Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are headed back down south this week, facing off against the Houston Texans in a pivotal game for each team’s playoff chances. Buffalo could not only fortify their Wild Card standing with a victory, but they would ensure a tiebreaker over every team that currently sits at 5-5. The Bills already beat the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, so a win over Houston would help tremendously in their quest for a franchise-record seventh consecutive playoff berth.
With a loss, however, two things would be true. First, it would widen the gulf between Buffalo and the AFC East-leading New England Patriots, who are 9-2 with a win over the Bills already. Second, it would drop the Bills to 7-4 and bring the Texans to 6-5, just one game behind Buffalo with a tiebreaker of their own. At this point, the Bills need to stack wins, and they especially need to stack AFC wins if they want any chance at a home playoff game this January.
Buffalo hasn’t won a game in Houston since November 19, 2006, when quarterback J.P. Losman hit wide receiver Peerless Price in the back of the end zone with just 14 seconds left in a 24-21 come-from-behind victory. More recently, Buffalo lost in Houston just last season, dropping a game 23-20 on a 59-yard Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal as time expired.
How can the Bills continue their offensive momentum from Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Feeding their play makers would help, but big performances out of certain players would go a long way towards bringing the Bills to 8-3 on the year. Here are five Bills to watch this week.
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RB James Cook III
Cook struggled against the Buccaneers’ stout run defense last weekend, gaining just 48 yards on 16 carries. After averaging 108 yards and a touchdown on the ground per game through Buffalo’s first eight contests, Cook has totaled just 101 yards rushing over the last two weeks. What has increased, though, is his usage as a receiver.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has finally found ways to involve Cook in the passing game, as he’s caught all eight of his targets for 90 yards and a score over the last two weeks. Continuing that trend would be tremendously beneficial this week, as the Bills need to find ways to let Jimbo cook.
Houston allows just 3.9 yards per rush this season. If the Bills can come out and throw it a little in the early going, it could soften the Texans up for some quality runs later on in the game. Otherwise, they’ll need to make sure that Cook and running back Ty Johnson, who took a screen pass 52 yards for a touchdown on Sunday, have the ball in their hands in space.
WR Keon Coleman
I’m watching Coleman for a multitude of reasons. Will he play this week? If Coleman does, how will he impact the game? Will his snap share decrease in light of...
