Bills Central

Buffalo Bills LB is a defensive liability that must be solved

A Buffalo Bills linebacker has become a major defensive liability that must be solved.

Evan Massey

Oct 20, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end Casey Toohill (99) congratulates Buffalo Bills linebacker Baylon Spector (54) for making a defensive play against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Highmark Stadium.
Oct 20, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end Casey Toohill (99) congratulates Buffalo Bills linebacker Baylon Spector (54) for making a defensive play against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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The Buffalo Bills are hopeful of making a run to the Super Bowl this season. With a 12-3 record entering Week 17, they look to be one of the top contenders in the NFL.

However, there are still some major question marks about the Bills.

One of those question marks has to do with their defense. They have shown quite a few holes throughout the year. Baylon Spector, the team's 26-year-old linebacker, has been one of the biggest issues.

As shared by BillsMuse on X, Spector has received horrible grades from Pro Football Focus this season.

He has totaled a 29.9 coverage grade, a 43.0 run defense grade, a 58.8 pass rush grade, and a 30.1 overall grade. His overall grade ranks him 178th out of 181 qualified players.

Needless to say, those numbers aren't getting the job done. Spector has not been able to show improvement and quite honestly should be a bench candidate.

His overall numbers this season in 11 games are 40 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery.

Come playoff time, defensive mistakes can end a team's season. Spector has shown that he will make those mistakes. He can't be counted on to perform in any defensive scenario.

Hopefully, he doesn't end up being the reason that the Bills come up short in the postseason.

Obviously, players can always turn a bad year around. However, there have been zero reasons to think that Spector will do that. He has been consistently below average all season long.

Buffalo has to figure out how to fix the holes in the defense. Their offense will be able to give them a shot to win each and every game, but as can be seen from barely beating the New England Patriots last week, the offense will have bad games at times.

In those games, the defense will have to bail out the Bills' offense. They did that against the Patriots, but the playoffs are a different beast.

All of that being said, this is a specific situation to watch very closely. Buffalo needs Spector to start playing better in all facets of the game. These numbers are extremely troubling.

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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

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