Mathis Is Back. The Hole He's Filling Isn't Gone.

Phidarian Mathis has cleared his three-game suspension and is listed Active, which is the straightforward good news. The Bills get a body back on the interior defensive line, and that matters given how thin things have been up front.

The problem is that Sanders isn't coming back anytime soon. As I noted when the appendectomy was confirmed, losing T.J. Sanders punched a second hole in a unit that was already operating well below where it needs to be. Greg Gaines is the starter at defensive tackle, and he's been adequate — not dominant, not a liability, just adequate. Austin Johnson and Ed Oliver are behind him. That's the rotation. Mathis returning adds a name to the DL depth chart, but the structural gap at the position doesn't close just because the suspension is over.

My read is that the next two or three weeks will tell us whether this group can hold up against teams that want to run the ball. The Bills have the offense to outscore problems, but that's the same logic that got them to Denver in January and didn't get them home.