In back-to-back games, Christian Benford has provided the spark for the Buffalo Bills. Not just the defense, but the entire team.
Last week, Benford came up with two takeaways in roughly a minute and a half of game time, picking up a scoop-and-score fumble recovery and snagging his first interception of the season. This week, he gave Buffalo its first lead over the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter by picking off Joe Burrow on a designed blitz, taking it 67 yards for the score.
Benford is playing electric football at the perfect time for the Bills' defense, which doesn’t come as a surprise to his fellow defenders. Defensive leader Shaq Thompson gave a perfect description of Benford after the game.
Shaq Thompson summed up Christian Benford’s impact for the Buffalo Bills in two words
“He’s like a silent assassin, you know what I mean,” Thompson said. “Like, he don’t say much, but you know when it’s time to go, he’s going to be the one who makes the play.”
Benford doesn’t seem to say much. After his two-turnover performance against Pittsburgh, he praised God and credited his commitment to technique for coming up with those plays. It wasn’t much different at the podium this week.
On the field, it doesn’t appear to be much different. Despite Ja’Marr Chase having a reputation as a chatty receiver, Benford said he didn’t hear much from the All-Pro receiver directed at him. Maybe that was a slight sign of respect from Chase, who was shut out when matched up with Benford in coverage on 16 routes, seeing just two targets, both incomplete.
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Benford snagged his interception on a corner blitz, in which he admits he isn’t supposed to leave his feet to make a play on the ball. No one is complaining that he did, though. His other splash play also came on a blitz. He didn’t leave his feet on that one until he was driving Joe Burrow into the snow-covered turf to shut down the Bengals’ final first-half possession.
Benford, a 2022 sixth-round pick who developed into a starter, had a slow start to the season as he battled through injuries. Nonetheless, his entire 2025 campaign stands strongly against his previous three seasons in coverage. He’s allowed less than 60% of passes to be completed in his coverage area for the first time in his career and has now matched his season-high for interceptions.