Stefon Diggs helped Christian Benford become one of the best CBs in the NFL

ORCHARD PARK - Christian Benford remembers the moment last December when he picked off Dallas’ Dak Prescott during the Bills ’ 31-10 blowout of the Cowboys at Highmark Stadium.

It was his first interception of the season and when he came to the sideline, wide receiver Stefon Diggs was waiting for him as if to say, “Hey young fella, it’s about time.”

“It was funny, when I got my first pick last year, since he taught me a lot, once I caught it, and I did my (celebration), I looked at him and he looked at me, and it was like love,” Benford said the other day following practice, smiling at the memory.

It won’t quite be love Sunday afternoon between the two men because this time they’ll be on opposite sidelines, and Benford will be going against Diggs on what will likely be numerous snaps when the Bills play the Texans in a big AFC game at NRG Stadium.

“It’s going to be real cool,” Benford said, admitting that he was looking forward to the matchup.

The two obviously went at each other during Bills’ practices in 2022 and 2023 after Benford joined the team as a sixth-round pick. And Benford said the best part about those reps was that Diggs was always willing to share knowledge to help the young cornerback learn.

“I was young and just understanding like different receivers, how they run their routes, how they will beat certain types of DBs, so that’s what I learned from him,” Benford said. “Even sometimes during the game he would say something; I would look to the sideline and he would say something. We would compete, and he taught me a lot about ball.”

That might not be a great thing for Diggs Sunday because Benford has developed into one of the stickiest cover corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has him as its third-highest graded corner and his 35.7% completion percentage against is the lowest among all corners who have played at least 100 coverage snaps.

It's pretty impressive for a player who was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Villanova, certainly a great basketball school, but never one that has produced quality NFL players.

“I don't think people were looking there for football players, but he popped up,” said the Bills’ other boundary corner, Rasul Douglas. “But he’s just got that attitude. He got that nasty attitude about himself, that like whenever he gets around to play, he’s gonna make sure you know he's around. He’a just a good, good football player. He knows what it takes, he works hard every day, like extremely hard. He studies, he’s just locked in, he’s focused, and there’s nothing distracting him right now from being the best football player he can be, and he’s taking advantage of that.”

Coach Sean McDermott, who throughout his career has developed defensive backs perhaps better than anyone in the NFL, said Benford has become one of the best corners because, “I think more than anything he just continues to work hard every day to try and be the best that he can be. He just does a really good job at staying on task and honing in on what his job is every week and how he wants to improve, and you’re seeing the results of that.”

Here are the key Texans to watch

▶ QB C.J. Stroud: Coming off a remarkable rookie season when he won the offensive rookie of the year award while throwing for 4,108 yards and 23 TDs with just five picks, he’s picked up where he left off. Against Jacksonville, he completed 27 of 40 for 345 yards and two TDs including the game winner to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left to play.

▶ RB Joe Mixon: After leaving the Bengals as a free agent, Mixon started great as he ran for 159 yards in Week 2 against the Colts, but he suffered an ankle injury and has missed the last two games. His status for the game is up in the air.

▶ WR Nico Collins: He is coming off a huge against the Jaguars as he caught a career-high 12 passes for 151 yards and a TD and he now has 30 for and NFL high 489 yards and two TDs. He also leads the league with 21 plays of at least 10 yards.

▶ DE Will Anderson Jr.: The third overall pick in the 2023 draft was the defensive rookie of the year after recording 7.5 sacks, and he has 2.5 through four weeks in 2024 as well as 21 QB pressures.

▶ DE Danielle Hunter: The former Vikings star, who had 89 sacks in eight seasons there, signed as a free agent with Houston and he has 1.5 sacks as a terrific book end to Anderson. He has the second-most pressures in the NFL with 24. Last year he led the NFL 23 tackles for loss and his 108 tackles for loss since 2015 are fourth-most.

▶ CB Kamari Lassiter: The rookie second-round pick has come right in and earned a starting job and he made his first career interception against the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, Caleb Williams of the Bears in Week 2.

▶ CB Derek Stingley: The No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 draft has emerged as one of the best in the league. He has allowed an NFL passer rating against of 53.7 which is 10th among all corners with at least 100 snaps. Benford leads the NFL with a 14.6 passer rating against.

▶ LB Azeez Al-Shaair: He leads the Texans with 29 tackles and he also has a sack, eight QB pressures and a pass breakup.

What they said in the locker room

▶ QB Josh Allen on the Texans defense: “I think they got a couple of ends that are really fast; hey do a good job of getting to the quarterback. In the back end, obviously, everyone knows the corner they’ve got in Derek Stingley, great young player, who seemingly makes plays on the ball, week in and week out. So got to make sure we're aware of what we're doing, and again, sticking to the game plan of what we got. And I trust Joe and the offensive staff to put together something good. And it’s our job to go out there and execute it.”

▶ WR Curtis Samuel on his slow start: “I’m a team-first guy. If the ball does touch my hands, I try to make a play every time, but there is only one football. Sometimes the best guys in the league don’t get that many targets. It is what it is. I don’t let that get to me. I come out here this week and get ready to play.”

▶ Texans QB CJ Stroud on what it has been like playing with Diggs: “It’s been great. I think he got a bad rap just by the media and by people. But he’s been nothing but just amazing to this team and to his teammates. He’s helped me out a ton. As you can see, we’re clicking more and more every game. So, I’m very happy for him and I’m glad that he’s finally having fun playing the game and doing what he loves to do because he loves football a lot. So, just really, really happy to be part of his journey and just being around him has been really awesome.”

Bills vs. Texans stat notes

• Since 2018 when Allen entered the, Bills are 14-4 in games following a loss, second-best in the NFL behind only the Chiefs.
• In his career, Allen is now 26-for-29 converting on fourth-and-1 runs, which is why it was curious that the Bills punted on a fourth-and-1 against the Ravens from their own 39 in the second quarter while trailing 14-3. Typically, McDermott has been aggressive in those situations but that was a curious call.
• These teams haven’t played that often, but still, the Bills have not won in Houston since 2006, the day Lee Evans set a franchise record with 265 yards receiving while also scoring two TDs on passes from J.P. Losman in a 24-21 victory.
• McDermott has now coached in 118 regular season games as the Bills head coach, breaking a tie with Lou Saban (117) for second-most in team history. He trails only Marv Levy (182). His winning percentage of .644 is the franchise’s best.
• These teams have been among the best at scoring TDs in the red zone as the Bills rank third at 73.3% and the Texans are fourth at 72.7%.
• Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, in his 19th-career game, passed for 345 yards with two TDs and no interceptions in the Texans’ 24-20 win over Jacksonville. Stroud has five career games with at least 300 passing yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions and joins Justin Herbert (six games) and Patrick Mahomes (five) as the only players with five such games in their first 20 career games in NFL history.
• In Weeks 1 and 2, plus yard field, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn made three field goals of at least 50 yards to become the first player in NFL history to make six-plus 50-yarders in a two-game span. His career long is 61 yards in 2021.
• The Texans are the NFL’s only winning team with a negative point differential (minus-15, which is 24th overall). Their wins have been by two (Colts), six (Bears) and four (Jaguars) points and their loss was a killer, a 27-point debacle against the Vikings.
• The Texans lead the league with 40 penalties, including 12 false starts. The Bills have been flagged just 20 times which is tied for fourth-fewest in the league.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stefon Diggs helped Christian Benford become one of the best CBs in the NFL