The 2-3 Buffalo Bills might be facing the right opponent to get their defense back on track, despite the Arizona Cardinals' 4-1 record and extra couple days to prepare.
Arizona's offensive line has given up eight and nine sacks in the past two weeks against the Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams, respectively, and the team leads the league with 23 sacks allowed. That's one in nine of their pass plays through their first five games. With a weak running attack getting weaker with the loss of Ryan Williams to a shoulder injury, the Cardinals may be forced to throw just to move the ball.
"I mean that's a whole team situation," veteran guard Daryn Colledge told Kyndra de St. Aubin of ArizonaSports.com. "We've got some guys not lining up right and we've got guys on the offensive line not playing their techniques. You end up having 16 mental errors and all of a sudden the game's out of hand."
The Bills currently rank No. 19 in the NFL in sacks per game (two) and No. 17 overall with 10 sacks total. Half of those came in their Week 2 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, with four coming the following week against the Cleveland Browns. That leaves just one sack combined in their other three games against the Jets, Patriots, and 49ers. On average, Buffalo is notching a sack on just 5.5 percent of their opponents' pass plays - good for 20th in the league. Dave Wannstedt and the defensive front seven will look to get back on track against a Cardinals team seemingly ripe for the picking.
They may have to get better without Mark Anderson, who injured his knee against San Francisco in Week 5. No word has yet been given on the severity, nor a possible return in Week 6.