CLEVELAND -- Up three points with just over five minutes remaining in the game, the Buffalo Bills needed a stop, a familiar story in the 2025 season.
The Bills were looking to finish off their Week 16 game in Cleveland to escape back to Lake Erie with a much-needed win against a team that they came in double-digit favorites against.
On fourth-and-2 from the Cleveland 44-yard line, defensive end Greg Rousseau quickly got past left tackle Cam Robinson to impact rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders and then bring him down for a sack.
With the 23-20 win, the Bills improved to 11-4 on Sunday -- after another stop on the following drive by the Bills defense -- and have won four straight games with the playoffs just two regular-season games away.
Adjustments have been crucial for the Bills with big plays late and essential stops becoming a signature. But it is the fact that the unit has been put in situations time and time again to need them that is an issue to monitor ahead of the postseason. It's reflective of the team in all three phases, with comebacks and tight games now a formula for the Bills.
"Do we need it to be more consistent? Yes. You can't allow a team to do what they did," coach Sean McDermott said after the win. "So, we're continuing to push. We got to continue to push to give ourselves a chance to win the game.
"And the takeaways have been big for us as well. So, in addition to the adjustments by the staff in the fourth quarter in particular, the guys showed up, and they made the plays they needed to make."
Against the Browns, the Bills defense had a solid outing with two interceptions -- one each for safety Jordan Poyer and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones -- and Sanders was held to 2.2 air yards per attempt (sixth lowest by any quarterback over the last 20 seasons, minimum 25 attempts). The familiar struggling Bills run defense, however, was present as the Browns had 160 rushing yards, their most since 2023. And it took until almost halfway through the fourth quarter for the adjustments to make an impact.
"Defensively didn't start as well, came back in the second half and did some things to help us win the game there, obviously," McDermott said. "Toughness of [the] overall football team, good to see, but still plenty to work on. So we need to do the basics, the basic things better."
The defense is a tale of two halves. In the first half of games, the Bills have allowed 23 touchdowns (tied for 27th), 50.5% of third down conversions (31st), 169 (tied for 29th), 13.9 points per game (25th) and come away with seven takeaways (tied for 16th).
That flips in the final two quarters. In the second half, the Bills have allowed 18 touchdowns (tied for 12th), 33.8% of third down conversions (seventh), 111 first downs (first), 9.1 points per game (tied for fourth) and come away with 13 takeaways (sixth).
McDermott has noted several times lately how important it is to have a staff and players that are able to make adjustments in-game and then positively finish those games.
What the Bills did against the Browns is a concern as it took until the very end of the game to solidify a victory over a three-win team, but the Bills defense was also able to make the necessary plays that the offense could not and come up with big stops when they were needed.
"I think there was a little bit of a dip in energy after coming out of the half and comes down to the last few minutes in the fourth quarter," defensive end Joey Bosa said. "We're like, 'Alright, we got to lock in here.' Yeah, just proud of the guys. Happy that we had an opportunity to go out there and win the game at the end of the game. Not that we have to prove anything to anybody, but we like to be in those positions, and we like to have an opportunity to win the game for our team."
In previous tight second halves, the Bills offense has played a significant role in big comeback efforts. Look to recent games against the Cincinnati Bengals (down 10 points) and New England Patriots (down 21). But against the Browns, the offense got off to three straight touchdown drives but only managed three second half points. The unit struggled after quarterback Josh Allen left the field early before halftime with a right foot injury that did not cause him to miss any plays. Allen said he did not feel that the injury impacted his play.
That sack by Rousseau, who finished with 2.5 on the day, handed the ball back to the offense that was unable to do anything with it, giving it up on downs after five plays after tight end Dawson Knox dropped an end zone pass. Then the Bills defense came up with yet another stop and the offense was able to do just enough to end the game.
Similar late efforts have come in other games by the defense, including crucial takeaways by cornerback Christian Benford. While the Bills continue to say they would like to start faster, coming up with what's needed late has led to wins up to this point.
The next test awaits in a big way in the Philadelphia Eagles, who are second in yards per rush (5.1) and lead the league is second half points scored per game (15.4), on Sunday (Fox, 4:25 p.m. EST). Then the biggest of stages will await once the playoffs arrive if this formula can continue to be relied on.
"They can throw it, they can run it, they can do it all," defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said of the Eagles. "So, you guys know, they have some pretty dang good players over there and we got to get ready to prepare ourselves to play a good game, to make sure we're trying every week to play our best game. And that's what we're going to do."