Joey Bosa is making the type of impact the Bills didn’t get from Von Miller over the past two years.
That’s one of the main takeaways from the Bills’ 2-0 start to the season.
Bosa was a beast Sunday in the Bills’ 30-10 win against the New York Jets, finishing with two tackles, one sack and two forced fumbles. He did that playing just 26 defensive snaps, which was 55% of the team total.
It felt like Bosa was on the field more than that, which speaks to the impact he made. It started early: On the first play of the Jets’ second series, Bosa made a picture-perfect punchout of the football against quarterback Justin Fields, and A.J. Epenesa recovered. That led to a Bills field goal and a quick 10-0 lead.
“Joey’s been great since he got here,” coach Sean McDermott said. “He loves to play football. He prepares. He’s a true pro. He’s been a really good addition. I think like anything, this is just Game 2 for all of us right now.”
In other words, McDermott didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself in discussing Bosa’s impact. There is reason to be excited, though.
Heading into Monday night’s doubleheader, Bosa was the NFL’s highest-graded pass rusher, according to analytics website Pro Football Focus. His pass-rush grade of 92.7 (out of 100) is elite.
“Whenever I sit on a pass play and sit out wide and push a guy even wider, I have a feeling Josh has a chance to hit the gap. If I own a guy and throw him down or something like that, it almost guarantees it depending on the coverage,” Torrence said.
“You see him practice, and then you’re kind of just waiting for it,” defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said. “I think his mindset was just, ‘I’m going to take this over.’ I think he did that very early on. Just his impact and punching that ball out, just flying around out there, I think he’s kind of reminding people that he’s still here to play and he hasn’t gone anywhere and his play hasn’t diminished.”
Bosa, who turned 30 in July, has played 61 defensive snaps in the Bills’ first two games, which is 62% of the team total. After being at 69% of the snaps in Week 1 against Baltimore, defensive coordinator Bobby Babich mentioned the team would like to reduce Bosa’s snap count moving forward (Bosa missed 23 games over the previous three seasons with various injuries).
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Babich was able to keep Bosa’s snap count low against the Jets without a drop in production.
“They are managing me well. I just have to be honest with them,” Bosa said. “I’m feeling really good. The key when you’re playing with this (Bills) offense is to stay warm on the sideline, because you’re going to have long breaks in between going out there with how long they hold onto the ball and how good they are. So (I’m) feeling really good. Just have to recover the best that I can.”
That’s especially true heading into a short week with another game at 8:15 p.m. Thursday against Miami in Orchard Park.
Even in a limited sample size, the Bills have seen the kind of impact Bosa can make when he’s healthy.
“I want to impact the game as much as I can every time I play,” Bosa said after Sunday’s win. “It’s one week. I’m happy with my performance. I’m happy with everybody’s performance. There are still things I wish I would have had back. I think I didn’t start as fast as I know I can, especially in the rush. So we watch film and move on.”
Bosa has three forced fumbles this season. Nobody else in the NFL had more than one entering Monday night’s NFL doubleheader. After one of those Sunday against the Jets, he was absolutely elated on the Bills’ sideline. When a reported prefaced a question by saying he had rarely seen a 10th-year veteran that excited, Bosa responded first with some quick-witted humor.
“Backhanded compliment, calling me old,” he said. “No, it was exciting. It’s fun. I’m just trying to have as much fun as I can playing football. We’ve beat it to death, but the last few years haven’t went my way with injuries. I’m just trying to enjoy every second I can out there, feeling good and playing with the guys.”
Before a pass rusher can shine on third down, a defense has to win first and second down, putting the offense in a must-pass situation.
McDermott said Monday he’s been just as impressed with that area of Bosa’s game. (Case in point: that first-down strip of Fields.)
Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 30-10 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
The Bills had a goal of stopping the Jets’ rushing attack Sunday, especially after Baltimore ran wild in Week 1, piling up 238 yards on the ground. Fields presented a similar dual-threat challenge to that of Lamar Jackson (although obviously not on Jackson’s level).
“We tried to learn our lesson and do the best we can to stop his feet and get after him in the pass, and we were able to get a few stops early, which gave us a chance to kind of rush the passer,” Bosa said. “The offense did a great job, we got a few turnovers and yeah, it kind of played out exactly how we were hoping.”
The same can be said of Bosa’s addition to the defense through two weeks.
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Jay Skurski
News Sports Reporter
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