The 2025 season was unexpectedly good for the New England Patriots, for far more reasons than their first winning record in four years and their Super Bowl. They benefited greatly from the luck of not having a massive pileup of injuries across the team throughout the year, which helped them reach the peak of their success in Year 1 under Mike Vrabel.
They haven't been as fortunate at the start of the 2026 season, with A.J. Brown going down with an ankle sprain in Week 1, Mike Onwenu breaking his ankle in Week 2, and several others being placed on injured reserve and set to miss several games.
Going into Sunday's matchup with the Bills, they're already down Christian Barmore and Christian Gonzalez, who feels like the bigger loss.
The superstar cornerback has been a major part of their defensive success over the last three years, earning him a massive extension this offseason, and he has been exceptional through the first three games of the season, shutting down receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf, and Brian Thomas Jr.
His skills are essential against the Bills, who now have D.J. Moore in the lineup, so his absence is concerning. But the Patriots get a bit of a silver lining in knowing that Buffalo will likely be without their superstar cornerback too.
The Bills offense won't be the only group benefiting from the loss of an opposing star defender
On Saturday afternoon, the Bills announced they had elevated two players from their practice squad to the game-day roster, one of whom was particularly interesting.
Because Christian Benford has been dealing with an injury all week that prevented him from practicing, the assumption has been that he won't play against the Patriots on Sunday. The Bills' decision to elevate defensive back Te'Cory Couch and cornerback Kani Walker seems to confirm that, even if Benford hasn't been declared out as of early Sunday morning.
Although this doesn't necessarily swing things in the Patriots' favor, it is somewhat of a break, given how much the offense has struggled so far. This could allow Drake Maye to air it out more than he likely would have if Benford were available.
He will certainly need to exploit the hole in their secondary, especially with DeMario Douglas, as the Bills have struggled to slow down slot receivers at a high rate over the past three weeks.
As the team's primary slot receiver, Douglas could be their secret weapon in making this more competitive than anyone is anticipating, and it could ultimately be their ticket to stealing a game in Buffalo again.
Obviously, it will take a lot more than a missing cornerback to make that happen; Maye will need a bounce-back game, and the defense will need to be more aggressive in shutting down running back James Cook and keeping Josh Allen as contained as possible.
But knowing the defense will be without Benford helps a bit, and that's something that shouldn't be overlooked.
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