Buffalo Bills: Jerry Hughes wins first AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Jerry Hughes won his first AFC Player of the Week award for his performance in the Buffalo Bills 18-10 victory over the New York Jets.

The Buffalo Bills defense had a dominant performance, especially in the second half when they allowed the New York Jets to gain only four net yards. One of the reasons for the rebound performances by this group was defensive end Jerry Hughes.

The veteran pass rusher had one of his best regular season games in years and finished with two sacks, one forced fumble and a key interception at the end of the game. That interception came on the Jets finally drive and closed the door on any potential comeback the Jets were hoping to make.

According to the tweet, this was the first time in franchise history that a player had two sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in the same game. He also had six tackles and one pass defended in Week 7.

Jerry Hughes is the longest tenured player with the Buffalo Bills after the team traded for him back in 2013. He had a breakout season with the Bills after being considered a draft bust for the Indianapolis Colts.

He had back to back seasons with 10 sacks while playing in Rex Ryan’s defense. While he hasn’t been able to match those totals recently, he has still been a key part of this defense. He did struggle during the regular season last year with only 4.5 sacks all season. However, Hughes was dealing with a number of injuries over the course of the season. He did bounce back and have a great performance in the playoff game against the Houston Texans though when he had three sacks.

Jerry Hughes and the Buffalo Bills defense will look to continue their strong play in a pivotal Week 8 matchup with the New England Patriots.