The Buffalo Bills have some obvious cleanup work to do on defense. They’ve given up 31 points in each of their first two games, haven’t picked off a pass yet, and the early numbers are ugly enough to show up near the bottom of the league in points per drive and scoring rate. Opponents are finding the end zone on 50% of their drives against Buffalo, and that part of the story can’t be brushed aside.
But the pass rush has been a different deal entirely.
Through two games, the Bills already have seven sacks and 19 quarterback hits, a pace that points toward roughly 60 sacks and 160 QB hits over a full season. That kind of output is eye-catching, but not fantasy-land stuff. The Broncos have gone over 60 sacks in each of the last two seasons, with 63 and 68, and they finished with 164 quarterback hits last year.
The encouraging part for Buffalo is that the pressure doesn’t look like a fluke. The film shows a front that’s winning in multiple ways, and Greg Rousseau is setting the tone.
His game is built around using space, shedding blocks and getting to the quarterback, and his long arm remains a major weapon. He’s also been able to generate leverage and collapse the pocket, which helps him directly and opens things up for everyone else around him.
He’s currently on pace for 34 sacks, which would blow past the existing single-season mark of 23.
Deone Walker has also made a quick impression. The rookie big man is flashing more than just size, with finesse moves like the shimmy and swim showing up in the clips. He’s beginning to look like a real problem in the middle.
Bradley Chubb has been exactly the kind of steady presence Buffalo needed. Earlier this year, he was described as “capable,” and that hasn’t changed in the sense that his value comes from showing up snap after snap and making it count. He’s on track for double-digit sacks, and his consistency is helping the entire front.
Michael Hoecht is another piece who stands out. He was expected to bring the kind of chaos Lorenzo Alexander once did, and after a strong debut last year that was cut short by injury, he’s giving Buffalo that disruptive edge again. If he can stay on the field, he looks like the sort of player who can swing games.
It’s still early, and nobody should stamp this group as finished product after two weeks. Even so, the front four looks legitimate right now, with Rousseau emerging as the headline name and a deep cast helping him out.
If the pace holds, Buffalo would clear 50 sacks for the first time since 2023, when Leonard Floyd and Ed Oliver led a 53-sack season. That remains the only time the Bills have hit the 50s in the McDermott era.
In Other News...
Bills Just Lost Depth To A Rival And Now Face A Roster Decision
The Bills have lost a familiar depth piece to a division rival, with the Dolphins signing linebacker Andre Jones Jr. off Buffalos practice squad and adding him to their 53-man roster. Jones had been with the Bills for the last year and a half, and his value this season came from the versatility teams covet at the bottom of the roster, with appearances on both defense and special teams.
For Buffalo, the move leaves an open spot on the practice squad and puts the front office in position to move quickly. It is the kind of transaction that rarely makes headlines on its own, but for a team trying to preserve useful depth across a long season, losing a player to Miami adds a small layer of inconvenience and a reminder that even the practice squad can become a source of competition inside the division. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Leonhard Sounds Alarm On A Bills Issue Fans Can't Ignore
Through the first two games of the 2026 season, the Bills have banked a 2-0 start, but Jim Leonhard is not pretending the defense has been airtight. Buffalos defensive coordinator publicly labeled the unit boom or bust, a blunt assessment that fits the mixed results so far and puts the emphasis on what happens when the games tighten up, especially on third downs and in the red zone.
Leonhard did point to some encouraging signs, including the way Buffalo limited Jahmyr Gibbs on the ground against the Lions, but the bigger message was about consistency and emotional steadiness as the schedule gets tougher. For a defense that has shown it can flash, the challenge now is making those flashes last longer and arrive more often, because the early margin for error is already starting to shrink. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Get A Troubling Week 3 Test Despite Chargers' 0-2 Start
The Chargers have stumbled out of the gate at 0-2, but the matchup waiting for the Bills in Week 3 still comes with plenty of reasons for caution. Jim Harbaugh has never opened a season with two losses, and his team has already been forced to deal with ball-security problems after coughing it up six times against the Raiders, along with injuries that have thinned out key spots on the roster.
There is also the matter of familiarity on the other sideline, where Mike McDaniel is in place as the Chargers new offensive playcaller and knows Buffalos defense well. Add in the frustration around the Chargers early struggles and the sense from veteran Khalil Mack that the group can still improve, and the Bills are looking at a game that may be tougher than the record suggests. [Read more 🡒]