Who exactly are the 2025 Buffalo Bills? On paper, they are Super Bowl contenders who have a superstar quarterback and one of the top running games in the National Football League.
They are also the same 2025 Buffalo Bills with a historically inconsistent and poor run defense, and have an average, but not really a premier, wide receiver in their receiving core. It has resulted in a (7-4) record, highlighted by huge wins against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It has also resulted in stinging defeats at the Miami Dolphins and against the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football. With that being said, there was one player on the defense who stood out, playing hard for his team and showing his grit and energy.
Saftey Cole Bishop once again proved why Bills were patient with him
Bishop's noteworthy performance was nothing new
If there was one outstanding performance from an individual on the Bills' defense Thursday night, it had to be second-year safety Cole Bishop. The young man from Utah was once again being a leader in the secondary and has solidified himself as the Bills' starting safety going forward.
Bishop recorded six total tackles, and while he didn't have any picks like he did in the game vs. the Bucs, he keeps improving each week and had some bone-crushing hits. He has played in 11 total games this year with 61 total tackles (39 solo), 22 assisted, along with two sacks and three interceptions.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich has to really like what he's been seeing out of Bishop, and wants him to continue this momentum for the rest of the season. Overall, the defense struggled in the first half, giving up 20 points to an anemic Texans offense.
In the second half, they held them to three points and shut them down well enough to put the Bills' poor offense in a position for a late-game winning drive. Luckily, the Bills will once again have 10 days off to regroup and get injured players back healthy.
Why Bishop was almost thought to be a bust
It's impressive to see how fantastic Bishop is as a player now, but it didn't begin that way. When the Bills selected him in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft, they thought they would be getting an impact starting safety to replace safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
Unfortunately, early season injuries derailed the rookie from showing what he could do, and his recovery wasn't as fast as the Bills would have liked. Luckily, he played in four games in his rookie year, but all that time he missed really hindered his play on the field.
Then in the 2025 preseason, Bishop struggled again in training camp and he really needed to play better in the games to save his career in Buffalo.
After a great preseason, Bishop made the opening day roster, and when safety Taylor Rapp went on IR with a season-ending injury, his name was called on again, but this time, he delivered and never looked back.
This story reminds Bills fans that, while we live in an instant-gratification, must-have-it-now society, sometimes a struggling player has to fly in coach seats for a little while before getting to first class.
In other words, Bishop had to learn to accept early failure in order to eventually succeed on the field.