Home-field advantage did not help the Bills win the day against their AFC East rival New England Patriots.
Sunday's game included another high final score for their opponent which is a low point for the Buffalo defense.
They have given up over or close to 30 points to three out of the four opponents they've faced this season. The first of those game was on the road, and the three that followed were at home.
Dee Alford, for one, believes he has found the culprit behind the struggles of the Buffalo Bills secondary: the noise inside the new Highmark Stadium, which was loud enough Sunday to disrupt how the defense operates.
Buffalo was picked apart again in the 29-26 loss to the New England Patriots, with Drake Maye throwing for 269 yards and three
touchdowns. Alford pointed to the environment as a communication problem.
"Sometimes the games can be super loud to the point where we're not able to get the play as fast as we need it, and those guys are already lined up and we're scrambling to get the play and now we've got to hurry up and line up," Alford said after the defeat, Buffalo's first of the season. "Sometimes we don't be able to get the play. That's not an excuse. That's just something we've got to ... get better with as a secondary as far as communication."
The numbers back him up. Through four games, the Bills have surrendered 1,096 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns, and eight of those scores have come in the three home games at the new stadium.
Veteran Bradley Chubb, the team's big free agency acquisition and addition this offseason to the starting defensive attack, offered a mature perspective on the adjustments they need to make that was nothing short of biblical.
"Yeah, we had some games that we had to learn from mistakes, but we end up winning and now they didn't roll our way," the veteran pointed out. "So, how we going to respond? What does what does a good response look like? Like how do we as a team respond the right way? Sticking to the process, being process based and not result oriented. Understanding that failure is going to happen in life. Failure is going to happen and that's it. That's when you build a steadfastness. I say every time we take the field, man, after a bad play, whatever it is, consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds cuz those trials produce a steadfastness. And that's what it's about. Character, building character, building that steadfastness.
Their defense has undergone an overhaul over the past two offseason periods of seeing new faces brought in via free agency and the draft. Then came the biggest change of all when ownership relieved head coach and designer of the team's defense (a scheme they learned through HC interviews teams' saw as predictable,) Sean McDermott.
New defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard has been brought in along with a new 3-4 hybrid scheme to which the defense and players old and new are adjusting. Individuals like Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, and Chubb are thriving as are their linemen, while younger players in the secondary like Max Hairston and Davison Igbinosun are still finding their footing, perhaps increasing the need for veteran presence in their rotation.
Alford and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson are both new to Buffalo this year, second-year cornerback Hairston has piled up more starts in 2026 than he managed across all of last season. The rookie Igbinosun was pressed into his first start against New England with Christian Benford hurt, and with Jordan Hancock on injured reserve, Alford's own third-quarter ankle injury forced Buffalo to get creative with Gardner-Johnson and Damar Hamlin.
Some of those younger corners like Hairston and IGB got lit up by Drake Maye and the Patriots passing game on big plays Sunday. Chubb shared perspective on that as well.
"Just continue to have that process go in each and every day knowing that, okay, boom, they're going to pick on me now. And at the end of the day, man, those plays going to come and turn our way one of these days. And those guys are built for that moment. And I'm excited to see how they respond."
Head coach Joe Brady said after the loss to New England that he trusts his defensive coaches to manage substitutions, voicing his support of their rotations and players in them.
Alford is now waiting on an MRI for the ankle injury he sustained in the third quarter before he knows anything about his current availability.
"I don't really know too much right now, but I feel good," Alford added. "I'm a warrior so I'm ready for whatever."
Buffalo hits the road for its next test on an Oct. 12 Monday Night Football matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills' Dee Alford, Bradley Chubb on how defense must adapt after Patriots loss
