Running back Derrick Henry made the Buffalo Bills defense look like a small-town football team in the club’s miserable 35-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. It was embarrassing and just not worth watching by the end of the night. The most frustrating part of the loss is that a defensive implosion of this magnitude seemed possible since Week 1, but few talked about it as the Bills dominated on the scoreboard, forcing teams to air the ball more than they probably would have. found.

We’re referring to Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones, and more broadly to the interior of Buffalo’s defensive line. Oliver and Jones posted abysmal Pro Football Focus grades in Week 4, posting run defense grades of 50.2 and 51.2, respectively. It’s not like PFF grades are the be-all and end-all when it comes to player performance, but the consistency with which the outlet has rated the two poorly this season is concerning; The best grade they have had since the start of the season was Oliver in Week 2 against the Dolphins with a grade of 64.1. This is the only grade a player earns higher than 60. Both have a run defense grade of 47.2 this season.

Related: The Bills’ Week 4 defensive module includes open-ended questions about player usage

Buffalo has allowed yards per carry averages of 5.0, 4.1, 5.4, and 8.0 yards against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Ravens, respectively; some of these averages are better than others, but none are particularly promising. On the season, they have given up 626 yards and a whopping 5.7 yards per rush. Opposing teams aren’t stupid; they will see this trend and attack the Bills with their rushing game. Even the Jaguars had an impressive average per carry, but the game quickly got out of hand and they could only run the ball seventeen times. This needs to change or Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense will be pressured to carry the team and play flawless ball, which didn’t happen against the Ravens.

Neither Oliver nor Jones recorded a tackle in the ugly Week 4 loss, and didn’t even appear in the box score of a game in which they played on more than 50% of the team’s snaps. Advanced stats weren’t kind to them either; per PFF, neither recorded a single run stop in the game, while Oliver was the only player of the two to record a pressure. They are simply not producing this season, and it is becoming a worrying trend.

According to PFF, Oliver’s season numbers are six tackles, one sack and nine pressures. It’s even worse for Jones with three tackles, no sacks and just five pressures. In Jones’ defense, his role is not primarily to pressure quarterbacks, but rather to occupy blockers and help clog the middle. The problem is that doesn’t happen consistently, as evidenced by his run-defense grade.

Not much more can be done at this point, other than perhaps a heavier rotation of DeWayne Carter and Austin Johnson. Get those two into the game more and see what they can do. Carter is a rookie and has struggled with his limited snaps, but it’s a small sample size, and he had a huge tackle for loss against Henry near the goal line late in Week 4. Either way, Oliver and Jones aren’t playing up the level. They did that in 2023 and need to step up their game or it could be a very long season for the Bills defense.

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