Bills look to remain unbeaten against red hot Chargers

Before I get into the Bills preview for this week, I want to take a look at another game in the NFL.  Both of my younger brother's favorite teams are playing each other in the Cincinnati Bengals v.s. the Tennessee Titans.  The Bengals come in red hot with a blow out win against Atlanta while Tennessee fell short against Dallas at home.  Cincinnati is a team that is a heavy favorite to win the AFC North while the Titans are a team that will be battling the Bills for a wild card spot in all likelihood.  The game is being played in Cincinnati where the Bengals are very tough to beat (10 straight home wins).  Standout WR AJ Green is questionable going into this game so the Bengals will have to turn to Mohammad Sanu and Giovani Bernard to get the offense moving.  As for the Titans, they have a very balanced attack with young QB Jake Locker and affective running backs in Shonn Greene, Bishop Sankey, and Dexter  McCluster.  I expect a very low scoring game with both offenses having a hard time moving the ball at all.  Even without Green at 100%, I expect the Bengals to be too much for a young and improving team in Tennessee.

My Prediction: Cincinnati wins 23-13


As for the Bills, they host the (1-1) San Diego Chargers today at Ralph Wilson Stadium at 1pm.  Only seven teams sit today 2-0 and the Bills are one of those teams.  The last time Buffalo got out to a 3-0 start was back in 2011.  San Diego is coming off a home win against last year's super bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks.  The Chargers offense is going to be without starting running back Ryan Matthews so expect Danny Woodhead and Donald Brown to get the bulk of the carries.  At receiver, they are led by Keenan Allen, Eddie Royal and Antonio Gates.  Gates had 3 touchdowns last week so he is the main guy Buffalo needs to keep an eye on.  Philip Rivers has gotten off to a great start this season, but he and the Chargers as a whole have struggled playing in Buffalo.  West coast teams that have to travel east usually have a difficult time so it will be interesting to see if the crowd or the early start time has an affect on San Diego.  The biggest key for Buffalo offensively is red zone efficiency.  They only converted for one touchdown out of six chances last week so that must improve if they want to win.  EJ doesn't need to have a career game, he just needs to hang onto the ball and put the offense in a good position.  The wind is expected to be a huge factor today so field position will be a main point of emphasis for both teams.  I expect another low scoring game and in the end I see the crowd being a huge difference.

My Prediction: Buffalo wins 21-20

This One is For Ralph

Ralph Wilson Jr. passed away in March of this year, making this the first home game in Buffalo Bills history without him as the owner.  As of this Tuesday, that title belongs to a new man in Sabres owner Terry Pegula.  With Pegula as the new Bills owner, it guarantees that they will stay in Buffalo!  If you add the fact that Jim Kelly is now cancer free, the Bills are coming off an incredible performance in Chicago, and this is against the rival Dolphins, that makes this the biggest home game since the AFC Championship games in the early 90's.  Good luck getting tickets if you haven't already, cheapest ones come in at $180/ticket!  Really wish I had one myself....

Last season the Bills took both games against Miami by scores of 23-21 and 19-0.  The key to winning those games was getting pressure on QB Ryan Tannehill.  Mario Williams and company got to him with ease and that will have to continue if they want to win.    Much like Chicago, Miami runs the football very effectively.  Led by NFL's leading rusher in week 1 Knowshon Moreno and steady backup Lamar Miller, the Dolphins ran for 191 yards in an upset victory over New England.  With 1st place in the AFC East on the line, expect both teams to run the ball a lot.  Both teams have the ability to move it through the air as well.  Tannehill is considered by many to be one of the best young quarterbacks in the league and it's hard to argue with that.  He has a very good completion % and does a good job of avoiding the big mistakes.  EJ had a very solid game last week.  He didn't have many big plays down the field, but he was confident, held onto the ball, and put the team in position to come away with the win.  

Three Keys to the Game: 

Both defense's had very good games last week, so the first key to this game is which defense will perform better? Stopping the run was instrumental to getting out to a 1-0 start so I see this game coming down to who will run the ball better.  Next is the crowd.  This will be the loudest crowd Buffalo has seen in a long time so it certainly puts the Dolphins at a disadvantage.  How the Dolphins handle this kind of pressure will ultimately determine how this game will go.  Lastly, field position might be a huge factor.  I expect a low scoring game so whoever can gain the edge in field position or get a huge play in special teams will look good.  

Prediction: Buffalo 27 Miami 17

Defense, along with timely runs help propel Bills to win in Overtime

Eric Wood said it best after the game when he tweeted the following, "@EWood70: Great team win! Sorry about all your survivor pools out there."  The Bills certainly did surprise a lot of people by pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the day by winning in Chicago 23-20 in OT.  The defense picked off Jay Cutler twice and forced a fumble from Brandon Marshall adding up to three critical turnovers for Chicago.  The 427 total yards by the Bears offense shows they were able to move the ball most of the day, but that bend but don't break defense really helped Buffalo.  Cutler was 34/49 for 349 yards 2 TD's and 2 Int's, while Forte led the Bears with 82 yards on the ground.

