Jim Leonhard isn’t pretending the Buffalo Bills’ 2-0 start has solved anything on defense.
After Thursday night’s win over the Detroit Lions, the Bills’ first-year defensive coordinator made it clear he sees a unit that has flashed real dominance and also too much volatility through two games. His message was blunt: the defense has not been steady enough to trust.
“We're kind of a boom or bust defense, and that's not okay long-term,” Leonhard said. “That's not sustainable.”
That was the heart of his postgame assessment. Buffalo has had stretches where it has smothered opponents, forcing quick possessions and keeping offenses from settling in. But Leonhard said the flip side has been just as obvious: once a drive starts to unravel, the Bills have had trouble putting out the fire.
“When things have gone well in a drive, I mean, I think we're pretty much either three and out or touchdown right now over two games,” Leonhard said. “I don't know exactly what the numbers are, but that's not far off from the truth.”
Against Detroit, Leonhard pointed to the defense’s work against Jahmyr Gibbs in the run game as an example of what Buffalo can do when it’s locked in. Roughly half of Gibbs’ carries went for no gain, helping force the Lions into second- and third-and-long situations. But that advantage only matters if the defense can finish the series.
“We have to have a little bit more emotional stability as drives go on and just continue to fight and find ways to get off the field,” Leonhard said.
That’s where the problems have shown up most clearly. Third down and the red zone remain the biggest issues, and Leonhard connected those concerns directly to what happened against Houston as well.
“The third downs and the red zone, just as it was in Houston, it's not clean enough because you're going to give up touchdowns and you're going to make games more interesting than they need to be,” Leonhard said.
The strange part of Buffalo’s opening two weeks is that the defense has still been part of a 2-0 team despite allowing 31 points per game. Leonhard didn’t dodge that reality. He said he left the field after the Lions game angry, then came away more encouraged once he studied the film.
“We're not playing our best ball,” Leonhard said. “The numbers say that. We're all pissed off, but at the same time we're 2-0 and we're identifying our issues and we're going to go jump on them.”
That’s the line Leonhard seems to be walking right now: frustrated with the inconsistency, but not ready to dismiss the flashes that suggest better football is in there.
He also said the Bills are still sorting out exactly what this defense is going to look like under his direction.
“We're still trying to figure that out,” Leonhard said when asked about the defense's identity.
For now, the job is straightforward. Clean up the mistakes, tighten up on third down and in the red zone, and demand more from a defense that has been good enough to win, but not yet good enough to feel settled.
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