The Buffalo Bills looked like AFC contenders during their season opener. Buffalo took care of Houston in a 36-31 victory where Josh Allen and the offense showed absolutely no fear. Unfortunately, that was not always the case on the defensive side of the ball.

Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard explained one area where he is still learning on the job following Week 1.

“I have to learn this team, I have to learn what we need,” Leonhard said on Monday, per Jonathan Acosta. “We got more aggressive in the run game as it went on and that helped. The pass game, it was the opposite. When we pressured in the pass game, it didn't necessarily help us. In the run game it calmed us down because we were able to play downhill a little bit faster.”

The Bills allowed 31 points and 381 total yards of offense against the Texans. Buffalo eventually put the clamps on Houston's running game, limiting David Montgomery to just 60 rushing yards on 20 attempts. But the Bills had no answers for C.J. Stroud, who did whatever he wanted from the pocket.

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Leonhard noted that Buffalo struggled in situations where they saw formations that weren't previously on tape.

“There's always a chess match. There were some things that came up formationally that hadn't showed up on tape and that's just where we need to make those adjustments a little bit quicker,” Leonhard added. “Sometimes it's just win it with play style and I thought that we were a little bit hesitant sometimes to pull the trigger. In the run game, in some of those looks that we had not seen, that's a little bit of the answer sometimes. Just go be physical, get downhill and force the situation and let people play off you.”

Leonhard and the defense do not have much time to work on a solution. They have a quick turnaround before their next game against a great offensive opponent.

Next up for the Bills is a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Lions. It will be the first ever Bills game at the new Highmark Stadium.