Two more days, Bills Mafia. Very soon, the Buffalo Bills will run out onto the field at EverBank Stadium to deliver a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even as a Wild Card team, the Bills are one of the most feared teams in these playoffs. They are also, unfortunately, one of the weakest in terms of their defense.
Buffalo will enter the playoffs with one of the worst run-defenses, but their pass-defense is very solid. Maybe Trevor Lawrence will struggle against the pass, but Jacksonville has a prime opportunity to hurt this run-defense that Buffalo has.
While the run-defense will be the main concern, Buffalo still has to play great complimentary football on defense to prevent Josh Allen from having to put on the Superman cape and carry the team to the divisional round.
That begs the question; who on Buffalo’s defense must break out against the Jaguars?
Bills defensive players who have to cause problems for Jaguars
DE Greg Rousseau
Jacksonville is going to run the ball. The Bills have to prepare to stop it and while he hasn’t been a huge pass rusher consistently, Greg Rousseau is solid at stopping the run at and behind the line of scrimmage. Obviously, fans are going to want to see Trevor Lawrence get sacked, but the Bills need Rousseau to help lead a defensive front to stop the run.
CB Tre'Davious White
Whether it’s Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, or Jakobi Meyers, Tre’Davious White has to keep up his solid play that he has shown over the course of the second half of the season. White cannot afford to lose a step and allow Lawrence to drop back and launch it down the field.
Both he and Christian Benford must do whatever it takes to make Lawrence hang onto the ball and hope he gets brought down.
S Cole Bishop
With the presence of Jordan Poyer in the secondary, Cole Bishop has really stepped up his game this season. He has grown a great sense for where the ball is going, and he can deliver some big-time hits. This won’t be his first playoff game he’s played in, but he still has limited experience. He will need to be on point every play to help Buffalo’s defense on the backend.
DT Larry Ogunjobi
Going back to the emphasis on stopping the run, it’s not Deone Walker that needs to step up. It’s the guys behind him in the rotation like Larry Ogunjobi. While Ogunjobi had some nice plays last week against the Jets, that has been his only big game for Buffalo.
Ogunjobi will need to stuff the trenches and cause any kind of mess to allow linebackers to make the play at the line of scrimmage.
DT T.J. Sanders
Notice a trend here? We’ve got three defensive linemen on this list, with the last one being T.J. Sanders, who has played across the entire defensive line this season. Whether Buffalo uses him in the middle or off the edge, this is a perfect opportunity for Sanders to make his stance as a great future player for the Bills moving forward.