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Every year, it feels like the Buffalo Bills get to the door of the Super Bowl, pound on the door, and get no answer. The largest reason for that, in the mind of many, is that their defense routinely no-shows the biggest games of the year.
Even so, Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report ranked the Buffalo Bills' defense as the No. 3 unit in the NFL.
"The Buffalo Bills made the defensive front-seven a priority in the offseason, first by adding edge-rusher Joey Bosa in free agency and then by blasting away at the front in the 2025 draft," Davenport writes. "The secondary got addressed first in the draft in Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, but from there Hairston hit the defensive line—hard. Buffalo traded up for interior lineman T.J. Sanders. Brought in edge-rusher Landon Jackson in Round 3. And made it three D-Linemen in a row in Round 4 with tackle Deone Walker. The Bills were already well set-up defensively, whether it was Greg Rousseau outside, an excellent trio of linebackers in Matt Milano, Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams or a defensive backfield that includes one of the NFL’s pre-eminent slot players in cornerback Taron Johnson. Defensive lapses have long haunted the Bills in the postseason. But this squad could be the one that finally puts Buffalo over the top—and into the Super Bowl."
As Davenport said, the Bills' defense has constantly been what has held them back from getting over the hump. In their four losses to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, Buffalo's offense has averaged over 28 points per game, and yet haven't come out victorious - that falls on the defense. They were the only defense to allow the Chiefs to score 30 points last season, and they allowed 40 points in consecutive games in 2024. This isn't a unit worthy of this ranking until they prove that they are.
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