Two things struck from the Bills’ preseason opener at Washington on Saturday:
• Buffalo’s defense could only stop the Redskins on half of their 14 third-down conversions;
• Washington averaged five yards a carry on the night.
Both stats are bad news. With Marcus Stroud inside, the notion was that Buffalo’s defensive line would do a better job holding up blockers, giving a talented linebacking corps room to make plays. But Stroud didn’t make much of an impact on Saturday (he only played one series), and the rest of the defensive line didn’t either. Jason Jefferson took himself out of a few plays, and it seemed the first contact being made on most running plays came six yards past the line of scrimmage.
It’s easy to say that Trent Edwards’ development is the key to the season. If the D-line can’t make an impression, though, it’ll take more than an improved Edwards to get the Bills back in the postseason.
