It wasn’t quite a bye week for the Buffalo Bills’ defense Sunday.
It was about as close as an NFL game can get, though. The Bills faced just 46 offensive plays by the New York Jets during a 27-10 victory at Highmark Stadium – a win that clinched a second consecutive AFC East title.
That’s the second-fewest amount of plays the Bills’ defense faced in a single game during the 2021 regular season, trailing only the 42 ran by the Houston Texans in Week 4. A big reason the Bills faced so few plays is because the defense held the Jets to just 1 of 14 on third downs, forcing 11 punts, one of which was blocked.
As a result, some of the snap counts for defensive players look pretty low, which isn’t a bad thing with the playoffs approaching. For example, veteran defensive tackle Star Lotulelei played just 15 snaps against the Jets, 33% of the defensive total.
Here are four more takeaways from the snap counts during the Week 18 win:
1. Reggie Gilliam’s usage has gone up recently. The Bills’ fullback played 18 snaps Sunday, 22% of the offensive total. Gilliam played his most snaps since the first win over the Jets in Week 9, and has played 33 snaps over the past two weeks. Gilliam also led all players with 32 snaps on special teams.
2. Dawson Knox is doing it all at tight end. Gilliam can play tight end in a pinch, but the Bills have shown they’re comfortable with just Knox as a true tight end on the game day roster. He played 75 of the 82 offensive snaps, or 91.5%. Since returning from injury in Week 9, Knox has played at least 84.5% of the offensive snaps in every game.
3. Isaiah McKenzie’s usage was down. The Bills’ receiver played 22 snaps, down from 24 the week before and way down from 67 snaps against New England in Week 16. That’s not a huge surprise with Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis back in the lineup, but it will be interesting to see how much McKenzie plays in round three against New England, given the big game he had against the Patriots the day after Christmas.
4. Greg Rousseau played more than 50% of the defensive snaps. Rousseau, the Bills’ first-round draft pick in April, played 24 snaps, 52.2% of the defensive total. It’s the first time since Week 11 that he’s been on the field for more than half of the defensive snaps.
Quote of the game
“I mean, it feels good. Nobody at the end of their careers, looks back and really figures out how many times you won your division. I think the main goal is the Super Bowl and winning the division just gives you an opportunity to do that. So that's really our focus. It's great, it’s fine, hats and shirts are cool, but at the end of the day, we got a lot more work to do.” – Quarterback Josh Allen
Game ball: Ed Oliver
The third-year defensive tackle is becoming the force in the middle of the defense the team hoped he’d be when they used the ninth overall draft pick on him in 2019. Oliver led the Bills with three quarterback hits as part of 1.5 sacks, and finished the regular season with at least one sack in three consecutive games. He’s hot entering the postseason.
Stat of the game: 4
That’s how many first downs the Jets managed – a Buffalo franchise record for fewest allowed in a single game and the fewest in any NFL game since 2008.
