Buffalo Bills 3-4 Defense Played A Solid Game

Good but not good enough.
That seemed to be the general consensus on how the Buffalo Bills' new-look 3-4 defense performed in Sunday's 15-10 opening-day loss to Miami.

The Dolphins gained 296 total net yards, but only 119 came in the second half, when the Miami offense produced just a field goal.

Still, when it came time to make the critical stop or get the ball back for their stuck-in-the-mud offense, the Bills' defensive unit couldn't do it.

"A day like this, it's on our shoulders," said linebacker Chris Kelsay, who in the 3-4 alignment has shifted off the line of scrimmage from his old position of defensive end. "(We need to) get some turnovers, get some sacks, kill some drives."

Considering the weapons in the Dolphins arsenal — running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, wide receiver Brandon Marshall and tight end Anthony Fasano — surrendering just one touchdown was commendable.

"We don't have our heads down," strong safety Donte Whitner said.

The Dolphins moved the ball efficiently in the first half, scoring points on two of their first three possessions.

They drove from their own 49 to the Buffalo 14 before settling for a 32-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter on their first possession. Quarterback Chad Henne then directed an impressive 11-play, 65-yard drive for a touchdown 3:44 into the second quarter.

Henne threw over the middle 21 yards to Fasano, who beat linebacker Paul Posluszny deep at the Buffalo 5-yard line and was tackled at the 1. Brown leaped over the line for the touchdown on the next play.

"When we transitioned to the 3-4 a lot of people thought we were going to have a lot of problems," Whitner said. "We didn't really have a lot of problems with our outside backers. We wished we could have taken that first touchdown back, but we can't."

The Dolphins chewed up nearly seven more minutes of clock late in the second quarter but couldn't produce points as Carpenter's 46-yard field goal into the wind drifted wide left.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins never gained more than one first down on any of four possessions. But when the defense needed to make a critical three-and-out stop late in the fourth quarter, they failed.

"It would have been nice to get off the field at some opportunistic times," coach Chan Gailey said.

Also lacking: Turnovers. The Bills forced none.

"We need to try to force them into some bad throws," safety George Wilson said.

Which is why a solid performance wasn't good enough.

"Whether we played well," nose tackle Kyle Williams said, "or we played bad, we lost."