ORCHARD PARK - When the Buffalo Bills host the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon, they will not have starting free safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson due to his one-game league-imposed suspension.

And this might wind up being a positive development for Jim Leonhard’s defense because for all his athleticism, playmaking ability, and the swagger he can bring on every play, the bottom line with Gardner-Johnson is that he hasn’t helped the beleaguered Buffalo defense one bit in his first year with the team.

Well, OK, he made the big interception that helped alter the victory over the Chargers, but outside of that, he’s been one of the worst safeties in the NFL, and his play has also in some ways curtailed the effectiveness of strong safety Cole Bishop.

Sumer Sports tracks a metric it calls “impact plays” meaning exactly what you would think: plays that have a positive impact. The Bills will play against Kyle Hamilton who leads all safeties with 22 impact plays. Of the 56 safeties who have played at least 250 snaps, Gardner-Johnson has just six impact plays which is tied for 29th, and Bishop has only five which is tied for 42nd.

Of those 56 safeties, Gardner-Johnson’s egregious 23.5% missed tackle rate is dead last and Bishop at 14% ranks 36th. In terms of completion percentage against, Gardner-Johnson has allowed a 75% rate into his coverage area which ranks 33rd, and Bishop is 24th at 70.4%. So much focus has been placed on the struggling young corners Davison Igbinosun and Max Hairston, but the play of Buffalo’s safeties has also been ineffective.

“I would say, from a coverage standpoint, we need to be clean around communication,” Leonhard said last week as he and the defensive coaches went into the bye searching for solutions to all that ails one of the NFL’s worst defenses. “There's too many times where we look confused when I don't think there's enough options for us to be that confused. That's the biggest thing in the bye week; how do I help the coverage just play with more confidence, play faster, play more aggressive, allow them to get vision on the quarterback and break? How do we get our hands on the football more from the coverage aspect? That's the No. 1 thing.”

Damar Hamlin could bring stability next to Cole Bishop

With Gardner-Johnson out, the expectation is that Damar Hamlin will start against Baltimore and all you can really say about that is things can’t be worse than when Gardner-Johnson was playing. If nothing else, Hamlin should bring less volatility. He isn't likely to make many huge plays, but he usually won't kill you, either. And what can't be overlooked is that he has much more time on task with Bishop, who arrived as a second-round pick in the 2024 draft. That could make a difference.

“Obviously me and Damar have played a ton of football together, had a lot of snaps together in practice and everything, too,” Bishop said. “I'm super comfortable with him. I feel like we communicate well and that matters. It's not like you can't succeed with somebody who you haven't played together with, but it definitely helps for sure.”

Look at the Raiders game, for example. Before Gardner-Johnson got tossed for stupidly spitting at an opponent he was playing terribly, and that was a continuation of his overall season. Granted, nearly the entire defense has been bad, but he has been a notable disappointment as a free agent the Bills signed to help solidify their back end.

In addition to his poor coverage and missed tackles, he has been flagged for three penalties this year. If the Bills had a better option, he might have been benched already. Hamlin isn’t necessarily a better option because he’s right where he’s supposed to be as the third safety capable of playing both spots.

“I thought Damar did a great job of stepping in,” Leonhard said of his insertion when Gardner-Johnson got ejected in Las Vegas. “He calms things down for us. Made some huge tackles, some big-time tackles for us. (Bishop) and Damar have played a lot of snaps together so the comfort level there was high when we needed to make that adjustment at halftime.

“It definitely was the most comfortable and confident (Bishop has) looked. Made some big time plays, did some great things in coverage, whether it was man coverage, obviously a huge pass breakup out of the post. Sometimes for Cole, just try to not do too much, man. Slow down, see it, be calm, and let that athleticism show up.”

Zay Flowers will immediately test the Bills secondary

The Bills’ secondary has a tough matchup with Baltimore’s star WR Zay Flowers, and everyone will be involved because the Ravens line him up everywhere in the formation and no one has much success stopping him. He has three 100-yard games including 137 against the Bengals, has scored three TDs, has produced 24 first downs on his 40 catches, and his success rate (gaining the necessary yards to stay ahead of the chains) is 66.7% which is No. 1 among all WRs with at least 40 targets.

“I think everybody has to have the mindset that we have to play better,” Joe Brady said when asked about the safeties. “It's collective as a unit, there's no difference in the safeties, outside linebackers, corners. All of them just have to continue to play within the system, trust one another, not feel like, ‘man, I have to elevate my game and just find ways to get better.’ We want to make more plays on the football, just in general as a defense.”