Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard isn’t interested in treating crowd noise at Highmark Stadium like an excuse.
That was the message after cornerback Dee Alford said last Sunday’s loss to the Patriots didn’t feel like much of a home-field edge, pointing to how loud the building can get and how that can slow the defense down. Alford said, via Nick Suss of ESPN.com, that the crowd can get “ super loud to the point where we’re not able to get the play as fast as we need it” and that the noise can trigger communication problems for the defense.
Leonhard didn’t deny that a loud stadium creates issues. He just flipped the conversation around, arguing that the offense has to deal with even more of it and that Buffalo needs to treat the crowd as a weapon, not a burden.
“It’s always harder to communicate at home than it is on the road. If we complain about that, we are a---s,” Leonhard said.
“We have to turn that into the biggest advantage we have. As hard as it is for us, it’s significantly harder for an offense.
We have to find a way to make that an advantage for us. If we ever use that as a cop out - I have to be smart in how we game plan.
There’s certain things you can do on the road that are a little bit easier than they are at home from a communication standpoint.”
The Bills opened their new stadium by winning two of their first three games there, but they won’t return until November 1. That means it will be a while before they get a chance to see whether any adjustments can help them better handle the volume from the stands.
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