ENGLAND – Tre’Davious White, a star cornerback for the Buffalo Bills, was injured in last week’s victory over the Miami Dolphins. Linebacker Matt Milano suffered what appear to be multiple lower body injuries on Sunday, and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones tore a pectoral muscle.
Not to mention starting defensive end Greg Rousseau (foot) and starting cornerback Christian Benford (shoulder) who were both injured and did not play in Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
About halfway through the first or second quarter, you might have looked outside and seen that some of the regulars weren’t there. Said safety Jordan Poyer after the game, “Milano, [Jones]. “For the guys that stepped in [like linebacker Tyrel Dodson], I thought played extremely well, stepping into the role of Matt.”
Next up is what the rest of the season holds for a Buffalo Bills defense that has been among the best in the league, including limiting the league’s best offense (the Dolphins) to just 20 points last week. The Bills (3-2) will have their depth put to the test.
“It’s tough to see guys get hurt, but on the flip side, I try to think about it, we do have depth, we do have a lot of guys that can play football at a very high level,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. Therefore, “when you go into that deep, the depth that we have, the deep edge that we do have,” it is still necessary for players to perform up to par.
Who, then, is responsible for taking the lead at each defensive level?
Line of defense
In their game against the Jaguars, the Buffalo Bills nearly ran out of defensive ends. Coach Sean McDermott had to make do with Leonard Floyd (who came and went throughout the game), AJ Epenesa, Von Miller (who returned from right ACL surgery with limited snaps), and Kingsley Jonathan due to the absences of Rousseau and Shaq Lawson. Kendal Vickers, a defensive tackle on the team’s practice squad, was activated for the game and ended up playing 43 snaps.
Epenesa’s impressive performance as a starter was the highlight. He finished with a career-high three batted passes, a fumble recovery, and two sacks (one of which was a strip sack).
“[Epenesa] showed up,” McDermott, who for the first time this season was in charge of defensive playcalling, remarked. Down the stretch, we had a limited roster and the defensive line was suffering as a result. But A.J. caught my eye; he did a good job and tried hard.
Epenesa is in a contract year, so he is playing better than ever. In addition to his five pressures, he recorded four quarterback hits. Pressure was applied on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on 22 dropbacks, the second-most of his career, demonstrating the overall effectiveness of the pass rush. Five sacks against Lawrence is a career high for him. In a tie for first place in the league, the Buffalo Bills entered the game with 21 sacks on the season.
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Buffalo Bills
Miller’s increased involvement throughout the season could improve the Buffalo Bills‘ performance.
McDermott explained that “Von was on a pitch count today, so we did not have him through the [entire] second half,” despite the team’s hopes for the future. To quote a teammate: “But it was great to have him back on the field.”
The loss of Jones for an extended period of time would be devastating. He’s worked well with Ed Oliver and the team, contributing 2.5 sacks. Jones has a higher pass rush win rate (26.9%) than any other defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills.
Without him, we will be asking more of veterans like Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips, and most likely Vickers.
Linebacker
If Milano, a 2022 Pro Bowler, is injured and unable to play, the buffalo Bills will be hard pressed to find a suitable replacement.
Dodson, a fourth-year linebacker, and Dorian Williams, a first-year player, will be vying for the starting position. On defense on Sunday, Dodson played 64.6% of the snaps while Williams played 35.4%.
Dodson then volunteered to take over. That’s football, things happens, it stinks, and Lano is the lifeblood and leader of this defense. I had to peek in under the door because I was worried about him. We made an effort to set up plays for him in the linebacker room because he is so versatile.
After coming in for Milano, Dodson made an immediate impact with five tackles, a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, a pass defensed, and a forced fumble. Williams contributed four tackles and a pass defense of his own.
While Milano does contribute to the team’s statistics, those stats don’t do justice to his overall value. Younger guys will need to collaborate with second-year middle linebacker Terrel Bernard and the veterans around them to fill in as much of Milano’s role as possible if he is out for an extended period of time. The Buffalo Bills might attempt to strengthen their roster there as well.
Quarterback Josh Allen praised him, saying, “He’s one of our key pieces on that defense and he flies around and he makes a lot of plays for us.” As soon as possible, I hope he can return to the field.
Cornerback
Without White, the buffalo Bills’ starting cornerback duties fall to Benford. Due to a shoulder injury sustained in the previous game against the Dolphins, he did not play on Sunday.
Without him, the starting cornerback position was a tie between second-year player Kaiir Elam and fourth-year veteran Dane Jackson. Elam, the team’s 2022 first-round pick, sat out the first four games of the season due to being healthy.
Elam has stated, “All I want is to win and to do whatever I can to help this team win.” I mean, if we won and I didn’t do anything to contribute to the victory, I’d still be delighted. But what I really want to do is make a difference, and that’s where I’m having the most trouble.
Elam was the closest defense and still gave up a passer rating of 100.7, thanks to six catches on nine targets for 93 yards. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jackson allowed a passer rating of 104.2 thanks to three catches on six targets, one of which resulted in a touchdown.
