BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Bills defense has struggled against the run the past two weeks. The Eagles ran for over 200 yards two weeks ago and Washington’s Adrian Peterson had 100 yards at halftime last week.
They face another big challenge on Sunday in Cleveland running back Nick Chubb, who averages 100 yards rushing per game – the second highest average in the league.
“I’m not going to say it’s fixed. This is a league that when you put something on film, they’re going to continue to attack it,” safety Micah Hyde said earlier this week. “We’re going to continue to try to improve on it and limit those big runs but, are we working hard to do so? Yes. Am I a fortune teller and going to tell you in the future we’re going to shut it down? No. But, we’re working to do that.”
“It’s kind of going to be real challenging, similar to what we said last week,” added safety Jordan Poyer. “Guys have to do their 1/11th and we have to tackle. We’re going to have to bring our pads and get population to the football because he’s a hard guy to bring down.”
“Every week, one of our main objectives is to stop the run. We have to be able to come out there and do it and until we do it, I understand why you’re going to ask that question,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said when pressed about the Bills struggles defensively. “So, it doesn’t bother me, but from a team perspective we want to stuff that out and get back to where we were at, at the beginning of the season.”
Browns running back Kareem Hunt returns from suspension on Sunday.
Cleveland head coach Freddy kitchens said during the week he will factor into
the game plan. The Bills “D” verses the Browns run game could go a long way in
deciding who wins in Sunday.