Bills Counting On Improvement From Second-Year Defenders

After a hectic weekend, I've finally gotten around to listening to Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey's appearance on The John DiTullio Show (WHTK 1280 AM) from last Friday. In that interview, Gailey spoke of the team's need to improve defensively, and cited three defenders entering their second seasons as players to build around.

"I thought the young defensive players that we drafted this past year really came on and played well," Gailey said. "Arthur Moats, Torell Troup, Alex Carrington - I thought they all three got better as the year went on. I think it gives us some hope for next year."

Gailey also gave a somewhat honest appraisal of the three main facets of his defense: pass defense, run defense, and pass rush.

"At times, our pass defense was pretty good," Gailey said. "At times, our run defense was OK - never what I would call good. At times our pass rush was OK. We've got some work to do on the defensive side of the ball, and we understand that, and we're going to get it done."

DiTullio then mentioned the team's lack of turnovers forced, and Gailey talked about the team's inability to stop the run as the centerpiece of the rest of their problems defensively.

"It all stems from not stopping the run," Gailey said. "The key for us this year is we've gotta go find ways to stop the run game."