Bills have major problem on defense (and it's not going to be fixed anytime soon)

Sunday was a game that the Bills would soon like to forget. Unfortunately, some of the same problems from last year are starting to rear its head this season. The defense just can’t get off the field in big spots and teams are torching their secondary.

The Bills have tried just about everything to upgrade the unit, including hiring a former defensive backs coach in Jim Leonhard to be their defensive coordinator. And yet, nothing seems to be helping. Opponents are averaging the sixth-most yards per game through the air (256.3 YPG) and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.

Bills' cornerbacks are getting torched

Buffalo has invested a ton in their defensive backs over the last few years, including multiple first and second-round picks and they handed Christian Benford a big contract not long ago. And yet, everyone is getting torched.

All four of their top cornerbacks on the roster are allowing a passer rating over 100, according to PFF Premium Stats, per Kevin Siracuse. But what’s the most concerning is that Benford, who is supposed to be an All-Pro caliber cornerback, is allowing a passer rating of 124.4 to start the season.

It is worth mentioning that these “passer rating” stats can be a bit noisy as PFF doesn’t 100 percent know who is responsible for each receiver in coverage. However, these numbers match what are eyes are telling us. Teams are able to throw against the Bills at will and their cornerbacks aren’t even challenging the receivers.

If there is any saving grace, it’s that the Bills have played four good quarterbacks to start the season. C.J. Stroud, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, and Drake Maye. We can debate just how good that group is, but compare it to the QB schedule that the Packers have faced (Carson Wentz, Geno Smith, Michael Penix Jr., Jalon Daniels and now Tyson Bagent), and you can see why Buffalo has struggled.

That doesn’t mean the Bills will be okay in the long run because Buffalo is going to face good quarterbacks the rest of the year and certainly in the playoffs. But it is some added context to remember, especially early in the season when they are trying to work in a first-time defensive coordinator.

The Bills are still among the favorites in the AFC, and we shouldn’t panic after just one quarter of the NFL season. But this is just a reminder of how much the defense remains a work in progress. We can talk about what Leonhard needs to do to get the most out of these four defensive backs, but a lot of it is that they just need to play better. And as we know with Maxwell Hairston, a little bit more effort could go a long way with this group.

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