Buffalo Rumblings
Division games in December can be wonky. Will the Bills fall victim to their own hype?
The Buffalo Bills are the AFC East champions for the fifth straight year. The New England Patriots are careening towards their second consecutive last-place finish in the AFC East. New England hasn’t finished in the division’s cellar in consecutive seasons since the 1999 and 2000 seasons. In 1999, they finished tied for last with the New York Jets at 8-8. They have never finished in sole possession of last place in the AFC East for two straight years.
The Bills enter play riding high offensively, having scored 48 points last week in a victory over the Detroit Lions and 42 points the week prior against the Los Angeles Rams. However, in the latter contest, the Bills gave up 44 points and lost. Against Detroit, they allowed 42 points. So, the Bills defense enters play reeling a bit. They need a “get-right game.”
Enter the New England Patriots, who are No. 31 in the league in scoring, No. 30 in total yards, and No. 32 in passing yards this season. If ever there were a time for the Bills’ defense to right the ship, it’s now.
Here are five Bills to watch in this week’s divisional matchup.
Someone is going to run the ball a lot for the Bills this week, and if the game ends up as lopsided as I anticipate that it will, my guess is that Davis is the main beneficiary. New England allows 4.4 yards per rush, and opposing teams have 13 rushing touchdowns against them this season. Last week, the only Buffalo running back who didn’t score was Ty Johnson. Davis had a receiving touchdown that proved to be the winning margin, but he totaled just 29 yards on nine touches. The rookie is Buffalo’s third-leading rusher, trailing James Cook (828 rushing yards) and Josh Allen (484 rushing yards). Davis has had a solid season, though, totaling 357 yards and three rushing touchdowns, adding 13 receptions, 167 receiving yards, and two more scores. He’ll have some chances this week.
He wasn’t targeted last week. If I were a gambler—and I’m not, for the record—I’d put a wager on Cooper being the recipient of Josh Allen’s first pass, if that kind of thing is on the books somewhere. I also feel pretty confident that offensive coordinator Joe Brady will look to dial something up for him in the red zone. To be clear, neither Cooper nor Brady seems to care one bit about personal statistics so long as the team wins the game. I’m sure that Cooper was happier with his 0/0/0 line last week in a victory than he was with his six-catch, 95-yard performance with 14 targets in a loss against the Rams. I just can’t see the Bills keeping Cooper on ice for two straight weeks.
The rookie was noticeable against the Lions, even managing...
