For the [Buffalo Bills](https://buffalowdown.com/4-massive-concerns-for-bills-heading-into-week-11-vs-buccaneers-01k9xq48ryd1), Week 11 arrives with the weight of playoff positioning already tightening around the AFC landscape.
At 6-3, losers of an ugly 30-13 loss in Miami last week, Buffalo walks into a Sunday showdown where one or two matchups could tilt the entire afternoon.
For HC Sean McDermott and the Bills, few individual battles will carry more influence than what happens each time Bills nickel corner Taron Johnson aligns across from Buccaneers rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka.
Thus far through 2025, the Buccaneers’ offense has been a revolving spotlight this season, but its most dynamic force has undeniably been Egbuka, a first-round pick out of Ohio State who already has 40 catches, 677 yards, and six touchdowns to his name. Tampa Bay moves him everywhere -- on the perimeter, tight to the formation, and especially into the slot, where his pacing, leverage manipulation, and explosive plant-and-go shifts create immediate stress on defenders.
Whether he starts inside or motions there pre-snap, the Bucs use him to diagnose coverage, stress spacing, and manufacture clean windows for Baker Mayfield.
That’s where Taron Johnson becomes the hinge point of the ballgame
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A former day-three pick out of Weber State all the way back in 2018, Johnson has steadily transformed from a small-school projection into one of the best and most complete nickel defenders in football. His instincts, fluidity, and toughness have helped anchor Buffalo’s sub-packages for years, and 2025 has been no different when he’s been on the field.
Before his injury stretch, Johnson allowed just 19 catches on 27 targets for 165 yards, with no receiver topping 43 yards against him in any game this season. Those numbers reflect not only his coverage ability, but the discipline and technique he brings to the short and intermediate areas of the field. He’s physical in the contact window, disruptive at the break point, and consistently wedges himself into throwing lanes that quarterbacks expect to be clean.
It's not easy operating with open air to either shoulder, or also executing when asked to set the outer edge in the ground game, but as Johnson always has, he straps up, competes, and executes as well as any nickel defender in the game.
Against Egbuka, that combination is essential. The rookie thrives on rhythm-based routes -- option stems, speed outs, snaps across the grain, and deep crossers that require timing and patience. If Johnson can muddy those schedules and force Mayfield to hold the ball a beat longer, Buffalo’s pass rush gains real opportunity to influence the pocket.
And if he can limit the free-access throws Tampa loves to dial up for Egbuka inside, the Buccaneers will be forced to rely on secondary options rather than their most reliable chain-mover.
In a game defined by two teams fighting for separation in their respective playoff races, the smallest matchup can swing the biggest moments. For Buffalo, that matchup sits in the slot.
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