With the Buffalo Bills’ season over and most of us not exactly being thrilled with who will be in this weekend’s Super Bowl, it’s already time to set our eyes on the 2026 season. One of the first items on the agenda for the team will be making decisions on free agents. As fans, it can be fun to play along with the process, so let’s take a look at Joey Bosa’s film to see what our opinion is on whether or not the Bills should work to retain the defensive end.
Note: I may also be toying around with various
formats, so let me know your thoughts on those as well.
The Film
As part of my mixing things up, I’m going to start with my summary and end with some notes. I’m assuming you’ve all watched the video cut-up I did. I’m not opposed to the Bills retaining Joey Bosa, unless they’re retaining him as part of Plan A at the position. As a depth player or rotational piece, I’m sold on it. I usually stay away from the contract talk, but this would also be contingent on “the right price” of course.
I’m not really down on Bosa, to be candid. His early results were quite good with Buffalo, but I chose the playoff games for a reason. Career injuries, including those this season, appear to have taken their toll — which is most evident at season’s end.
Bosa’s film shows no lack of effort, and his hand-fighting technique is still very good. You might have noticed he’s able to spin pretty well, use the long arm, leverage, and he still has some power. All of that is great, but the reality is that these games show a lack of pop and speed.
Now for the notes I promised:
- Play 1 – A little technique can go a long way. The quick swipe of the hands and just a small sidestep are enough to clear the offensive tackle. The spin when he thinks Trevor Lawrence is about to run to the edge is also pretty nice.
- Play 2 – This was one of the best uses of leverage I saw in the two games and it started with a great long arm to maintain distance. Bosa dips to his left and flushes Lawrence, who unfortunately was able to make something of the play.
- Play 3 – This is a little bit of fool’s gold. It looks like an impressive win for Bosa. Don’t get me wrong, Bosa has solid technique here but the lineman’s feet being crossed like they are at the pause is a big reason for the loss of balance.
- Play 4 – Bosa is right where he should be and plays smart, but this is a good shot of what I mean by lack of “pop.” I don’t need him to decimate the running back, but a little more impact would have helped halt momentum and made for an easier wrap.
- Play 5 – This may not be a win in many people’s eyes, but Bosa being able to drive the lineman back while not getting tied up is something I love to see. You won’t get a sack every rep, but this limited Bo Nix’s options.
- Play 6 – And here’s the best “pop” of the two games. This is excellent as Bosa drives the lineman back but it’s really excellent because Bosa read the play right and knew he had to keep clear to play the run. I always like to use plays like these to help illustrate how my opinions are formed. You will not hear me claim Bosa cannot be forceful. Critique of this nature is usually about frequency. This happened. I’d like to have seen it happen more often.
- Play 7 – This is here to make us feel even worse about the Broncos loss. This is just a couple plays before Denver scored a touchdown right at the end of the first half. A holding flag here maybe changes things.
- Play 8 – I like to end on a high note when I can, and Bosa’s ability to read and react is still at a very high level. It helped him get in on the tackle.
