How to stop the Bills’ offense and stall the Vikings’ defense — three units that have disappointed early in the season

The new season has just begun, but two units have stood out clearly: the Buffalo Bills’ explosive offense and the Minnesota Vikings’ aggressive defense. Opposing coaches and staffs are looking for practical strategies to slow down the two teams currently dominating the early part of the championship.

As NFL reports, both teams are 2-0, and after All-22 analysis several clear approaches have emerged that opponents can follow to trouble the Bills and the Vikings.

How to stop the Buffalo Bills’ offense

The best strategy for neutralizing a highly skilled offensive team is to reduce the number of its possessions. By playing ball control and managing the game’s tempo — slowing down the offense, using time-consuming plays and avoiding going out of bounds after perimeter plays — opponents can deny the Bills the chance to show off their explosiveness. Although Buffalo shows high efficiency with few possessions, reducing the number of plays and using stops and turnovers makes the game more favorable for the slow-tempo team.

Another principle is to force Josh Allen to win from the pocket. Allen is dangerous when he leaves the pocket thanks to his strength and athletic explosiveness; to limit him, edge pressure must be synchronized to close off escape lanes in the pocket and avoid individual 1v1 rushes. Coaches should also anticipate scenarios where Allen acts as the key runner in short-yardage situations and assign dedicated spies to eliminate the advantage of a quarterback who can also work as a running back.

To make passing harder, the middle of the field must be closed off. Dalton Kincaid is the link between the line and the outside and is catching most of the key passes in short and intermediate zones. By using a safety who reads and jumps the middle of the field or “bracket” coverage with a dedicated linebacker and safety, teams can force Buffalo to look for solutions on the perimeter and test 1v1 matchups against DJ Moore and others.

How to survive against the Minnesota Vikings’ defense

Brian Flores uses many exotic pressures and pre-snap disguises that confuse quarterbacks at the line of scrimmage. To force them to reveal their looks, opposing teams must change the game’s tempo — with fast tempo, no-huddle and cadence changes — to reduce confusion and show pre-snap how the defense will align.

To avoid the multiple pressures Flores uses, it is important to win early downs with quick passes, screens and ground plays. With a very high blitz rate, the ball must come out of the pocket quickly to keep the quarterback upright and create safe 4-plus-yard gains on every down. Successfully stringing together these kinds of plays can force the pressure system to soften and open up opportunities for bigger plays later.

When the opportunity arises, teams should dare to attack deep. The aggressive defense produces space on the right and left of the field if the pass defenders vacate to cover shorter ground. Using max protection in certain situations and looking for deep passes can force the Vikings to abandon their exotic tactics and allow mistakes that create big gains for the opposing offense.

Three units have looked notably weak in these early weeks, and a clear example is the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense. The expected relationship between Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert has yet to produce the expected results: the Chargers have disappointed in their first two games, and the team has struggled to execute complicated pre-snap motions and offensive cohesion. According to the NFL, these problems show that even strong projects can take time to gel and be reshaped in real life.