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It was a big day for the Buffalo Bills’ defensive front-seven against the Carolina Panthers. They sacked quarterback Cam Newton four times and had seven tackles for loss. Based on Pro Football Focus‘ grades this week, they seemed to agree.
Four of the top five graded players via the football analytics outlet are Buffalo’s defensive linemen and linebackers:
Highest graded #Bills vs Carolina (min. 25% snaps)
1️⃣ Jerry Hughes: 85.7
2️⃣ Ed Oliver: 81.9
3️⃣ Gabriel Davis: 81.7
4️⃣ Tremaine Edmunds: 74.6
5️⃣ Star Lotulelei: 74.5 pic.twitter.com/jGKaw9Bf5r— PFF BUF Bills (@PFF_Bills) December 20, 2021
Jerry Hughes always tops the league in pressure rate but never seems to bring down the quarterback for a sack. On Sunday, the longest-tenured Bill continued that trend but had one tackle for loss and one pass defense.
Following Hughes on the grade sheet is the man who lines up next to him. Ed Oliver ate up the interior of the Panthers’ offensive line, resulting in two tackles for himself. Oliver has continued to mold into the player Buffalo drafted him to be. He’s been an excellent defender the last eight weeks of the season and stepped up while other defensive tackles have missed time.
The lone offensive nod on the list goes to Gabriel Davis at No. 3. With no Emmanuel Sanders, Davis stepped up to lead the Bills in catches, yards, and scores. He’s presently on a three-game touchdown streak and Sunday marked his first career multi-score game.
The heavily criticized Tremaine Edmunds is at four. Edmunds had seven tackles and one quarterback hit in the box score. His main responsibility on Sunday was keeping Newton in the pocket and limiting the Panthers’ run game with the quarterback.
Star Lotulelei finishes fifth against his former team. The nose tackle has seen his role go a little bit more to Harrison Phillips the last month but he still excels at eating up blockers.
Lotulelei had two tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit.
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