Stock down
Taron Johnson
It wasn’t a pretty game for the Bills defense, and the entirety of the defense should be on here. They were absolutely shambolic in the second half, and cornerback Taron Johnson was the epitome of that. In coverage Johnson looked lost, and wasn’t contributing heavily in the run game. This is what surprised many the most, Johnson is a heavy hitter, and against the Rams, he didn’t contribute any of those heavy hits. Johnson’s game can be summed in one back-to-back sequence. He had a tackle for loss in the second half, and on the ensuing play, the Rams targeted him and converted a long first down. One step forward and a bunch back.
Tremaine Edmunds
This is painful. Really painful. Tremaine Edmunds has been one of the leaders of the Bills defense since he was drafted, and an important cog. His performance against the Rams was poor, frankly. In pass coverage he was almost non-existent, especially in the middle of the field, where the Bills were ripped to shreds. Speaking of getting ripped to shreds he was dreadful against the Rams rushing attack. He wasn’t attacking at the point of contact, or throwing his weight around against the smaller backs of Los Angeles. Perhaps Edmunds was still battling his shoulder injury in Week 3 and will have a chance to improve moving forward to the Raiders next week.
Ed Oliver
Oliver falls in the same category as Edmunds, he looked drained, and didn’t want to hit the Rams offensive linemen. Rams running back Darrell Henderson Jr. ran the ball 20 times, for 114 yards, and one touchdown. Plenty of his runs came right down the throat of the Bills defense, and right down the throat of Ed Oliver. The Bills run defense has been suspect throughout the first three games, and the lack of Oliver’s presence on the inside has been one of the primary reasons for those failures.
Dion Dawkins/ Bills pass protection
One of the reasons the Rams got back into the ball game was the fact that Aaron Donald was forcing pressure in the second half. The primary culprit of Donald’s second half success was Dion Dawkins. Dawkins looked completely out matched in the second half with Donald bullying the tackle from Temple, especially when Donald ran right past Donald, when he sacked Allen for a 20-yard loss. One of Donald’s sacks forced a Josh Allen fumble which led to Rams touchdown. It’s hard for anyone to hold Donald in check, but with the first half being as strong as it was, the second half was an utter letdown.
Aaron Donald sacks Josh Allen for a 20-yard loss 😨
— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) September 27, 2020
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