After a two-week lull where the Buffalo Bills blew second-half leads to the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings in Week 9 and Week 10, the Bills have bounced back to rattle off four straight wins. This win streak has gotten them to 10-3 on the season and again back atop the AFC East. However, these wins were not like earlier in the season when Buffalo blew teams out.
They have room for improvement and while some of those improvements can come from the coaching in terms of play-calling, they could also come from players further down the depth chart.
It is time to make some changes to the starting lineup for the Buffalo Bills
The Bills have another pivotal game on Saturday night against the Miami Dolphins as they try to avenge a Week 3 loss earlier in the season. The Dolphins are probably their biggest competition in the division and a win over Miami will stretch Buffalo’s lead to three games with three games left in the regular season.
This is a game that the coaching staff shouldn’t hold anything back and this means even making changes to the starting line. When looking ahead to this game, these are three areas they should make changes before Week 15.
Xavier Rhodes or Kaiir Elam starting over Dane Jackson
For the first time since last season, Tre’Davious White played every defensive snap for the Buffalo Bills when they played the New York Jets in Week 14. He appears to be fully back from his torn ACL and the coaching staff should feel confident in him being out there for the entire game moving forward.
However, the other cornerback position is not nearly as solid and it may be worth exploring different combinations.
Earlier in the year, Dane Jackson was probably the team’s top cornerback and did his best replacing Tre’Davious White. He seemed to respond well but as of late it has been a very different story. It is clear opposing offenses are targeting Jackson and they have been finding success against the former seventh-round pick.
The good news for the Bills is that they now have depth at a position that they didn’t have earlier. The return of Tre’Davious White combined with Xavier Rhodes and Christian Benford recently coming off injured reserve gives the team four players to rotate at that second cornerback position along with first-round pick Kaiir Elam.
In the past, the coaching staff has created a rotation at the second cornerback position and this year should be no different with realistically four cornerbacks to choose from. In my opinion, it should be Xavier Rhodes or Kaiir Elam getting the start over Dane Jackson but whichever direction they go, the Bills need to make a change here.