On the flip side, The Bills offense got big plays when they needed them.  EJ wasn't great, but he was in control throughout 16/22 for 173 yards 1 TD and 1 Int.  The three headed monster that is the Bills running attack killed the Bears for 193 yards on the ground, capped off by Fred Jackson's 38 yard run to set up the game winning Dan Carpenter field goal in overtime.  Manuel delivered some beautiful second half throws, two of which jump out right away.  The first one was that incredible catch by Robert Woods in which it looked like he was just floating forever in mid air.  The second one was the 20 yard pass in OT to Mike Williams that put the Bills in Chicago territory.  On the stat sheets, they will go down as just two completions, but I think there is more to that.  On the post game show last night, a caller said something very interesting that stuck with me.  He referred to those two throws as the first time he has ever seen EJ "throw his receivers open."  How many times have fans, myself included, criticized Manuel for his lack of accuracy? I'll tell you..... too much!  But I saw yesterday as a big step going forward for his confidence.  Williams wasn't open when he threw it, but he put it in a spot where only his guy could go get it.  With the receivers Buffalo has, just putting it up there and telling them to go get it is a pretty good option.  

Biggest play of the game: Middle of the 4th quarter, tied game.  The Bills just surrendered their 10 point lead and all the momentum was with Chicago.  Bears ball 3rd & 1 at the Buffalo 34 Cutler rolls right pumps, pumps, throws across the field picked off by KYLE WILLIAMS?! That's right, the 300 + lb. defensive tackle grabbed his first interception of his career when he stepped in front of tight end Martellus Bennett.  It stopped all of the momentum and the Bills went on to take the lead once again and eventually win.  

Game MVP: This one is so easy for me.  When the news came down that Stephon Gilmore was unable to play, it looked as though the Bills were in deep trouble.  Against this offense without your #1 corner on the road is tough.  Luckily for Buffalo, they had Corey Graham.  The Bills captain was the best player in this game.  His interception in the first half set up the CJ Spiller touchdown, then more importantly his deflected passes while guarding Brandon Marshall saved the game.  He blanketed the Bears number 1 receiver and made things difficult for him all night.  It kept the Bears out of the end zone and eventually led to a HUGE road win. 

Game Injuries: Two starting defensive players left the game LB Keith Rivers (groin), and S Aaron Williams (concussion like symptoms).  Their status for next week is unknown at this time.

Next Week: The Bills return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium for the home opener against the division rival Miami Dolphins. 1 pm kickoff CBS

Week 1 Preview: Buffalo Bills v.s. Chicago Bears

Football is finally back! Week one for the Buffalo Bills features a road contest against a very formidable opponent in the Chicago Bears.  The Bears missed out on the playoffs by one game last season and bring in one of the most potent offenses in the NFL.  Star Quarterback Jay Cutler rounded out by Matt Forte at RB, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey at WR, and Martellus Bennett at TE.  Forte was 2nd in rushing last season while Marshall and Jeffrey are two of the top Wide Receivers in the NFL.  A very "tall" task for a young Buffalo Defense that looked really good in the pre season.  Jeffrey, Marshall, and Bennett are all 6'4 or taller making them a matchup nightmare for just about anyone.  On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears struggle.  30th in overall defense, and last overall against the run should make it easy for the Bills backs to find holes and have huge games.  The Bears did add star DE Jared Allen who will take place of Julius Peppers who is now with Green Bay.  Allen has been a sacking machine throughout his career so it is important for Buffalo's young O-line to contain him as much as possible.  

Now let's get to Buffalo.  The Bills have had a turbulent off-season to say the least.  Between the on going sale of the team, to Jim Kelly battling through cancer, and finally to the horrid performances they displayed this preseason.  There was a lot of optimism going into training camp and for good reason.  For the first time in 15 years, our front office has made big moves to put this team in a position to do big things (something you didn't really see in Ralph's later years).  All of that optimism has gone south as of late because of how inept the offense looked throughout the entire preseason.  The defense looked very good at times but the offense is clearly what is holding back this team.  EJ simply must play better if Buffalo even has a shot at a postseason birth.  

Buffalo has never won at Soldier field and in their last meeting there, Chicago came away with a 40-7 win.  In order for Buffalo to avoid a similar result today they are going to have to run, run, run, run, run all over the Bears.  This has the potential to be a shootout with how easy it is for Chicago to put up points so look for Buffalo to ground and pound which will hopefully set up the play action pass.  Another huge key is pressure.  Buffalo must get to Cutler early and often if they want to stop them.  With one of the best D-lines in the league, the Bills can certainly do that.  The secondary is going to be feeling pressure all day with that outstanding receiving core, so that front 7 is the key to this game.  Lastly, the turnover margin.  It always plays a huge factor but on the road it is even bigger.  You lose it on the road and you almost certainly won't come away with a win.  That being said, EJ just needs to manage the game and that will give the Bills a good chance in this one.  Is this Buffalo's year? Is the playoff drought finally going to end? We will find out soon enough, enjoy the first week of games everyone!