Coming out of the bye, Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard wanted his game plans to lean into more of the attacking style that he envisioned. That included how he envisioned slowing down a potent Ravens offense led by Lamar Jackson.
Buffalo blitzed on the very first defensive snap of the game, a play that would ultimately knock Jackson out of the action with a right thumb injury. The Bills went on the blitz 19 more times Sunday afternoon, posting a 64.5% blitz rate on Ravens QB dropbacks.
While Buffalo never could have imagined it would only face Jackson for a single snap, the Bills DC went into Sunday already planning to turn up the heat regardless of who was at quarterback.
"The game plan was going to be planning on being aggressive," Leonhard said Monday.
Leonhard explained that four-man rushes can be favorable for Jackson because of his ability to extend plays and create extra chances for big plays. Since 2024, Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating and yards per pass when not blitzed or under pressure.
"Sometimes the worst thing you can do is get him off his first read and he starts extending plays and things like that. So there were definitely different elements of the game plan that were going to be aggressive and partly just to change the looks and the coverage around it," Leonhard shared.