Getty Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer stretches before Buffalo's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks
For the past four years, safety Jordan Poyer has been holding down the Buffalo Bills secondary as they’ve ascended to the top of the AFC East.
During his time in Buffalo, he and Micah Hyde have become one of the best safety tandems in the league at disguising their looks and confusing opposing quarterbacks. But, Poyer said he’s found it difficult to confuse one quarterback more than any other he’s ever played.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Poyer revealed who that quarterback was and why he was so difficult to manage during their matchups.
“One of the hardest quarterbacks to me, is arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, besides Josh Allen, is Tom Brady,” Poyer said during his interview. “I’ve never beat him for one. I was in Cleveland for four years and I was 0-4 against him there and then obviously being out in Buffalo we never beat him specifically.”
“One of the hardest QB obviously to me is the GOAT (besides @JoshAllenQB) is @TomBrady.. I never beat him”
@J_poyer21 on playing chess against QB’s as a Safety #BillsMafia #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE
Poyer said he and his teammates normally look at what a quarterback is doing in his drop, his three-step drop, or his play action and where his eyes or moving. They also look at if he can work through his reads from one side of the field to the other. But, when it came to Brady, who is 32-3 all-time against the Bills, it was a completely different type of game.
“Just playing that chess match with him and being in so many games against him and seeing how he plays the game within the game is really amazing, just to be a part of,” Poyer said. “He does so many little things, whether it’s with his eyes or if he gets his tells from the nickel…he’s not looking at us sometimes.”
Poyer is one of many that probably have the same thought process about Brady but he has gotten the upper hand on him a few times.
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Poyer Reminds McAfee He Has Two Interceptions Against Brady
Although he didn’t get the opportunity to play him this past season, Poyer has intercepted Brady twice in his career and one of them went for a touchdown. He reminded McAfee about the feat on Thursday.
“I have a pick-6 against him, I actually have two picks against him,” Poyer said with a laugh. “So I’ll let that out there.”
During his first year in Buffalo, the Bills were playing in Foxborough in Week 16 and Poyer picked off Brady and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to put Buffalo up 10-3. But, the Patriots went on to win the game 37-16.
Poyer also picked off Brady during their second matchup of 2018 but again Brady and the Patriots went on to win that game, 24-12.
Poyer Explains Culture Shift in Buffalo
Ever since Poyer joined Buffalo in 2017, along with Micah Hyde and head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills have changed the way they are perceived. They went from an organization that lost a lot of games to a team that’s made the playoffs three of the past four years.
Poyer said McDermott had a lot to do with that change and how the outlook of the organization has changed.
“It’s been a culture shift ever since Sean came in 2017 and he’s really brought guys in to change the culture from being ‘whoa is me’ the same old Buffalo Bills to now we expect to win,” Poyer said. “We expect to win, we expect to go out there and perform well. We go out there week in and week out. The type of guys that Beane and Sean and the Pegula’s bring in are just hard-nosed guys that just come in and work.”
Since Poyer joined the Bills in 2017, they’ve gone 38-26 in the regular season and have made three playoff appearances along with making a run to the AFC Championship this past year.
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