Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will have a different look at the Bills after both of Buffalo's starting safeties were ruled out for Sunday's game.
Jordan Poyer (foot) and Micah Hyde (neck) will miss Buffalo's third game. Hyde's injury is scheduled to keep him out for the entire season.
The safety duo each finished in the top three in PFF coverage grade among all safeties with a minimum of 50 snaps last season, said Chris Raybon, a Senior Editor at the Action Network.
That said, their replacements, Damar Hamlin (17th) and Jaquan Johnson (40th) finished in the 87th and 71st percentile, respectively.
Additionally, the Bills' overall defensive scheme means Poyer and Hyde's absence should be no worries for Buffalo bettors — or for people facing Waddle or Hill on their fantasy football teams.
"Buffalo has played zone on almost every snap this season, and they can be effective at it even with lesser players in the secondary because they can drop seven into coverage due to the effectiveness of their four-man rush at getting pressure," Raybon said. "The Bills have the second-most sacks (nine) despite blitzing at the second-lowest rate (7.8%).
Half of Tua Tagovailoa’s six TD passes last week came against man coverage, while the Bills play zone over 90% of the time."
Raybon added that while Hill is his WR No. 6 and Waddle is his WR No. 10, he wouldn't expect a repeat of last week — in which Hill caught 11 passes for 190 and two touchdowns and Waddle caught 11 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns — because of the Bills' scheme and ability to get to the quarterback.
