Stefon Diggs is next test for a Bills defense that needs to prove it can stop top offenses
Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs tortured the Bills earlier this season, totaling season highs in catches (10), targets (12) and receiving yards (146) during his return to Orchard Park with the New England Patriots.
Stefon Diggs didn’t know about the point spread until Wednesday, when a reporter informed the receiver that his New England Patriots are underdogs at home against his former team.
“Good,” said Diggs, 32, deadpanning while surrounded by reporters.
Conquerors of the AFC East for the better part of two decades, the Patriots are reveling this season in the fact that no one saw this coming. They’ll carry a 10-game win streak into their rematch Sunday at Gillette Stadium against the five-time defending division champion Buffalo Bills.
Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs has 16 catches for 228 yards in two games against the Bills since his trade from Buffalo in April 2024.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
A victory clinches the division for the Patriots (11-2). A loss opens the door for the Bills (9-4) to rally over the final three weeks of the regular season.
Coach Mike Vrabel, the former linebacker and disciple of Bill Belichick, has instilled toughness and physicality into a roster the Patriots rebuilt last offseason through the draft and free agency. Drake Maye, their franchise quarterback, is having an MVP-caliber season. And, Diggs, the receiver who they signed to be Maye’s top target, is at the forefront of the revival.
Diggs isn’t the only player the Bills must stop. They need to prevent Maye from leaving the pocket as often as he did in Week 5, when the Patriots left Highmark Stadium with a 23-20 win. Stopping the run is paramount, and New England’s rookie running back, TreVeyon Henderson, will make Buffalo pay if it misses tackles as often as it did in the first meeting. But the Bills are aware entering this game that Diggs will be at the center of Vrabel’s game plan to clinch the division.
“I feel like he has a lot of freedom to create separation,” Bills safety/cornerback Cam Lewis said. “I noticed a lot of the times the offense is based on timing, like route concepts, but especially depending on the look, he does what he needs to do to get open, and that’s kind of been his game when he was here and since leaving here. It can be tough to cover him sometimes ... you just need to try to contain him the best you can.”
Trying won’t be good enough. Diggs tortured the Bills earlier this season as he totaled season highs in catches (10), targets (12) and receiving yards (146) during his first game in Orchard Park since Buffalo traded him to Houston in April 2024. He leads the Patriots in every receiving category, except touchdowns. Diggs is a safety blanket for Maye, as he was for Josh Allen from 2020 through 2023.
The Bills have contained No. 1 wide receivers recently by using their top cornerback, Christian Benford, to shadow them throughout the game. He held the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase (two targets in 16 matchups), the Steelers’ DK Metcalf (one target in 13 matchups) and the Falcons’ Drake London (two targets in 12 matchups) to zero catches, according to Next Gen Stats.
Bills cornerback Christian Benford breaks up a pass intended for Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins on Dec. 7 at Highmark Stadium.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Benford is a technician. He doesn’t rely on speed or athleticism. His hands and mind are his greatest weapons. The Bills often ask Benford to press opposing No. 1 receivers near the line of scrimmage to disrupt their routes and timing. The fourth-year pro has a defensive touchdown in each of the past two games, including his pick-six in the come-from-behind win over the Bengals on Sunday. He and safety Cole Bishop have been Buffalo's best defensive players this season. Benford, however, is dealing with a toe injury that may impact him this week.
“You’ve got to understand that you’re about to get the most targets,” Benford said of his role. “You’ve got to understand that you’re not perfect, so they’re going to catch passes and you’re going to make plays. Some games may go your way; some games might not. You’ve got to know every game is going to you. You’ve got to face that challenge. … If you’re playing the No. 1, you’re bound to get the ball thrown to you.”
The Patriots move Diggs around the formation, though. He did most of his damage in Week 5 by finding soft spots in the Bills' zone coverage. His snaps this season are split almost equally between the perimeter and slot, and he lined up in the slot on 70% of his snaps in their last three games. Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White and nickel cornerback Taron Johnson were Diggs’ most frequent matchups in the first meeting, when Diggs broke off his route to give Maye a friendly target during scramble drills. The Patriots know better than to allow the Bills to get the matchup they want on Diggs.
Schematically, the defense Diggs will see Sunday will be the same one the Patriots faced in Week 5. Bills coach Sean McDermott isn’t throwing out his playbook for one game. But there will be wrinkles added to the plan to try to confuse Maye and make him uncomfortable. There will be adjustments to try to exploit the Patriots’ weaknesses, most notably the absence of their stalwart rookie left tackle, Will Campbell. And, though Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw four touchdowns against Buffalo last week, the defense has shown signs that it is trending up in a few important areas.
The Bills aren’t missing tackles the way they did earlier this season. Their blitzes haven’t been flawless, but their rush and coverage are finally working in unison more often than not.
“It’s obviously a challenge, but I wouldn’t say it’s different, because you are who you are,” Diggs said. “They’re going to give you some different looks and some different wrinkles to kind of mess with your eyes. As a receiver, you might see a different coverage or see a guy in a different position, but they are who they are. They’re going to do what they do well. … That’s a hell of a football team. They’ve been winning. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The hype around this game will pit Allen against Maye and Diggs against his former team, but this is bigger than individual matchups. For the Bills' offense, it must protect the football and avoid penalties. It has committed 12 turnovers over the last five games. Allen will be able to throw against the Patriots. Dalton Kincaid, the Bills' top target, had a season-high 108 yards in the first meeting. There also should be more running lanes open for James Cook because the Patriots are missing their best defensive tackle, Milton Williams.
Winning this game won't be possible, however, unless the Bills' defense plays the way it did during the second half of Buffalo's wins over the Steelers and Bengals. The takeaways need to come earlier in the game. There needs to be more pressure on Maye than there was on Burrow. There can't be unnecessary penalties or breakdowns in the secondary. The tackling needs to be as reliable as it was the past two games, when Buffalo held Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to 3.2 yards per rush.
This game won't define the Bills' season, but it will tell us whether this defense can rise to the occasion in high-stakes games the way Allen has done throughout this eight NFL seasons.
"I'm just focused on a very good football team that is used to winning," Vrabel said. "They're determined, they're resilient and we'll have to be at our best."