Is the Bills run defense up for the task of stopping the potent Patriots?

ORCHARD PARK - Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier got a little defensive on Tuesday when he was asked about the viability of the team’s run defense.

When you look at the league rankings, they show that the Bills are sixth with an average yield of 96.6 yards per game. That’s very good, and Frazier said, “Well, those numbers don't lie.”

Well, a closer look may be needed.

Against two of the best running teams in the league - who undoubtedly have two of the best backs in the league in Tennessee’s Derrick Henry and Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor - the Bills got steamrolled. Henry gained 143 yards and scored three touchdowns and Taylor ran for 185 yards and had five touchdowns, four of them on the ground. Buffalo lost both games.

Monday when the Bills host the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium, their run defense will get another stiff test. Running backs Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson aren’t in the same category as Henry or Taylor, but they’ve been a productive duo running behind a solid offensive line that features tackles Trent Brown and Isaiah Wynn, guards Shaq Mason and Ted Karras, and center David Andrews.

“We've done a good job,” Frazier said. “That Indy game can mar it a little bit, that's for sure. But as a coach and a player, you can't get caught up in that one game. You got to make sure that you're getting ready to line up for the next game. At this point it's all about New England. So our being able to defend their run game is what's most important, not what we've done previously.”

The Bills have had only three games this season where they allowed more than 100 rushing yards - Tennessee, Indianapolis and Kansas City. But what you must remember is that in the majority of the other eight games - the exceptions being the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville games, and to an extent the second Miami game - the Bills were way ahead on the scoreboard and the opposition essentially quit running which certainly skews the numbers in a positive direction.

“I think there has been some good moments and then some moments that we could have played better and coached better, start with me,” coach Sean McDermott said. “So I think all together it's a work in progress.”

Harris and Stevenson have combined for 994 yards and a 4.32 average per carry with 11 touchdowns. If you add Brandon Bolden to the mix, he’s averaging 5.2 yards on his 26 carries.

If the weather forecast - which is calling for rain and high winds - holds true, the Patriots are going to be pounding the ball on the ground, and the Bills are going to need to prove that Frazier’s numbers mean what they read. For that matter, even if the weather turns out OK, New England may still try to pound it after watching how Henry and Taylor eviscerated the Bills.

“It's important every week; you go out there every week with the mindset you have to be able to stop the run,” said safety Jordan Poyer. “And particularly this week, this team does a good job of running the football. They’ve got good players, a good offensive line that’s blocking well, they’ve got three good running backs that are running extremely hard and they're breaking tackles. They just got good players and they find ways to get them the football.”

The Colts game was a particularly nightmarish day for the Bills, though they had the built-in excuse of playing without defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds that day. Taylor was great, but the key was the Colts’ offensive line manhandling the Bills’ front and the Patriots have a line that is capable of the same type of domination.

Lotulelei has been activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list and is expected back after missing three games, and Edmunds returned against the Saints after missing two games, so that will help.

“It's huge to be able to get Star back,” said Frazier, though Lotulelei did miss Thursday's practice with an illness that may or may not be related to COVID as an update was not provided.

“We missed him, for sure, and it's great to have him back," Frazier continued. "We struggled in that Indy game for sure in his absence, but that's not the only reason we struggled. But it would be great to have him back because of his toughness, his fierceness inside, just that big body and being able to move people around and help on some of the double teams that we're getting.”

As well as the Bills defense has played this season, albeit against some very weak opposing offenses, the one aspect that has been troubling is its lack of physicality, especially on the defensive line, and that’s why this matchup is troubling for Buffalo.

“They’re physical, that's a big part of it,” McDermott said when asked why the Patriots have been so consistent in the ground game. “They’re moving people off the line of scrimmage, beating people up by how they play and they're winning that line of scrimmage battle. So then that opens up the passing game down the field for the quarterback, so they got a real good thing going.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills run defense will be tested by Damien Harris and Patriots