Buffalo spent its bye with a one-game lead in the AFC East and a pass defense that has given up more yards than any in the NFL. The Bills have allowed 1,792 passing yards through six games, the most in the league according to StatMuse, and Maxwell Hairston’s spot on the outside has become the clearest weak point. Even the 33-30 win in Las Vegas ended with Buffalo needing an onside kick recovery after Kirk Cousins threw for 313 yards.
“I feel like that has been a recurrent theme, we just haven’t been able to put teams away, finish games,” linebacker Terrel Bernard told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Baltimore visits Orchard Park on Nov. 1 in Week 8, and three fixes stand between the Bills and a 6-1 start.
Maxwell Hairston has to hold up outside
Hairston’s coverage grade sits at 36.4, 98th among 102 qualified cornerbacks, and quarterbacks have a 114.6 passer rating when they throw at him, per PFF. The coaches already reacted. He played 26 defensive snaps against the Raiders, behind Dee Alford’s 43 and Davison Igbinosun’s 42, and we wrote that the Bills have been linked to a 6-foot-2 cornerback before the Nov. 10 trade deadline.
Christian Benford showed the other side of it in Las Vegas. He broke up two passes in man coverage on Brock Bowers in the second half, and Bowers’ two longest catches came when Benford was elsewhere. “It speaks to the confidence that we have in Christian [Benford],” head coach Joe Brady said, per the team’s website. “He was up for the challenge and I thought he rose to it.”
Baltimore will test whoever lines up across from Benford. Zay Flowers leads the Ravens with 471 receiving yards, and Baltimore averages 8.3 yards per pass attempt, third in the NFL, per StatMuse. Lamar Jackson has missed two straight games with an ankle injury, and Tyler Huntley went 19 of 31 for 165 yards in Sunday’s 13-10 loss at Cleveland, so the quarterback Buffalo prepares for is still an open question.
Greg Rousseau needs help on the edge
Rousseau is carrying the pass rush by himself. He leads all edge defenders with 39 pressures and 16 quarterback hits, and his 86.3 overall grade ranks sixth at the position, according to PFF. He also has six sacks. The team has 11.
The Bills got 12 pressures against Cousins and no sacks. Rousseau had four of them, while Bradley Chubb managed one on 11 pass rushes and rookie T.J. Parker had two on 29, and the snap counts showed Parker pulling playing time away from the veteran who signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal in March. Baltimore’s offensive line has allowed 14 sacks, 17th in the league, and it was without center Cam Jurgens in Cleveland. One edge rusher can’t win that matchup alone.
James Cook has to hold on against Kyle Hamilton
Christopher Trim-Imagn Images
Cook has 627 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 117 carries. He also has four fumbles this season and 11 since the start of 2025, and Brady warned that his carries could decrease after two more against the Rams. Buffalo has lost five fumbles and turned it over nine times, all in a three-game stretch before Las Vegas.
Cook answered with 95 yards on 22 carries and the go-ahead touchdown, and Kyle Hamilton is the next defender who can take that away. The Ravens safety leads all safeties with 18 run stops, and his 88.1 run-defense grade ranks seventh, per PFF. He had three tackles for loss in Cleveland, according to the Ravens, and Baltimore allows 3.8 yards per carry, ninth in the NFL. A Cook fumble near the line of scrimmage is exactly the play Hamilton makes.
Josh Allen’s offense leads the league at 32.8 points per game, and he tied Jim Kelly’s franchise record with 258 touchdown passes counting the playoffs. Scoring hasn’t been the issue. Buffalo is allowing 28.5 points per game with C.J. Gardner-Johnson still waiting on a league ruling, and Derrick Henry and his seven rushing touchdowns are headed to Highmark Stadium.
