What no Isiah Pacheco means for the Buffalo Bills defense

The Buffalo Bills have their biggest game of the season on Sunday as they prepare to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. At 6-6 on the season, this game can set the tone for just how competitive Buffalo will be in the final five games of the year and it will show how badly they will want to be in the playoffs.

Heading into Sunday's matchup, big news hit the injury front as Chiefs' running back, Isiah Pacheco will be out for the game due to a shoulder injury. This is a huge loss as he has received the vast majority of carries (176) out of anyone on the Kansas City offense and eliminates a large part of their offensive production that they would normally have.

So how does this affect the Buffalo Bills defense?

Well, it helps them focus a lot on the passing ability that Patrick Mahomes has made every NFL defense grow accustomed to seeing. This season, Mahomes is hanging in the top ten rankings of NFL quarterbacks based off of passing yardage and completion percentage. One thing to note is that the rating has become the lowest since he became the Kansas City starter in 2018.

Nonetheless, the Chiefs are top ten team in the NFL as a team with passing yards a game and that still makes them dangerous. The Bills this season are 1-1 against other teams who rank in the top ten in passing yardage.

The past two games for Buffalo's secondary have been masterful when it comes to giving up passing yards. They gave up less than 100 against the New York Jets and only 130 to the Philadelphia Eagles. This kind of effort combined with a bye week should give them confidence when it comes to stopping Mahomes and his attack.