Micah Hyde will tell you that as poorly as the Buffalo Bills’ defense has played the past two weeks, and for much of the season, it’s not far from returning to the impressive form it showed through most of 2019.
How close?
"Very close, very close,” the veteran safety told reporters on a video call Thursday.
With the NFL trade deadline a little more than a week away, there has been considerable speculation about the Bills needing to make a significant move to shore up their defense. Hyde doesn’t see the need for panic in the form of wholesale changes.
As far as he's concerned, the Bills have the necessary ingredients to come out of their tailspin after back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Kansas City, and continue on the promising path that began with a 4-0 start.
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“I think the personnel that we have, guys that we have on this defense, it's not the players,” Hyde said. “We've just got to go out there and really dial in and focus. We don't need to ship guys out, bring you guys in or something like that. I think that as long as you remain calm, everybody takes a step back and really looks at themselves in the mirror and realizes what more can they do – stop making the same mistakes and learn from each and every game – we'll be fine.
“But we've got to continue to practice it. We have our walk-throughs for a reason, guys are meeting separately for a reason, just to try to get this thing figured out so that when Sunday comes or Monday or, shoot, Tuesday night ... once Tuesday night comes, we’ll be ready to go.”
The Bills can only hope rescheduled games, such as their Tuesday and Monday night encounters with the Titans and Chiefs, respectively, are behind them. In front of them is Sunday’s clash with the 0-6 New York Jets and a schedule that gets increasingly difficult.
At some point, Hyde said, the Bills need to find their defensive identity and get back to the level of a year ago when they ranked third in the NFL in total yards and second in points allowed. After six games, the Bills’ defense is 23rd in the league in total yards and 21st in points allowed.
“I know it’s Week Seven, but you’re always trying to find your identity as a defense and you want to continue to get better,” he said. “Obviously, that wasn't the case the last couple weeks. We felt like we left some plays out there, but finding an identity on defense is huge. And we're still trying to do that. And with guys that are in and out of the lineup, and all that, not creating excuses, but we've got to find that rhythm to be able to get off the field on third down, tighten up in the red zone, just stuff that we've been doing here in the past for so long.
“I think every season is different. In ’17, we went on that three-game skid where we couldn't stop a soul. We saw the light and we found it after that, and I think that's when we found identity. I feel like we're still trying to find it in this defense. Trust me, we're working every single day to try to do that.”
In the latest edition of One-on-One Coverage, The Buffalo News spoke with Hyde by phone about the Bills’ defensive struggles and what’s needed to fix them, the sting of losing two in a row, Tre’Davious White’s contract extension and Hyde’s thoughts on Josh Allen and some of his other teammates.
Buffalo News: After your 4-0 start, is it fair to say this team might have gotten caught up in its success and lost some focus in the last two weeks?
Micah Hyde: We got off to a hot start. We had a little bump in the road going down to Tennessee. I'm definitely not creating excuses or anything like that, but just not really knowing who you're playing, what day you're playing on, all that stuff that just kind of threw a wrench in the shuffle. It was just kind of weird.
Now, like I said, I'm not creating excuses. I'm just saying the last couple games, we had short weeks preparing for some very good opponents. We just didn't play well. And, so, we're trying to get back to the basics this week and try go to New York and get (win) No. 5.
BN: You’ve said the defense’s identity changes year to year. If it’s something you will know when you see it, what will you be seeing?
MH: I'll be seeing basically players that are able to make the calls before the coordinator or the head coach, whoever's making the calls, are able to make them. So, for example, first-and-10, you have your base calls, you know exactly what you're supposed to do, you're playing fast. Second-and-long or second-and-short, you know what your calls are, you're playing fast. Third down ... you know your bread-and-butter plays that you're going to run and know what they're going to run and how you can beat them. That's playing in a rhythm, that's playing fast.
I think that a defense, especially late in the season when you know what calls throughout the season have worked, when you dial them up, your hair's on fire, you're flying around and you're having fun. That is a defense that's playing in rhythm.
