DT Kyle Williams: Bills defense is playing hard, but not fast

You can't blame Kyle Williams if he feels a bit frustrated at the play of the Bills' defense this season. (US Presswire)

Everyone seems to have a theory as to why Buffalo's high-priced, revamped defense has struggled so much through seven games. The Bills currently rank 31st in total defense (424.1 yards per game), 31st in points allowed (32.4 points per game) and last in the league against the run (176.9 yards per game).

DT Kyle Williams appeared to hit the nail on the head on Wednesday.

On Monday, DE Chris Kelsay said that effort on defense was an issue in Buffalo's 35-34 loss to Tennessee on Sunday. Buffalo's problems appear to go deeper than that, however. On Wednesday, Williams said that the Bills are struggling to play fast on defense, and that apprehension has had a significant domino effect.

“I think guys are playing hard but there's a difference between playing hard and playing fast,” Williams said. “What I mean by that is you play fast with your eyes -- do you know what you're looking at, do you know what to expect? Defense can't be predicated on why guy missing a gap and then we get gashed, which is what's been happening. If you're playing fast, you can make up for those things.”

“The [teams] that aren't giving up the big plays are the ones that are shutting things out. They're playing fast, when guys miss gaps people are making up for them. And I think that's really been our problem where we've been. I think guys are really, really worried about tuning in to their job -- ‘I'm in my gap and I just want to stay here to make sure I've got my job done' -- rather than playing fast and getting off the blocks and going to hit guys, get guys on the ground.”

Defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt has come under fire for the simplicity of Buffalo's 4-3 scheme, but Williams doesn't think that's a major factor in Buffalo's defensive woes.

“If you're talking about simple or complicated, has anybody seen the Bears play? They play an over defense, they play Cover 2 and they play fast and I think they're giving up the least amount of yards in the league,” Williams said. “So, the whole simple, not complicated (thing) ... there are simple defenses in the league, schemes that are complicated that are giving up yards.

"It's not about, ‘We were in Cover 3 in an under defense here when we should have done this,' that's not the case. It's all about playing fast. You can look to some of the best defenses in the league, what are they doing -- they're lining up, they know where they're supposed to be and they playing fast.”

For more updates on the Bills, follow correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSBills and @MarkLud12.