Buffalo Bills: Game grades for each position group from Week 5
Defensive Ends
The Buffalo Bills knew that if they wanted to beat the Kansas City Chiefs they needed to get more production from their defensive line. On Sunday night, they did just that with rookie Greg Rousseau leading the way with five total tackles, one sack, and an incredible interception with the Chiefs in the red zone.
In addition, Jerry Hughes and Boogie Basham also combined for a sack. Meanwhile, A.J. Epenesa and Efe Obada each had a QB hit and Mario Addison seemed to regular draw holding penalties on Orlando Brown Jr. This game not only showed the depth the Bills have but the top-line talent with a player like Rousseau.
Grade: A+
Defensive Tackles
Box scores don’t always tell the whole story and last night is a perfect example when it comes to Star Lotulelei. He didn’t register a single stat but his impact can’t be understated.
The veteran defensive tackle does the little things by anchoring the middle of this line by engaging multiple blockers that doesn’t allow them to get down the field to block. This makes players around him successful and he was a big reason for the Bills holding Chiefs running backs to only 42 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Grade: A-
Linebackers
The Buffalo Bills announced before the game that starting linebacker Matt Milano would be inactive due to the hamstring injury. This was a big loss as he has been playing excellent football this year but Tremaine Edmunds and A.J. Klein stepped up in his absence.
Both linebackers combined for 18 total tackles while Edmunds added one tackle for a loss, when he split through the offensive line to tackle running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a loss.
Grade: A-
Secondary
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills secondary was the star with Micah Hyde recording a pick six and the team holding Patrick Mahomes to 272 passing yards and two touchdowns. While 272 passing yards does sound like a high total, it took Mahomes 54 pass attempts for an average of 5 yards per attempt.
This is an impressive stat when considering the Chiefs’ quarterback for his career averages 8.3 yards per attempt. The secondary did a good job keeping the play in front of them and forcing the Chiefs offense to work for every yard.
Grade: A