BN: Why isn't it possible for the defense to have the same identity each year?
MH: Players change, defenses may change, some calls that worked two years ago might not necessarily work this year just because you're playing different offenses and just different types of teams. And the league's kind of transitioning into, obviously, a pass-heavy league, but with tight ends that are no longer down in the three-point stance. They're kind of more standing up. They can be spread out and the calls that you made four years ago aren't necessarily working now. So, stuff may change, and due to that, your identity may change.
BN: How difficult have these past two weeks been, especially for the defense?
MH: I think you always deal with adversity each and every season. If this was all the adversity that we had to face this season, I'd be happy because it's coming early against some good opponents. But at the end of the day, I just step back and kind of see what I can do better, what this defense can do better. And everybody's kind of seeing what they can do to help out this team.
I don't think there's any frustration. Frustration hasn't even started to set in my mind. I think it's just more about that it kind of encourages you to come out there and get another opportunity. And that’s what we have this week.
BN: What do you do to address what’s going wrong within your position group?
MH: Each and every week, guys meet with each other. With the DBs, you meet a lot together. We'll have dinner sometimes and watch a little film. Same thing this week. Guys try to pick each other's brains, see what they see with this next opponent and just do everything they have do to correct the mistakes that we've made in the last couple games.
BN: How do you avoid not overlooking the Jets, who you've beaten once this season and are heavily favored to beat again?
MH: This is the NFL, and we understand that they have very good players. It doesn't matter in this league about records. And I'm really not just saying that. I feel like, even in '18, our record didn't indicate how good we really were. We lost some ballgames early, got blown out, didn't really know our identity. Then, late in the season, we felt like we were playing pretty well.
We were playing against some good opponents; we just couldn't finish the game. The same thing holds true right now. Whether they're put in as an underdog or not, we've got to go out there and we've got to compete. We've got to find a way to win games. I don't care if they are undefeated or they haven't won a game yet, they're going to be ready to play.
BN: Tre'Davious White gets the big contract extension. What does that mean to the secondary as a whole?
MH: I hope he cashes some of us out, too, so the rest of us can get a little bit (laughing). No, I think it just goes to show what type of player, what type of guy he is. He's the type of player that an organization can build around and, obviously, they showed that. But I've just been happy to play with him and in this secondary for the last couple years. It's been remarkable what we've been able to do.
Tre White steps in as a first-round pick and rookie. That's hard to do. He was matching people his rookie year and he had some ups and downs. I think corners in this league, you've got to learn from your mistakes and he's definitely done that. Then you have me and Po (fellow safety Jordan Poyer) coming from other teams. I played a lot of ball in Green Bay, special teams and defense, but was never really that guy that I envisioned myself being. And the same thing for Po. Po coming off injuries and playing on some bad teams. He wanted to win and when we got here, we all just said, "Hey, this is an opportunity and let's make the best of it.”
Obviously, we added some great additions to that, so to see guys like Po and Tre'Davious get paid, it's awesome to see. It just shows the hard work that we've all put in together and that we're going to continue to put in together.
BN: Let’s do a little two-minute drill here. Going to give you a name and you to give your takeaways. Josh Allen.
MH: Beast. Competitor. I’m happy for him.
BN: How about his ability to overcome his struggles of the last two games?
MH: He’s the same old Josh. He wants to compete. I’m not worried one bit.
BN: Stefon Diggs.
MH: Man, he’s a dog. Played us in the past. He's one of those guys that he's going to make plays and you've just got to try to contain him.
BN: Cole Beasley.
MH: Unguardable one-on-one. Another guy I've played against in the past. You get a one-on-one, he's going to find a way to get open. So, if I was Josh, I would just stare at him.
BN: Josh Norman.
MH: He brings an edge to our defense. Obviously, he says that he could play a lot better, we all say that we can play a lot better. But he just brings that edge when he's been out there, just punching out the football (against the Raiders) and trying to create turnovers. That's what he's done in his history, in his past and that's what he's always going to try to do.
