The Buffalo Bills don’t need a film session to know where the trouble showed up in 2025. On third down and fourth down, the defense kept putting itself in bad spots, and the numbers back up exactly what fans were seeing.
Buffalo finished 25th in EPA per play allowed on late downs, according to SumerSports, with a 0.10 mark that ranked third-worst among playoff teams. Only the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers were worse. The run defense was even more alarming in those situations: the Bills allowed 0.64 EPA per rush on late downs, second worst in the league behind only the New York Giants at 0.75.
That meant opponents could lean on the ground game when the stakes were highest. Third-and-short?
It often wasn’t a problem for the offense. Fourth-and-inches?
Buffalo was giving up too many easy conversions. The Bills struggled whether offenses lined up in 11 personnel or 12 personnel, with late-down EPA per rush numbers of 0.60 against 11 personnel and 0.77 against 12.
The broader picture wasn’t much prettier. Opposing teams posted a 45.5% success rate against Buffalo on late downs, which ranked 20th in the NFL.
And the Bills didn’t make a major offseason investment to fix the defensive line. Instead, they’re banking on a new defensive coordinator, a handful of edge additions, and internal movement and growth up front to clean things up.
That includes 2025 third-round pick Landon Jackson, who has bulked up to play 3-4 defensive end, former three-tech Dewayne Carter, who has added weight to move to nose tackle, and sixth-round pick Zane Durant out of Penn State, who is part of the mix but not expected to be a high-snap immediate contributor.
It’s also a reflection of how the organization is viewing the problem. Early this offseason, owner Terry Pegula called the Bills a “great roster” with “good coaching”, and that line fits the team’s approach here.
In the view of Pegula and President of Football Operations Brandon Beane, the talent is already in place. The answer, at least for now, is better coaching.
That’s why the coaching staff has been reshaped so heavily, with a new defensive coordinator, new defensive line coach, new inside linebackers coach, new outside linebackers coach, and new defensive quality control coach all brought in as part of the reset.
Whether that’s enough will be decided in 2026. But if Buffalo is going to finally get past the barrier that has been hanging over the team since 2020, late-down defense has to be one of the first things Jim Leonhard fixes.
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Bills May Have Found An Overlooked Answer For A Crucial Defensive Spot
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The bigger question is whether he can do enough to stick once camp gets going. He is expected to compete for a rotational inside linebacker job while also helping on special teams, but he arrives with roster-bubble status and faces a crowded path as younger linebackers push for spots of their own. For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious: a low-cost chance to find a useful piece in a defense that is still being built on the fly. [Read more 🡒]