1. Tre'Davious White earned this recognition from NFL Network's DeAngelo Hall
NFL.com analyst and former cornerback DeAngelo Hall released his list of the top five cornerbacks so far this season. Buffalo's No. 1 cornerback Tre'Davious White enters in at No. 3.
There has been a youth movement at the cornerback position, and White has been at the center of it since coming into the league in 2017. He is thriving under Sean McDermott in Buffalo as a more athletic version of Josh Norman, who had his best seasons with McDermott in Carolina. The Bills don't play a ton of man-to-man; rather, the defense works collectively to succeed in zone coverages. A form of zone McDermott uses is quarters/palms, which is a form of trap coverage. In simple terms, the cornerback reads the route of WR2 while keeping WR1 in his vision. If WR2 breaks out, the cornerback defends him and the safety takes WR1. Defenders must have a high football IQ to succeed in this defense, and White has all the necessary tools and then some, having forced three turnovers so far this season, including a game-sealing interception in Week 3.
The rest of the list includes the Patriots Stephon Gilmore, the Ravens Marlon Humphrey, the Packers Jaire Alexander and the Bears Kyle Fuller.
White is tied for first among all corners with two interceptions and has allowed 16 receptions on 25 targets.
2. The Bills defense is NFL's only defense to accomplish this in 2019
"The defense that we're not talking nearly enough about"
Lindsay Rhodes on her latest ‘Rhodes Less Traveled’ segment for the NFL Networkuttered those words and backed it up with some eye-popping stats for how good Buffalo's defense has been this season.
The Bills have held every opponent under 250 yards passing and 150 yards rushing this season. No other team in the NFL has been able to do that.
Not only that but Buffalo's defense has not allowed over 17 points in a game yet. Buffalo ranks third in the NFL allowing 14 points per game.
The Bills also rank third in total yards allowed (275), third in passing defense (187.2) and eighth in rushing defense (87.8).
Buffalo's opponents have only 80 first downs, 1,375 yards and are 2 of 8 on field goals.
3. Bills offensive play design draws praise from The Athletic
What's not to like about Lee Smith? The charismatic veteran leader of the offense scored his first touchdown since December of 2018 on Sunday, an eight-yard grab from Josh Allen.
Smith and his touchdown appeared on The Athletic's Sheil Kapadia "Ten likes and dislikes from Week 5 in the NFL."
The design on that Bills touchdown to Lee Smith. Smith acted like he was setting up to block, leaked across the field and was wide open for a touchdown reception from Josh Allen.
Here's the play:
Smith, known as a blocker, has two receptions for 16 yards and a touchdown on the season. He's appeared on 47 percent of Buffalo's offensive snaps which is his highest usage since 2015 when he appeared in 49 percent for the Oakland Raiders.
