Pats Pulpit
In order to earn their first winning record since 2022, the New England Patriots have to do something no team has managed to accomplish this season: beat the Buffalo Bills. The two AFC East rivals will square off on Sunday night
In order to find out more about the Bills, we reached out to Matt Byham of Pats Pulpit’s sister site Buffalo Rumblings — the SB Nation community for all things Bills. Here is what he told us about the upcoming game and what to expect from New England’s Week 5 opponent.
1. The Bills’ pass defense has given up the fewest explosives in the NFL. How much of that is due to their opponents and how much is due to their execution? Are there any weak spots?
It’s all about that run defense, or lack thereof. When they do surrender so many explosive run plays, there’s no need for the opponent to turn to the pass game to find them. It’s a bit interesting to me, given the Bills don’t have a ton of elite players at defensive back. They’ve yet to even see their first-round draft pick, cornerback Maxwell Hairston, take the field against an NFL opponent. He’s still recovering from a knee injury suffered early in training camp. The only reason I believe things have played out this way is because their opponents are willing to take what’s given to them, and boy has it been given.
You asked about weak spots. Well, there are a lot, and I could turn this into a 2,000-word op-ed about what I see as problematic on defense. The simple answer is that every level of the defense has a glaring weakness. On the defensive line, only Joey Bosa has played to or above expectations through four games. At linebacker, the biggest weakness is about availability. Bernard, though undersized, is elite. But there’s so much turnover next to him that it’s difficult to build on-field chemistry. Christian Benford and nickel cornerback Taron Johnson prop up an otherwise suspect group of defensive backs. Yes, that group giving up the fewest explosive plays.
Our team at Buffalo Rumblings was just discussing how little sense the Bills make defensively. When’s the last time you remember a defense giving up more yards in the run game than to opposing passing attacks? Yet here we are, living it in 2025.
2. Josh Allen’s average depth of target has plummeted from just under nine yards the past two seasons to 7.7 through four games. It’s still early, but has that been tied more to his personnel or a stylistic change in the reigning MVP’s game?
To my way of thinking, it’s all of that and more, at least on certain levels. While true that the Bills don’t roster a traditional WR1, they field a room full of guys capable of stepping up when the moment requires it. There isn’t one player WR, TE, or otherwise who possesses all the traits of the NFL’s best pass catchers —...
