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Is the Bills’ Fourth-Quarter Defense Fixed? Jalon Kilgore’s Late Stop Was Only a Start
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- Is the Bills’ Fourth-Quarter Defense Fixed? Jalon Kilgore’s Late Stop Was Only a Start
Buffalo Bills fans spent another fourth quarter holding their breath Sunday, and for one snap in Las Vegas, rookie safety Jalon Kilgore let them exhale. With Buffalo up 30-23 and under five minutes left, Kilgore broke up a third-down crosser intended for Tre Tucker and forced a punt. According to ESPN's Nick Suss , it was the first time the Bills' defense got off the field in the fourth quarter or overtime in eight series.
Calling the late-game defense fixed would be a stretch, though. One series later, after Tyler Bass pushed the lead to 33-23, Kirk Cousins hit Tucker for a 44-yard touchdown with 1:32 left, and Buffalo needed to recover an onside kick to close out the 33-30 win over the Raiders .
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A pattern two weeks in the making
Those late leaks have stretched across two weeks. Buffalo needed overtime against the Rams in Week 5 after giving up fourth-quarter scoring drives, and on Sunday the Raiders put together a 15-play field goal drive and a 91-yard touchdown march to tie the game before Kilgore's stop. Linebacker Terrel Bernard didn't dodge it. "I feel like that has been a recurrent theme, we just haven't been able to put teams away, finish games," Bernard said, via the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle .
There was plenty to like in between. The Bills broke up 11 passes, held Ashton Jeanty to 22 yards on 10 carries and kept Brock Bowers without a first-half target for the first time in his career, according to the team's website . They also played the second half without C.J. Gardner-Johnson after his spitting ejection late in the first half . Bills coach Joe Brady sounded like a coach who knows both truths. "I love that the guys know that we haven't played our best football," Brady said. "And so they're not pleased with that, but we're winning football games and I'm so proud of them for that."
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At 5-1, Buffalo now gets a bye week to sort it out before the Baltimore Ravens come to Orchard Park, where the home crowd has already sat through enough late-game drama for one October. Kilgore's breakup gave the defense something to build on, but two straight weeks of fourth-quarter leaks mean the group still has to string several of those stops together before anyone calls it solved.
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This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
