There have only been two games where the Buffalo Bills’ defense has been outstanding; Week 3 against the Chargers, and then Week 8 against the Ravens. Against the Chargers, they actually had to carry the offense who had 5 turnovers. Yet, the Chargers only scored 10 points off of those turnovers, and only scored 16 points in total.
Then this past week against the Ravens, even though they ended up facing Baltimore's third-string QB Joe Fagnano due to Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley going out with injuries in the firslt half, Buffalo's defense played as good as you could.
Bills' defense played great football against Ravens (despite not being at 100%)
Buffalo's defense only allowed 144 total yards of offense and forced 3 turnovers. Again, Baltimore's offense was completely changed once they lost their two top quarterbacks, but the Bills didn't let up.
One important factor to take away from this game is how great the secondary played. They gave up less than 100 yards on the day, and they even held Baltimore's No. 1 receiver in Zay Flowers to 0 catches despite being targeted 5 times. This success includes what Damar Hamlin was able to contribute as he stepped in for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who served a one game suspension for spitting towards Raiders TE Brock Bowers in Week 6.
Now, head coach Joe Brady faces a tough decision to make for the back end of the defense.
Joe Brady must make the right decision at safety moving forward
Hamlin stepped in for Gardner-Johnson when he was ejected in Week 6, and he played better in the second half against Las Vegas. Against the Ravens, Hamlin finished with 5 total tackles and a pass deflection, showing an impressive outing.
Brady talked with the media on Monday and with Gardner-Johnson set to return from his suspension, he has a tough decision to make. Per Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News, Brady "is still wanting to name a starting safety", but then added "Damar Hamlin was as consistent as can be.:
With C.J. Gardner-Johnson coming back from suspension, Joe Brady is still wanting to name a starting safety, but he did note Damar Hamlin was "as consistent as can be." Hamlin played 100% of defensive snaps yesterday
— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) November 2, 2026
The Bills will have an extra day of preparation as they don't play until Monday night, so that will give some time to evaluate and see who is the better fit for what Buffalo's defense wants to do against the Minnesota Vikings.
Granted, I'm sure we will see a rotation in the secondary at times in Week 9, but we are at a point where the Bills' secondary is by far the weakest link of the team, that no one's job is totally safe. With Hamlin stepping up with the absence of Gardner-Johnson, Brady has to decide whether he wants the consistency of Hamlin, or the intensity of Gardner-Johnson against a physical Vikings team.
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