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Studs and duds from the #Bills 2023 season:
The Buffalo Bills and their 2023 season, like most of them, had its ups and downs.
Another AFC East title in the bag is a great achievement. Ultimately, it felt for many like the Bills fell short since Buffalo fizzled out in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs.
For the season that was, for better or worse, multiple players on the team made their impact felt.
With the offseason underway, here are Bills Wire’s studs and duds from the 2023 season:
Report card: #Bills defense in 2023:
Here is Bills Wire’s report card for the Buffalo Bills defense during their 2023 season:
#Bills players react to Bobby Babich being named defensive coordinator:
The Bills remained in-house when it came to their defensive coordinator position.
After Leslie Frazier stepped down from the post prior to last season, head coach Sean McDermott decided to take over the role. While doing so, McDermott called the plays throughout last year and we still don’t know if him or Babich will be responsible for that moving forward.
Regardless, a couple of players on the Bills expressed their thoughts on Babich being promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator. They are happy.
Check out a few Bills player reactions to the Babich news below:
Next Gen Stats: #Bills’ Ed Oliver had season-high game vs. #Steelers:
Add the Pittsburgh Steelers to the list.
The Buffalo Bills defense has gotten a fantastic season out of defensive lineman Ed Oliver. He’s consistently gotten pressure on opposing teams down the middle.
That was the case in the Bills’ 31-17 win over the Steelers as well.
According to Next Gen Stats, Buffalo’s defensive lineman hit double-digit QB pressures against Pittsburgh. It was the first time he hit the number all of 2023.
Of those 10, three times Oliver ended up recording a QB hit on the Steelers’ Mason Rudolph. Oliver did not grab a sack, but he did have a tackle for loss.
Goes to show, sacks are the only stats aren’t the only number that determines Oliver’s worth.
Ed Oliver generated a season-high 10 pressures on 28 pass rushes, the most pressures by a DT in a playoff game over the last six seasons.
Oliver had 6 of his 10 pressures come against center Mason Cole across 13 matchups (4 quick pressures).#PITvsBUF | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/yZhaCrnfXZ
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 16, 2024
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Ed Oliver throws heavy shade at the Steelers run game
In the weeks leading up to the Pittsburgh Steelers playoff matchup against the Buffalo Bills, the Steelers had found their run game and this was a huge part of the team’s late-season success.
But on Monday against Buffalo, the run game ran into a wall on a cold day. The game was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to a huge winter storm that rolled in and when the teams could play, the playing field was much more level. Which was bad news for the Steelers. The one advantage they might have had would have been playing in a snow game to give the run game something of an edge.
Bills defensive lineman Ed Oliver heard this and decided to throw some shade at the Steelers offense when he talked after the Bills win..
“I heard they wanted to play yesterday [Sunday] in the blizzard because they thought they could run the ball,” Oliver said. “Then we give them even better conditions, and they still can’t run the ball.”
There’s no doubt the great equalizer for Pittsburgh might have been a snowy field. Clearly, the Bills took it personally that some thought Pittsburgh would be able to run the football on them and they shut it down.
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Good games for these #Bills defenders:
The Buffalo Bills won a tight 21-14 final in their Week 18 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The Bills (11-6) had a few players that stood out above the rest in this one. On defense, the Bills were led by cornerback Christian Benford and his takeaway.
In terms of the players who helped Douglas pull out the win, Buffalo will hope such efforts remain throughout the rest of the 2023 playoffs as they aim for the Super Bowl.
According to Pro Football Focus, they’ll need these players to continue to play at a high level.
Here are the five highest-graded Bills players on defense against the Dolphins (11-6) in Week 18:
#Bills biggest Pro Bowl snubs:
The Buffalo Bills will be represented at the 2024 Pro Bowl.
But in what usually feels like the case, the Bills (10-6) appear to be a small-market team that was overlooked in the voting.
Offensive lineman Dion Dawkins and running back James Cook deserved their honors and could soon by joined by some alternate selections.
But before that happens, here are the Bills’ top-three snubs from the initial 2024 Pro Bowl roster:
#Bills have seven players named as 2024 Pro Bowl alternates, here’s who:
The 2024 AFC roster for the Pro Bowl only had two Buffalo Bills players included on it.
Offensive lineman Dion Dawkins and running back James Cook were the two initial ones. But it’s likely they won’t be alone at the end of the day.
Once the All-Star game rolls around, players eventually end up dropping out. Some due to their team playing in the Super Bowl, others relating to injury… or they don’t just don’t feel like it.
Regardless, Buffalo did see seven players end up on the list of alternates. There are different levels of alternates, ranked from first to fifth.
Here’s the full list of Bills alternates for the 2024 Pro Bowl:
The #Bills defense was led by these players vs. the #Patriots:
The Buffalo Bills won a tight 27-21 final in their Week 17 matchup against the New England Patriots.
The Bills (10-6) had a few players that stood out above the rest in this one. On defense, the Bills were led by cornerback Rasul Douglas and his takeaways.
In terms of the players who helped Douglas pull out the win, Buffalo will hope such efforts remain throughout the rest of the 2023 season as they aim to secure a postseason spot.
According to Pro Football Focus, they’ll need these players to continue to play at a high level.
Here are the five highest-graded Bills players on defense against the Patriots (4-12) in Week 17:
Report card: #Bills top #Patriots, 27-21:
The Buffalo Bills kept rolling in Week 17 against the New England Patriots.
The Bills (10-6) took a 27-21 win. As the score indicates, everyone wasn’t perfect against New England (4-12). Some positions played better than others.
With that, here is Bills Wire’s position-by-position report card for Week 17:
