ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Bills are 3-3. And in the AFC, that leaves their season very much alive and well.
But for the second time this year, Rex Ryan's defense allowed an offense to come into Ralph Wilson Stadium, seize control of the pace and tenor of game, and break 30 points on the vaunted group. Worse yet, it's the quarterbacks in question -- Tom Brady and Andy Dalton -- who've been in command when faced with a defensive line comprised of a quartet of accomplished and handsomely-paid pass rushers.
That hasn't been lost on Mario Williams.
"The biggest difference I see, you look at the last few years and obviously our numbers, to speak of the guys in our room, the D-line, we're going," Williams told NFL.com late Sunday after the game. "We're playing the run, we're playing the pass. When you look at the numbers from last year and compare them to this year, we're dropping a lot."
The Bills came into Sunday's game ranked 27th in sacks per pass attempt, and failed to register one on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton during Cincinnati's 34-21 win. Buffalo has nine sacks on the season, putting them on a 16-game pace for 24.
Led by Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes -- a group now on contracts worth a total of about $50 million per year -- the Bills were first in the NFL with 54 sacks a year ago.
"I don't know if it's the look, what they're putting us in, but you have four guys who've been known to get after the quarterback and are disruptive against the run and making tackles for losses and all that," Williams said. "Now, 90 percent of the time, you only have three of us. Either one guy is gone or ..."
Williams was then asked if it was missed assignments. He responded, "No, it's the call. You got three guys going, you got three guys. Obviously, we're gonna go back and look at it and see how many times that guy drops or how many times I drop, how many times there are just three of us doing this or that. That's the difference. I mean, it is a difference. I'm not using it as an excuse, but it is a difference. It's not the same as far as that goes."
It was expected that, early on, the offense would take time to find itself. The defense wasn't expected to need much adjustment.
"It's simple, those four guys, no matter what else we do, y'all are going," said Williams. "I know for a fact, and I'm not questioning anything, but I know for a fact, I drop a lot myself. And I think last week, watching the film, Kyle dropped six-, seven-plus (times). You can go down the line and say the same thing. Marcell (Dareus) typically doesn't, but Jerry does. You got guys that you're saying gotta be disruptive and get after the quarterback.
"It might not even mean being aggressive. It's just, us four, we need to go. I mean, we have a lot at stake because of who we are, who we've been, the amount of money this team put in up front. You gotta let 'em go, or what's the point of it?"
Asked whether he'd approach Ryan with his concerns, Williams said that neither he nor his linemates would make demands of the coaches.
It's just clear to them changes are needed.
"At the end of the day, the defensive scheme, we either gotta tweak it or figure out what can we do now to change what we do to accommodate it," he said.
Wake up and watch with the world. The NFL is live on Yahoo. For the first time ever, the NFL is streaming a live game on Yahoo. Bills vs. Jaguars live from London, Sunday, October 25th 9:30 am ET.
