1. Bills ready to bounce back in Nashville
Safety Micah Hyde joined WGR this week to talk about what he has seen in the team through four weeks of play. After facing the first loss of the season to the Patriots, Hyde understands what this team is capable of with the talent in the locker room.
"We do feel good," Hyde said. "I know we took a loss; it was a hard fought loss. But at the end of the day, we know what we have in this locker room. No one is backing down. No one is thinking the season is over, we are 3-1. We are fine and we are ready to bounce back next week at Tennessee."
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw his first interception of the season against the Bills on a 93-yard drive. Hyde was in the end zone to pick the pass off and said the interception had to do with film study.
"It's an amazing feeling to go out there and make a play," Hyde explained. "To get a pick on a play where I looked at Poyer and said I'm going to get this, stay back. Then, I go and get it. You put in all that film study and it's just rewarding. That's why I love the game of football."
Buffalo's defense has held opposing offenses to under 400 yards in 16-straight games, the second longest streak in the NFL. Brady finished Sunday's game with 150 passing yards and a 45.9 rating. Hyde believes the defense is playing so well because of their IQ.
"I think on this defense we have a lot of instinctive guys, a lot of guys that anticipate routes and plays," Hyde said. "I think that's why we are so successful right now."
In Week 5, the Bills defense will face a quarterback in Marcus Mariota who has yet to throw an interception this season.
2. One analyst believes Buffalo has the NFL's best coached defense
Sports Illustrated and The MMQB NFL analyst Andy Benoit joined One Bills Live to talk about what he has seen from Buffalo's defense so far this season.
"I've liked what I've seen from Buffalo the last four Sundays," Benoit said. "They have been tremendous to watch on film. I think they look like the best coached defense in the NFL so far."
Benoit thinks the defense is playing at such a high level because of the way they understand the scheme.
"They play fast across the board and they play fundamentally sound football," Benoit said. "Those two things are symptomatic of players who feel very comfortable in a scheme. I think it's a relatively simple scheme from the defensive perspective. I don't think it looks so simple from an offensive perspective."
From Benoit's perspective, the Bills are successful when they blitz.
"They don't blitz a lot in Buffalo, they didn't blitz a lot in Carolina when McDermott was running that defense," Benoit explained. "When they do blitz it is highly efficient and highly effective. Just watching the film when they blitz, far more often than not, they get some kind of benefit out of that."
When asked who stands out the most on defense, the answer was second year player Tremaine Edmunds.
"Tremaine Edmunds would be the first one (that stands out)," said Benoit. "I think he can be a top five linebacker real soon. He looked lost in his rookie season, he probably was lost, he was really young and got rushed into the lineup. He improved a lot last year each week, he looked smarter and more comfortable. This year, not only does he look smarter and more comfortable, there is an assertiveness to him. He is almost dictating parts of the game now. His coverage awareness has really improved."
3. McDermott: We're changing a mindset here
Head coach Sean McDermott made it clear that there are no moral victories. Even though the Bills had opportunities to win against the Patriots, it didn't count on the win column once the score went final. In year three, McDermott wants his team's mindset to change to expecting to win every game.
"We want to win every game, right?" McDermott said. "We're highly competitive people and I believe we're changing a mindset here as well as the culture and part of changing the culture is changing the mindset of expecting to (win) instead of hoping to."
McDermott can see the mindset of the team shifting through four weeks.
"I believe that's the direction we're headed," McDermott explained. "Anytime you lose from the time you're this tall to the time you're a pro football player in this case, it's hard. But it's important that you keep your mind about yourself and you take ownership of your part, your 1/11th of it, and then you apply it next week to grow stronger."
