Eagles-Bills matchups to watch in Week 17

Eagles-Bills matchups to watch in Week 17 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles (10-5) are on the road to face the Buffalo Bills (11-4) on Sunday afternoon.

Here are some key matchups to watch:

Eagles run defense vs. James Cook

Since the Eagles gave up 281 rushing yards to the Bears back on Black Friday, they have steadied their run defense. They gave up 169 to the Chargers but a lot of that was scrambling from Justin Herbert. Against the Raiders, they gave up just 46 on the ground and then they gave up just 90 to the Commanders. Overall, the Eagles have the 21st-ranked run defense in the NFL but they have had moments of dominance stopping the run. Of course, one of their key run stuffers has been Nakobe Dean, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Commanders. But Jordan Davis had a great game in Washington and was very strong at the point of attack.

Through 16 weeks, James Cook is leading the NFL in rushing with 1,532 yards. He also has 12 touchdowns and an average of 5.3. He’s been excellent this season and is now a Pro Bowler for the third straight year. Against the Browns in Week 16, Cook had 117 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 16 carries and he had 87 yards after contact. Cook this season is averaging 3.6 yards after contact per attempt and leads qualified backs, averaging 1.2 rushing yards over expected per attempt. Cook is also second in the NFL in explosive runs (10+ yards) with 36 behind just De’Von Achane.

Vic Fangio vs. Josh Allen

The Eagles have gotten wins the last two weeks over Kenny Pickett and then a combination of Marcus Mariota and Josh Johnson. This week will be a much bigger test against the reigning MVP of the league in Josh Allen. The 29-year-old is having another impressive season and is in the MVP conversation yet again. Here’s a look at Allen’s stats from his MVP season and this year:

2024 (17 games): 63.6%, 3,731 yards, 28 TDs, 6 INTs, 101.4 rating
2025 (15 games): 69.6%, 3,406 yards, 25 TDs, 10 INTs, 103.3 rating

Allen has again been a magician through the air this season, but is still a threat with his legs too. His rushing production is almost exactly equal to last year and he still has two games left on the schedule:

2024: 102 attempts, 531 yards, 12 TDs
2025: 105 attempts, 552 yards, 12 TDs

What makes Allen unique?

“Just his size, his speed, his instincts, when it becomes a scramble game, what he can accomplish,” Fangio said. “He’s hard to tackle. He’s so big and elusive. He’s a real dude.”

The Eagles didn’t let Marcus Mariota do anything on the ground against them in Week 16, which was a concern based on their struggles to stop opposing QBs in the run game this season. The Eagles this season have given up 328 rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks, which is the sixth-most in the NFL. They gave up 66 to Justin Herbert, 66 to Patrick Mahomes and 58 to Jaxson Dart this season.

Eagles DL vs. Bills OL

The Bills this season have given up 35 sacks, which ranks 14th in the NFL. Josh Allen has been pressured on just 152 of his 508 dropbacks. That pressure percentage of 29.9% ranks 24th in the NFL. So it’s not easy to get after Allen, but that will be important on Sunday for an Eagles defense that has a huge reinforcement coming back. Jalen Carter has missed the last three games but he will return in this game.

The Eagles’ defensive line has played very well in recent weeks. They’ve been getting contributions inside from Moro Ojomo, Jordan Davis, Byron Young and even Brandon Graham. And then on the edge, Nolan Smith, Jaelan Phillips and Jalyx Hunt have rounded into a solid three-man rotation with the playoffs just around the corner.

Saquon Barkley vs. Bills run defense

The Bills’ defense ranks 11th in yards, 16th in points and 15th in EPA. So we’re talking about a defense that has been statistically middle of the pack. But they have not been very good against the run. The Bills have the No. 30-ranked run defense in the league (144.3 yards per game), are 31st in yards per attempt (5.4) and are 31st in EPA/rush (+0.08).

This is a game where you want to see more of those angry runs from Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby, who helped the Eagles rush for over 200 yards in Week 16 for just the second time all season. The Bills are giving up a ton of yards after contact this season. They are dead last in the NFL, giving up an average of 4.10 yards after contact per attempt, per NextGen Stats. To put that into perspective, there are eight teams this season that aren’t giving up that many yards per rush.

The Bills are giving up the most yards after contact this season at 4.10 per attempt and the next team on the list is the Falcons at 3.69.

Jalen Hurts vs. Bills pass defense

While the Bills have been a bad run defense team, they have the NFL’s No. 2-ranked passing defense, giving up just 167.1 yards per game. 

Here’s a look at what they have done the last four games against the opposition’s top receiver:

Week 13: DK Metcalf had 3 catches for 32 yards

Week 14: Ja’Marr Chase had 5 catches for 44 yards

Week 15: Stefon Diggs had 3 catches for 26 yards

Week 16: Jerry Jeudy had 3 catches for 12 yards

The Eagles went through some really rough patches as an offense this season but have been better the last couple weeks. Their passing game numbers haven’t been great but they’ve clearly been more efficient through the air. And A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are now both quietly closing in on 1,000 yards for the season. Brown is sitting at 935 and Smith at 931.

Fred Johnson vs. Greg Rousseau

The Eagles have gone 2-3 in the five games Lane Johnson has missed with a Lisfranc sprain but Fred Johnson has been solid in his absence. Fred Johnson in these last five games gave up just 1 sack and just 7 pressures, according to PFF. It’ll obviously be a boost for the Eagles to eventually get their resident future Hall of Famer back on the field, but the backup is holding things down.

The Bills are 18th in the NFL this season with just 34 sacks and their pressure rate of 35.2% ranks 14th in the NFL. Greg Rousseau leads the Bills in sacks (6.5) and pressures (48) and he lines up on the defensive left, so that sets up a matchup against Johnson. On the other side, Joey Bosa will be going against Jordan Mailata.

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