ORCHARD PARK – Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott couldn’t help but smirk when he was asked about the challenge his defense is going to have Sunday night against Baltimore Ravens locomotive running back Derrick Henry.
Speaking specifically about his two rookie defensive tackles making their NFL debuts, TJ Sanders and Deone Walker, McDermott said, “It’s a unique experience. I don’t know where in college or prior to the NFL where they’ve tried to tackle a 250-pound running back that’s fast.”
The answer to that question is never.
There has never been a running back as big as Henry who is as fast as Henry, and what’s amazing about him as he goes into his second season with Baltimore and his 10th in the NFL is that he hasn’t diminished in any way. In fact, playing behind the Ravens’ outstanding offensive line, his 1,921 yards was his second-best year behind only the 2,027 yards he gained for Tennessee in 2020.
“I’m excited as hell, that I can tell you,” a confident Sanders said. “I know it takes multiple people to tackle Derrick Henry on Madden, so I know it’s going to take multiple people in real life. It’s just all hats to the ball and everybody flying around and for me, I’m just going to come out here and do my part.”
Added Walker, “It’s really just been about the offensive line. We haven’t really been too worried about all of them, because we know if we do our job, play in and play out, we ain’t got nothing to worry about.”
Oh, those brash rookies.
Unlike Walker and Sanders, Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard has faced the Ravens multiple times, both when they had Henry (in 2024) and when they didn’t. He fully understands the difficulty their offense presents, and that there’s plenty to worry about.
“Yeah, it’s a dynamic offense,” Bernard said. “Obviously, you got Lamar who’s a multiple time MVP, and you got Derrick Henry who’s been a rushing champion in this league for a long time. A guy that’s physical, fast, can make you miss. And at the end of the day, it’s really a couple of different styles of offenses that they can really get into.
“So that’s the detail and kind of the communication that we’re going to have to have throughout the week. And then leading into Sunday night is really understanding what type of offense we’re playing, whether it’s going to be old school downhill run game, or they’re going to spread you out and throw the ball around.”
If the Bills hope to succeed, they’ll need to be outstanding at the point of attack which in turn will help LBs Bernard and Matt Milano and defensive backs Taron Johnson, Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop fit the run.
Last year, Henry killed the Bills in Week 4 with 199 yards in the Ravens 35-10 blowout, and he had 84 in the playoff loss, scoring a touchdown in each game.
Joey Bosa and Michael Hoecht were signed in free agency and Landon Jackson was drafted in the third round mainly to upgrade a pass rush that was too inconsistent in 2024. With the other D-line additions, drafting Sanders and Walker and signing free agent Larry Ogunjobi, stopping the run was the primary focus.
It was quite an overhaul up front but the Bills knew their defensive line had to be better this season. The plan and the eventual execution of it was solid, but unfortunately, it has already gone a bit awry.
Hoecht and Ogunjobi have to sit out the first six games on PED suspensions, 2024 third-round pick DeWayne Carter is out for the season with a torn Achilles, Jackson did not pop in training camp and does not appear ready to earn a gameday jersey, and Walker and Sanders are raw rookies.
“We’ve got some new pieces and we’ve got some young pieces there, too, and it’s a work in progress,” McDermott said. “To say that we are right now where we need to be would be a lie. But it’s to be expected, right, because when you’re trying to onboard new players, onboard young players, get them to develop, it takes time and reps, and then the symmetry of, four players rushing all together, knowing where each other are going to be in the rush, that takes time as well.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills defense will swarm to ball to try to stop Derrick Henry, Ravens
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