The Bills are 2-0 with the league’s top offense by DVOA. Facing a desperate Los Angeles Chargers team will offer a unique Week 3 test.
Justin Herbert has faced pressure on 45.5% of his dropbacks through two games, the second-highest rate in the league, and PFF has him at 28.7 when he’s under duress. The Chargers are 0-2, and their offense sits 27th in DVOA at -20.6%. The Bills sit second overall at 52.7%, with the league’s top offense at 56.8%, although the defense is 19th at +9.0%.
It’s a two-game
sample, and the adjustments still lean on last season. Still, gives us an idea of where Sunday can be decided: can Buffalo’s defense get to Herbert before Herbert gets to it? Here are my choices for which Buffalo players could be decisive in next Sunday’s matchup.
HEROES
Greg Rousseau, OLB: the pass rush runs through him
Rousseau earned an 84.5 PFF grade against Houston and a 90.8 against Detroit, second among Bills defenders behind Deone Walker on Thursday. He has four sacks and three forced fumbles, including the strip-sack that closed out the Texans with 16 seconds left. He has looked like a natural fit at outside linebacker in Jim Leonhard’s defense, and I think the move was the best thing to happen to his production.
He lined up mostly over the right tackle in Week 1, which is Joe Alt this Sunday. I don’t expect him to simply beat Alt. Alt has a 75.3 PFF pass-block grade (23rd among tackles) with only two pressures allowed, and Bleacher Report ranked him the No. 2 right tackle in the league this summer. His weakness has been discipline: five penalties, four against the Raiders.
Rousseau will have a tougher test than the matchups he’s had so far. Hopefully, he can continue to impress and impact the game as he has done this season. Buffalo’s defense needs it.
Dion Dawkins, LT: the answer to Tuipulotu and Mack
Dawkins posted an 81.7 PFF grade against the Lions, fifth-best on the roster, and Bleacher Report graded him an A for a nearly perfect night against Aidan Hutchinson. In Week 1, he led the line with an 87.5% pass-block win rate in one-on-one situations, and Danielle Hunter had one of the quietest games of his career.
It wasn’t perfect, though. He whiffed on a key fourth-down block that day, and PFF had his run-blocking grade at 39.9. I think that matters, because the Chargers swallowed Ashton Jeanty last week, holding him to 2.4 yards per carry, for just 48 yards. However, we know the Shnowman can do his 1/11th in the run game, and the pass rush is where the challenge is bigger. Tuli Tuipulotu had 13 sacks and a 17.9% pressure rate last season, sixth in the league, and rookie Akheem Mesidor is the only Charger in the top 40 of PFF’s pass rush win rate at 20%. Against the Cardinals, Los Angeles produced just eight pressures, so the production hasn’t matched the names yet. Dawkins will decide whether that stays true on Sunday.
HEAD-SCRATCHERS
Christian Benford, CB: the best chance to get right
Benford was the third-lowest-graded Bill in Week 1 by PFF, and he has allowed 11 receptions, the most among corners before Monday night. That comes to roughly 118 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been beaten too often in man coverage for a number one corner who travels with the opponent’s WR1. Also, pairing a nice pass breakup with a pass interference in the end zone didn’t help.
To be fair, he drew Nico Collins and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and those two combined for 16 catches, 217 yards, and five touchdowns on 23 targets against the Bills’ defense as a whole, not against Benford alone. The Chargers offer a much easier week, at least on paper. Ladd McConkey is dealing with rib trouble and has eight catches, while every other Chargers wideout combined has the same number. If Benford stays home in coverage and doesn’t give Herbert clean throws, it’s a real chance he can start his comeback this season.
Landon Jackson, DE: I expected more
Jackson graded 33.1 in Week 1 and 36.1 in Week 2, the lowest on the roster against Detroit and a bottom-five grade both weeks. After a promising preseason, I expected him to make the most of the opportunity in TJ Sanders’ absence. So far, he has struggled with penalties and a lack of push, being almost invisible in the middle, and has allowed others like DeWayne Carter and Greg Gaines to outplay him.
The Chargers’ run game isn’t scary: Omarion Hampton had 43 yards on 12 carries in Week 1 and has fumbled in both games. It’s time for Jackson to start showing more, or he could be in danger of losing snaps to other teammates who have done better. The Bills can quietly get something from other guys inside, as Deone Walker starts to get all the attention from opposing offenses.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Trending up
Deone Walker, DT: He was last week’s hero and is still climbing. Walker earned a 93.0 PFF grade, the best of any Bill against Detroit, with three quarterback hits and three batted balls, two of them on the same fourth-quarter drive. He has nine pressures and a sack on the season, per PFF, and the Chargers’ interior gives him a good target.
Keon Coleman, WR: He caught all six passes thrown to him against Detroit, with two third-down conversions on touchdown drives, and earned a 79.0 PFF grade. With DJ Moore’s shoulder in question, Coleman’s role matters more. (If his ankle allows him to play)
DeWayne Carter, DL: He earned a 75.5 PFF grade with Ed Oliver and T.J. Sanders inactive, and was very noticeable in his snps against the run.
Trending down
Spencer Brown, RT: Brown has been one of the best run-blocking tackles in football, ranking seventh in PFF’s run-block grade last season, and Bleacher Report placed him third among right tackles this summer. But his pass protection went the other way in 2025, dropping from 76.2 to 61.3 in PFF pass-block grade with 36 pressures allowed. Hutchinson beat him on the third play of Thursday’s game for a sack and forced fumble. With Khalil Mack coming to town, Brown will need to rebound this week.
Davison Igbinosun, CB: He has graded in the bottom five both weeks, at 41.2 and 38.8, though on limited snaps, and for a man corner, he’s been too grabby.
Final Thoughts
This defense is still a work in progress, but it isn’t as awful as some people believe, with a DVOA rank of 19th. Despite sitting at 0-2 now, the Chargers will be another good test for this unit, especially with Herbert being good from a clean pocket. The pass rush is the answer to that problem, and Rousseau and Walker are the ones producing it. Dawkins and Brown have to hold up on the other side to allow Josh Allen and the offense to continue to put up points on the board.
No matter if it’s Rousseau getting home or Benford keeping the receivers in front of him, the defense will have one job: hold the Chargers offense down, scoring less than the Bills. The players I mentioned today will be key, in my opinion. Let me know in the comments if you have more names to share.
Catch up on all this and more with the latest edition of Leading the Charge!
