Buffalo Bills: Revisiting the DeAndre Hopkins and Tre’Davious White rivalry

Another chapter in the rivalry between Tre’Davious White and DeAndre Hopkins will take place this weekend when the Buffalo Bills face the Arizona Cardinals.

This week’s game will be another chapter in the rivalry between Buffalo Bills’ cornerback Tre’Davious White and Arizona Cardinals’ wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The last time these two met was in the Buffalo Bills playoff game against the Houston Texans.

At that time, White was having a breakout year tied for the league lead in interceptions with six and was named to the first-team All-Pro team. However, Hopkins provided some bulletin board material ahead of the playoff game when he said in an interview with Michael Irvin at the 1:46 mark of the video when he said:

"“He hasn’t earned my respect. He is a good defender but ignorance is bliss. He doesn’t know that he plays in a zone defense, I think, to the extent of [Darelle] Revis and those guys that played you back in the day on the island.”"

It would be curious to know if Hopkins sentiment has changed since that game because Tre’Davious White for the most part did a good job against the star wide receiver in that playoff game.

He finished the game with six receptions for 90 yards but was only targeted twice in the first half, with no receptions. The first reception he had came in the third quarter which White almost immediately punched it out and forced the fumble.

This time around it will be a little different for two reasons. The first reason is that Hopkins is in a new offense with the Arizona Cardinals. He was the Texans’ primary receiver and DeShaun Watson looked his way a lot.

This has not changed in Arizona as Hopkins is seeing nearly 30% of the team’s targets and Hopkins is sure to be a focal point this week against the Buffalo Bills. This also means that he will likely see plenty of Tre’Davious White, which is the second reason this matchup could be potentially different.

Tre’Davious White hasn’t been playing up to the same level he was last year. He has struggled at points this year, potentially due to a back injury earlier in the year.

This past week against the Seattle Seahawks though was one of his better performances as he was able to limit D.K. Metcalf for most of the game. He also had his first interception of the season.

The last time these two met, the Texans won the game but it would be safe to say that Tre’Davious White had the better game against DeAndre Hopkins. The question is who will win on Sunday when these two players face off again?