.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills' Jim Leonhard makes decision on where he will call plays moving forward
