ORCHARD PARK – Thrilled as he was that the Buffalo Bills defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in last week’s AFC wildcard game, edge rusher Joey Bosa wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood.
Bosa was signed to a one-year contract in the offseason for one reason, and one reason only: To be an impact performer in the postseason, something the Bills have sorely needed from their defensive linemen.
But Bosa was anything but an impact player last week, and he didn’t need the next day’s film review to know it, or admit it.
Joey Bosa admits struggles after quiet playoff game
He stood at his dressing stall in the cramped visitors’ locker room at EverBank Stadium and flat-out said, “I’m so relieved. It was not my day today. It was not my best day. I need to play much better. I needed to have much more of an impact in the game.”
That’s a pro’s pro right there. No cliches, no spitting out the company line, no resting on the tired “I have to watch the tape” mantra that permeates NFL locker rooms everywhere. Bosa knew he had a bad day, and he was just glad that it didn’t cost the Bills a chance to go to Denver Saturday for the AFC divisional round showdown against the top-seeded Broncos.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bosa played 31 snaps and he made no tackles and was credited with one missed tackle, had four pressures of Trevor Lawrence but never really came close to sacking him, and that meant he had zero stops which are defined by PFF as a tackle that constitutes a failure for the offense.
Bosa even suffered the indignation of getting crushed by wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who weighs 80 pounds less than Bosa, on a running play that allowed Travis Etienne to get to the edge and rip off a 26-yard run in the third quarter that helped set up a Jaguars field goal which cut Buffalo’s lead to 13-10.
“I’m thankful I get to come back tomorrow and keep working,” Bosa said on Sunday. “That’s all I care about. Move on, learn what I can and be better next week.”
Bobby Babich echoes Bosa’s assessment heading into Denver
And that’s exactly what defensive coordinator Bobby Babich expects him to do. Like so many coaches and players, Babich often speaks a lot of words to reporters without actually saying much of anything substantive, but that wasn’t the case Monday when he agreed with Bosa’s self-assessment of his performance.
“It’s a conversation I’ll have with any player that needs to play better,” Babich said before the practice week began. “There’s no reason not to be 100 percent honest. The guys know the expectations. You guys said it, Joey said it already. He knows what we’re expecting and what he needs to do and what his job is.
“Look, you’re not going to bat 1.000. You need to bat as close to 1.000 as you possibly can, but he knows he needs to play better. We advanced and he has another opportunity to play better. That’s what we need, that’s what we’re looking for and he knows that. And he’ll do it. Don’t let it happen again. Play the way we know Joey Bosa can play. It’s pro football. Do your job at a high level. That’s it. End of story.”
Bosa started the season very well and he was Buffalo’s most effective pass rusher and one of the best in the league during the first half of the schedule. But then the usual bugaboo with Bosa – injuries – cropped up as he suffered wrist and hamstring injuries that curtailed his play in the second half.
He finished the regular season second on the team in sacks (5) and QB pressures (47) behind Greg Rousseau (8 and 55), though PFF loved his overall package and he graded out as their seventh-highest edge rusher, well ahead of Rousseau who was 20th.
As always, you must take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but they at least provide some context, and to their credit they saw against the Jaguars what Bosa knew and they had him as their worst-graded Buffalo player among the 17 who played defense in the Jaguars game.
Bills need Joey Bosa to pressure Bo Nix
The Bills need Bosa to be much better against the Broncos and it will be imperative that the defense doesn’t allow Denver quarterback Bo Nix to get comfortable because while he still suffers from inconsistency, he has the ability to be dangerous.
Nix was one of the hardest QBs to sack in the NFL this season, just 22 times on 680 dropbacks which was tied for third-fewest among the 26 QBs who had at least 350 dropbacks. Nix’s pressure-to-sack rate of 10.1% was the lowest in the league.
That number alone indicates that it’s going to be difficult to get Nix on the ground because he’s also a mobile quarterback who can escape the pocket and run, so the key will be to make him feel under duress while also keeping him contained.
Like all quarterbacks, Nix’s numbers drop when he’s pressured, but in his case it’s a notable decline in effectiveness. When he was kept clean in the pocket, which was 67.9% of the time because the Broncos have a very good offensive line, he completed 69.7% of his passes with 18 TDs, five interceptions and a 7.2 yards per attempt average. But when he was pressured, his completion percentage dipped to 48.0% with seven TDs, six picks and 4.6 average per attempt.
“I think you see, evolution-wise, you see how the quarterback, how Nix is more comfortable in their offense and those type of things,” Babich said. “And I think he knows when to use his legs, he knows when to tuck it and go and all that. He’s certainly really dangerous in that manner, but it’s just you see a maturation of the offense in general.”
Sean McDermott stresses need for all‑hands pass rush
Sean McDermott would love for the Bills to get productive pass rush from the front four, but he and Babich have been creative with their blitz packages in recent weeks, and they will surely use linebackers and defensive backs to get after Nix.
“Yeah, we’re going to need everyone,” McDermott said. “That’s the short answer and the simple truth. We’re going need everyone. It’s a great team, No. 1 seed in the AFC and they’ve earned that. We’re at their place so it’s that type of game. You’ve got to be able to do your 1/11th at a very high level. If we don’t make the adjustments this week and the improvements we need to make, it’s gonna be really hard, awfully hard on us for us to get a win out there. I mean, they’re just that good. So we’ve got a hill to climb in front of us here.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 36 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
