Bills defence steals the show

Buffalo's defence, please take a bow.

For the first time in the history of the Bills in Toronto series, there were plenty of reasons to cheer for the “home team” at the Rogers Centre.

With all due respect to offensive stars like Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick, it was the defence that played the biggest role in the Bills 23-0 shutout win over the Redskins.

The Bills went into Sunday’s game ranked dead last in the National Football League with a mere four sacks through their first six games.

By the time the smoke cleared from the pyrotechnics Sunday, the Bills defense had nine sacks and they were also credited with another 14 quarterback hits.

Because of the Bills’ relentless pass rush, Redskins quarterback John Beck was under duress all day and rarely was he even able to properly set his feet in the pocket.

The nine sacks helped pave the way for the first shutout by the Bills defence since December 17, 2006 -- when they shut out the Dolphins.

Linebacker Chris Kelsay was justifiably proud of the effort and had a simple answer how the Bills’ defense did it.

“Mike Shanahan teams historically are not teams you shut out,” Kelsay said after the game. “We knew we had talent to get to the quarterback and when you make them throw the ball by shutting down the run, you got to get home and we did today.”

In total, the Bills’ defence held the Redskins to 26-yards rushing, thus forcing Beck throw the ball more than Shanahan would have liked.

As opposed to previous years, Kelsay feels there’s a real bond with the 2011 Bills defence and that sense of togetherness is beginning to pay dividends.

“To have a team where we are playing unselfish and everyone is geeked-up and excited no matter who gets the stat. I think that’s what makes a good defense -- playing unselfish.”

Without question, rookie defensive lineman Marcell Dareus deserves a game ball for his breakout performance against the Redskins. .

Proving once again the Bills made the right choice when they drafted him in the first round out of Alabama; Dareus was a one man wrecking crew at Rogers Centre.

Forced to play nose tackle because of the injury to Kyle Williams, the 340-pound Dareus ended up with two and half sacks, three quarterback hits, four tackles and two more tackles for losses. Remarkable numbers for any defensive player. Almost unheard of numbers for a nose tackle.

After playing defensive end for most of the season, Dareus said it didn’t bother him when the coaches asked him to play the most physically demanding nose tackle position.

“It doesn’t matter where they want me,” said Dareus, “I am going to do the best I can wherever I’m at.”

Immensely strong, the 340-pound Dareus has almost unnatural quickness for such a large man. On his second sack, Dareus ran down John Beck as the Redskins quarterback was running for his life towards the sideline. Dareus said that as the game wore on, the Bills defense could sense Beck becoming frustrated at all of the pressure.

“You can tell throughout the game he got a little frustrated.” Commented Dareus on Beck’s performance. “He started throwing balls all kinds of ways and we just kept at it, kept chopping at that wood and eventually it gave.”

Now in his ninth year in the NFL, Barnett is not only impressed with what Dareus did Sunday, but feels the best is yet to come.

“He runs fast, he’s big, he’s a smart guy, he wants to be good at his position,” Barnett said about Dareus. “He’s a hell of a player and it definitely was his best game of the year. I don’t think it’s his last though to be honest.”

Also in his ninth season in the NFL, Kelsay echoed Barnett’s comments.

“He’s a force to be reckoned with and he’s got a number of years ahead of him playing like that. We’re fortunate he’s on our side.”

Even though the game was held in Toronto, it does count as a Bills “home” game according to the NFL record book. With the win over the Redskins the Bills are now a perfect 4-0 at home and improved to 5-2 on the year.

While some people look at the Bills and assume they must be satisfied with their 5-2 record, the players in the locker room think differently.

“We feel like we should be 7-0,” Kelsay continued. “The games that we lost we feel like we should have won. There’s nothing we can do about that we’re just going to continue to keep our nose to the grind and this week we got a 2-fer (game versus the Jets) in the division.”

Jim Lang is co-host of Brady and Lang in the morning on SPORTSNET 590 The FAN and a columnist for sportsnet.ca.