Can Stefon Diggs get his mojo back? 3 questions for Bills vs Eagles

ORCHARD PARK - Back in 2021, the Buffalo Bills were holding on for dear life in the AFC playoff race with a 7-6 record following a disappointing 33-27 overtime loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After all the excitement generated during 2020 when they advanced to the AFC Championship Game, it felt like a dire situation because 7-6 was not what anyone expected. At that point they were situated in second place in the AFC East behind Brady’s old team, the Patriots, and were tied with the Colts, Browns, Bengals and Broncos, but because of tiebreakers, the Bills were in the seventh and final postseason slot.

From there, the Bills reeled off four straight victories including a division decider against New England, and were 13 seconds away from hosting the AFC Championship Game when … well, you know what happened.

Sign up for the Bills Blast newsletter Delivered straight to your inbox, additional Bills analysis, insight, stats, quotes and team history from Sal Maiorana

Fast forward to 2023 where the Bills find themselves in a similarly tenuous position in the playoff race, again in second in the division behind Miami, but the big difference being they are currently not in a top seven spot.

Their win over the Jets enabled them to jump from 11th to eighth in the conference standings, but that’s not good enough, and what’s troubling is that unlike 2021 when they closed with four games against the Panthers, Patriots, Falcons and Jets, they face a far more daunting challenge in their last six of 2023. In fact, on paper, their homestretch against the Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Chargers, Patriots and Dolphins is the third-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL.

Are the Bills up to the task of rescuing their season - another that carried such high expectations - and earning their sixth playoff berth in Sean McDermott’s seven years as head coach? Playing the way they did in routing the Jets 32-6 was certainly a step in the right direction, but as McDermott said, “a good overall team win, much work remains.”

Here are three questions I have heading into the Bills toughest matchup of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles:

1. What has happened to the Eagles pass defense?

Last season on its way to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia’s defense was elite as it ranked first in passing yards allowed per game (171.6) and total yards allowed (292.8), seventh in points per game (19.8), it created 27 turnovers and 70 sacks with a sack percentage of 11% that led the league.

This year has been vastly different, particularly against the pass as the Eagles rank 28th in passer rating allowed (82.4), 29th in pass yards allowed (257.0 per game) and 31st in pass TDs allowed (19).

Now, it can also be said that Philadelphia’s sagging pass defense numbers are attributable to their dominance against the run as they rank No. 1 in yards allowed per game (66.3), and the fact that they’ve been playing with leads in almost every game so the opposition has tended to throw more.

For instance, Kirk Cousins of the Vikings, Sam Howell of the Commanders, and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys all had games where they threw for at least three TDs and 350 yards, but the Eagles - as the great teams do - still found a way to win each of those games.

Now they face another big test as Josh Allen, perhaps rejuvenated by the change in offensive coordinators and coming off a 275-yard, three-TD game against the outstanding Jets defense, takes aim.

One of the keys to the Eagles’ struggles has been injuries, but in Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs, the Eagles finally fielded their best secondary with cornerbacks Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Bradley Roby, plus safeties Reed Blankenship and newly acquired Kevin Byard. If they get back to form, things should improve drastically as Philadelphia attempts to defend its NFC title.

2. Can Stefon Diggs get his mojo back?

The Bills’ No. 1 wide receiver was nearly unstoppable during the first nine games when he caught at least seven passes in each and was leading the NFL with 70 receptions. At that point he also had 834 yards and seven TDs.

But in the last two games against the Broncos and Jets, seeing consistent coverage from two of the elite cornerbacks in the league - Denver’s Patrick Surtain II and New York’s Sauce Gardner - Diggs has been somewhat invisible. In those two games he has been targeted just 13 times and has caught only seven passes for 61 yards. That’s the lowest yardage total Diggs has ever had in a two-game stretch during his 3 ½ seasons in Buffalo.

Of course, that production looks great compared to Gabe Davis who apparently has become nothing more than a blocking receiver. Davis has a total of two catches for 56 yards on eight targets in the last three games, two of which he had no receptions. Against the Jets, Davis played 67 snaps and wasn’t even targeted.

We’ve become accustomed to Davis’ disappearing act, but Diggs’ inactivity is cause for concern. Obviously it didn’t matter against the Jets, but moving forward, the offense is going to need to get Diggs back into mix, especially if the Eagles’ secondary is back on track.

“I’ll tip my cap to those guys,” McDermott said of his starting receivers. “It’s not easy as a wide receiver to go and get those numbers and still feel good about things. And Stef and Gabe were phenomenal, the entire game. And even when Stef got body slammed he didn’t pop up and retaliate. And then it (would have been) an offsetting foul. Stef was very in control the entire night and playing good team football.”

McDermott was referencing Garnder’s stupid personal foul penalty om the second play of the third quarter which turned a 10-yard Diggs reception into a 25-yard play, setting the Bills off on a drive that ended with Allen’s TD pass to running back Ty Johnson. Yes, kudos to him for keeping his cool, but the Bills need Diggs to get rolling again.

3. How will the banged up Buffalo defense deal with the Eagles’ offense?

Through all their injuries, the Bills’ defense has exceeded all expectations. It seemed unlikely that it could survive the losses of Matt Milano, Tre’Davious White and DaQuan Jones, but as the Buffalo offense has sputtered, the defense helped keep the Bills afloat since the 3-1 start.

The run defense is allowing just 82.6 yards over the last five games, and the only game where you can say the defense failed was in allowing Mac Jones to have the game of his NFL life which included a last-minute game-winning TD drive as the Patriots scored 29 points, more than double their season-long average of 14.1.

This week, though, things are about to get a bit more difficult for the Bills. They will be confronted with an Eagles pass-catching duo of A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith that is as good as any in the league. Brown has 67 catches for 1,005 yards and six TDs, Smith has 42 catches for 533 yards and four TDs. Fortunately, for the Bills, they’re catching a break in that star tight end Dallas Goedert is out.

Part of their success is that Jalen Hurts is protected by one of the best offensive lines in the league, so the Bills - coming off a six-sack game against the Jets - will need to generate pressure and hope their secondary can cover. Rasul Douglas has been terrific in his first three games, Christian Benford is back in his starting role on the other side, and safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are also healthy and playing well.

It’s probably going to take the defense’s best performance of the season in order to go into Lincoln Financial Field and steal a victory.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stefon Diggs' mojo and Bills injuries: 3 questions for game vs Eagles