Linebacker
Welcome back Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano! Their return was a big boost for this defense, especially Matt Milano who made big plays early with the second sack after Epenesa in the first quarter. He finished with eight total tackles, one pass defended and two QB hits. As for Edmunds, he had five total tackles.
While it was good to have them back, this defense isn’t clicking like they did last year. The Bills defense was coming off a down performance against the Dolphins and the thought was that it was due to Edmunds and Milano not on the field.
However, this defense struggled, especially in the second half, to really slow down or stop what the Rams offense wanted to do. This could just be due to Milano and Edmunds still working back from injuries but is worth watching in the coming weeks.
Grade: C+
Secondary
It may be time to starting to be concerned about the Buffalo Bills secondary. Last year, this was the strength of the defense but this year they have been getting beat pretty regularly and have now allowed quarterbacks to throw for over 300 yards in back to back weeks. They only allowed two quarterbacks all season to break this mark last year.
The fact that Goff was moving the ball so well through the air it should not be much of a surprise that the team’s Top 4 in tackles was all in the secondary with Jordan Poyer (14 total tackles), Taron Johnson (11 total tackles), Micah Hyde (9 total tackles), and Levi Wallace (9 total tackles).
However, Levi Wallace did have his first interception of the season which set the Buffalo Bills up for their second touchdown of the game. This is a talented group and they have shown they can be a premier group but similar to the defensive line, the coaching staff may need to work on different schemes moving forward.
Grade: C+