The 2022 NFL season started out not with a bang, but a blowout. The Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams hosted the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium to open the new season and looked to start their reign off with a win. Instead, their title defense began with a whimper. The Bills demolished the Rams, winning 31-10, and they did it with strength in numbers on the defensive line.
Both teams underwent significant changes in the offseason. Andrew Whitworth, the Rams’ stalwart left tackle, had ridden off into the sunset after success in Super Bowl 56 and was replaced by the talented, but not yet battle-tested Joseph Noteboom. Austin Corbett also left a hole in the interior offensive line which needed to be replaced by Coleman Shelton.
Defensively, the Rams lost one of their biggest playmakers, Von Miller, to the Bills. And sure enough, Miller played a large part in Buffalo’s Week 1 victory. The Bills’ offense was electric at times, opening the game with a nine-play, 76-yard drive that resulted in a 26-yard touchdown pass to wideout Gabe Davis, but it was the defensive line that was emblematic of their success.
The Rams’ offensive line was shaken early on, with Miller hitting a ghost rush on Noteboom before sacking Matt Stafford on their first offensive drive of the game. It was a sign of things to come. The Bills’ defense sacked Stafford seven times and consistently forced him into poor decisions by putting him under pressure.
Luckily for the Rams, the Bills’ defensive line beat up their offensive line in ways that only they can. Five separate Bills defenders tallied a sack, demonstrating just how much depth the line has. Miller is a perennial All-Pro candidate when healthy, and Gregory Rousseau, Boogie Basham, and A.J. Epenesa all have bright futures ahead of them – with Rousseau pegged as a potential breakout star in 2022. That sort of depth on the edge is rare. But it doesn’t stop there. Ed Oliver’s stature as an interior pass-rusher is growing, and Jordan Phillips can chip in with a pressure or two.
All of the Bills’ pressure came on four-man rushes Thursday night. The defense didn’t blitz once. They kept a roof over the head of the offense, dropped seven defenders back in coverage, and said: “You figure it out!” to Stafford and Sean McVay.
And they couldn’t.
McVay relied heavily on 11 personnel to create openings in the passing game but could have opted to bring in a second tight end or an extra offensive lineman to provide Stafford with some more protection.
The Bills’ defense dominated in every facet of the game. They held the Rams’ running game in check, allowing just 52 rushing yards on 18 carries, with a third of those yards coming on an 18-yard scamper from Darrell Henderson. It was an early message sent to the rest of the league.
Not many teams can throw bodies on bodies on bodies at you, especially while never blitzing. But that’s the strength in numbers that the Bills have. Things will get easier for the Rams as the weeks go on. McVay will surely put his players in better positions to succeed. But for the Bills, the hope is that their defensive line can hold this standard for the rest of the season.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
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