The Buffalo Bills were eliminated by the Kansas City Chiefs for the fourth time of the Josh Allen era, and the second time in the AFC Championship Game. In large part, this falls on the shoulders of the defense. Buffalo was the only team to allow the Chiefs to score 30 points in 2024, which led to the aforementioned AFC Championship loss. This led to the Bills addressing the defense in a huge way this offseason.<\/p>\n
Buffalo signed star edge rusher Joey Bosa to be a potential game-changer off the edge. In addition, they drafted several defensive linemen, edge rushers, and cornerbacks, including first-round pick Max Hairston. With that said, Cody Benjamin of CBS says that the Bills’ defense<\/a> in big moments remains their biggest red flag that could keep them from reaching their goal of winning a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “It’s popular (and mostly fair) to critique the Bills for giving\u00a0Josh Allen\u00a0a slew of serviceable rather than spectacular pass catchers,” Benjamin writes. “Besides the archrival Kansas City Chiefs, however, Sean McDermott’s defense might be the biggest impediment to a long-awaited Super Bowl run. This group’s pass rush is setting up to be quite dependent on\u00a0Joey Bosa, whose injury concerns have already carried over into Buffalo. And the secondary’s trajectory could hinge upon either a rookie in\u00a0Maxwell Hairston\u00a0or an aging familiar face in\u00a0Tre’Davious White.”<\/p>\n If the Bills can’t get to Mahomes, they will lose, in all likelihood. If they do get sustainable pressure on the three-time Super Bowl champion with the offense playing as well as they usually do, they will be able to exorcise that demon.<\/p>\n