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With the Buffalo Bills 2024 season coming to a close after losing in the AFC Championship Game to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, there’s one fatal flaw that derailed this team’s chances of winning their Super Bowl. Considering they’re in the same conference as Mahomes and the Chiefs, their Super Bowl chances will only become available if they can beat the team that seemingly crushes their playoff chances each season. So, during the 2025 NFL Offseason, the Bills should have one major priority in mind: Improve their pass rush.
Since Mahomes and Allen entered the NFL, both quarterbacks have been in conversations about being the best in the league. While Mahomes has the advantage in terms of accolades, Allen doesn’t fall behind in the talent department.
But, one part of this Bills team that got exposed in the AFC Championship Game was their lack of pass rush.
Not only was it noticeable in the conference championships, but it was evident throughout this season that the Bills weren’t a team that created a lot of pressure defensively.
And although the Bills had a strong 2024 season, that was more due to Josh Allen being Superman offensively than it does anything else.
If the Bills want to play in a Super Bowl anytime soon, their pass rush must get tightened up this offseason.
While Ed Oliver and DaQuon Jones were in the top 20 defensive tackles at creating pass rush, per ESPN, the Bills don’t have that same type of success on the edges, causing a major lack of quarterback pressures.
In fact, creating pressure was a major struggle for this defense all season, per Jonathan Acosta on X.
“Priorities #1, 2 and 3 for Brandon Beane this offseason should be beefing up #Bills pass rush,” Acosta wrote. “Getting pressure on the QB is the one thing proven to be effective against all of the top QBs, and it’s something they just have not had consistently. One of the few stops they had yesterday was a red zone sack from Jordan Phillips that led to KC settling for a FG.
“Other than Leonard Floyd (10.5) last year, you have to go back to 2016 to find the last guy with double digit sacks in a season (Lorenzo Alexander, 12.5). If Bills want to finally get over this Mahomes/Chiefs hump and also be prepared to deal with Burrow/Jackson, gotta add a guy (or two) that’s going to constantly be in the backfield making life difficult for those QBs.”
Sure, other parts of this team need some work — including receiver and secondary — but the portion of this team that should be a priority is the pass rush.
Whether it be through free agency or the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bills need to be active this offseason in acquiring pass-rush talent.
Although Miller was an elite pass rusher at one time, he has completely...
