Buffalo Bills: Report card from Week 8 win over New England Patriots

Linebackers

The Buffalo Bills were aware that the New England Patriots were going to try to beat them with a power run game. This week they played more three linebacker sets and this created more playing time for Andre Smith, who has typically been a special teams player.

However, even with the change the Bills linebackers really struggled this week, in particular Tremaine Edmunds. The team’s starting middle linebacker hasn’t taken that next step after a Pro Bowl season last year. He did suffer an injury in Week 1 and at this point it is worth wondering just how much this is impacting his play.

Grade: C-

Secondary

The Bills secondary had some changes this week and the biggest being the absence of Micah Hyde. The team’s starting safety missed this week due to a concussion and was replaced by Dean Marlowe, who played pretty well. He finished the game with six total tackles and the key fumble recovery at the end of the game.

However, in a game where the Patriots had two undrafted receivers, Damiere Byrd and Jakobi Meyers, Cam Newton seemed to move the ball pretty well through the air. Similar to the defensive line, the performance is going to have to be better next week against the Seahawks.

Grade: C