Buffalo Bills: Who wins MVP awards for their Week 1 performances?

The Buffalo Bills opened the season in disappointing fashion, falling 23-16 on their home field to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While it wasn’t a great team performance, in a sport where there are 53 players on a roster there will almost always be some bright spots. Here are the players that shined the brightest in the loss.

Buffalo Bills’ Offensive MVP: Stefon Diggs

All in all, it was a brutal day for the Bills offense, and it wasn’t a great day for WR Stefon Diggs either, at least by his standards. However, his standards are so high that a down game for him is the type of game that most wide receivers in the league dream of.

Diggs still managed to lead the Bills in receptions and yards, hauling in 9 receptions on 13 targets for 69 yards. Even on the rare occasions when their pass rush didn’t get home, the Steelers secondary did a great job in coverage, limiting big plays and forcing the ball underneath.

This led to Diggs getting a heap of targets just like he did in last year’s matchup with Pittsburgh, but this year he wasn’t able to completely take over the game. Nonetheless, it was a good start for the first-team All-Pro as he looks to back up last season’s elite campaign.

Buffalo Bills’ Defensive MVP: Ed Oliver

The thing that the Bills did best in their Week 1 matchup was stopping the run. The defensive line bottled up first-round pick Najee Harris holding him to 45 yards on 16 carries, a mark of 2.8 yards per carry.

The star of the run-stuffing show was third-year defensive tackle, Ed Oliver. Before the season, Leslie Frazier said that Ed Oliver could be a breakout player for the Bills this year. After week one, it is easy to see why.

On the stat sheet Oliver only finished with 3 tackles, but he was in the backfield all day blowing up plays or getting his hands on Najee Harris. Oliver’s elite speed and power for his position made him a tantalizing prospect coming out of college and 2021 could be the year that he finally harnesses his skills and becomes a dominating force upfront for Buffalo.

Buffalo Bills’ Special Teams MVP: Tyler Bass

Tyler Bass continues to ooze confidence going 3 for 3 on-field goals against Pittsburgh. Bass hit field goals from 37, 25, and 42 yards as well as converting his only extra-point opportunity. Dating back to Week 8 last year Bass has now made 40 of his last 41 extra points and 19 of his last 20 field goals.

Bass added to his performance with a good game on the kickoff team. The Steelers weren’t able to return a single kickoff as they were all fair caught or sailed out of the end zone.

Buffalo Bills’ Rookie MVP: Greg Rousseau

Greg Rousseau continues to prove that he is ready to be an immediate contributor for this Buffalo Bills team. Rousseau played 52% of the defensive snaps against Pittsburgh, second-most by a Bills defensive end, trailing only Jerry Hughes.

Rousseau had a pretty average game, but it’s impressive that the rookie has already surpassed Mario Addison and AJ Epenesa in the defensive end rotation. Look for Rousseau to continue to get starter-level playing time and look for him to start hitting the quarterback in the coming weeks.