Ranking the Buffalo Bills’ defense in the AFC East in 2023
By Brandon Ray
The NFL has become an offensive league and transitioned from a run-first league to a pass-first league. Even with the transition, teams still need an above average defense to compete for a championship.
As the saying goes, offense wins games and defense wins championships. This was the case when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl in 2021. It also was the case when Aaron Donald stepped up against the Cincinnati Bengals and helped solidify a Super Bowl victory for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
Entering the 2023 season, the Buffalo Bills have had a consistent top defensive unit in the league since Sean McDermott arrived in Buffalo. Even in 2018, the only season the team has failed to make the playoffs under McDermott, the defense was top ten in the league overall.
The AFC East is the only division to have at least three head coaches that are defensive-minded, besides Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins. McDermott, Robert Saleh, and Bill Belichick have an advantage when it comes to the defensive side of the ball to stop the momentum of opposing offenses. However, Saleh and Belichick are arguably on a hot seat for their job this season. McDermott on the other hand is in control of this team after signing an extension this past offseason.
As the season approaches, it will be interesting to see how these four defenses’ on each team adapt to their opponents. Here are the rankings from worst to best for defensive units in the AFC East.