The Buffalo Bills could have to make a difficult decision on their defensive line.
Buffalo is off to a 2-0 start as the Bills have looked like one of the best teams in the NFL. And the Bills will soon get an impact defender back from suspension.
Buffalo will host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in Week 3.
Buffalo Bills Could Move on From Greg Gaines
Buffalo will get defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis back from suspension after Week 4. So the Bills will have to make a difficult roster move.
The Bills could simply waive Mathis, but the former second-round pick did make an impact last year, so he should get a chance to perform. With that, Bills analyst Ralph Ventre of SI believes Greg Gaines could be the veteran who gets cut.
“Swapping out Gaines to make room for another defensive tackle seems like the most natural move in the situation created by Mathis completing his suspension. It wasn’t until after the Mathis suspension was announced in August that the Bills decided to sign Gaines, who had been lingering on the free-agent market all offseason,” Ventre wrote.
“Although serviceable, Gaines has been no better than average in his small rotational role. The nose tackle played 14 snaps in the season opener followed by 19 reps on Thursday Night Football. Those totals make Gaines the least-deployed down lineman through two weeks.”
Gaines signed with the Bills in August as he’s in his 8th NFL season. The veteran defensive tackle won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams and has been a solid rotational defensive tackle.
However, with the Bills, Gaines hasn’t made much of an impact, which is why he could get moved.
Buffalo Defense has Struggled Through 2 Weeks
The Bills are 2-0, but the new-look defense has struggled.
Jim Leonhard is the defensive coordinator, and he did change the system, so he expected growing pains. However, he does think the defense is better than the numbers suggest.
“We’re kind of a boom-or-bust defense, and that’s not okay long-term,” Leonhard said after the win over Lions. “That’s not sustainable. … When things have gone well in a drive, I mean, I think we’re pretty much either three-and-out or touchdown right now over two games. I don’t know exactly what the numbers are, but that’s not far off from the truth.”
Although Leonhard believes the defense is better than the numbers suggest, he does expect the defense to take a step forward.
“We’re not playing our best ball,” Leonhard said. “The numbers say that. We’re all pissed off, but at the same time we’re 2-0 and we’re identifying our issues and we’re going to go jump on them.”
The Bills are seven-point favorites against the Chargers on Sunday.
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