Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills play the Baltimore Ravens this week in a bona fide NFL contest. It is a real football game that actually counts in the standings. Our long wait for real football is about to be over, and it can’t come soon enough.
While there are plenty of new faces on the Buffalo roster, it’s hard to whittle down a list of players to watch for a multitude of reasons. For starters, many of the players we’re anxiously waiting to see are either injured or suspended. Then, once we examine the roster for players who are active, trying to narrow it down to just five players when we haven’t watched a game that matters since January is a difficult task.
I did the best I could, friends, to compile a list of players I’m watching extra closely this weekend. While that list is below, I’d love to hear yours in the comments!
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QB Josh Allen
For this season, it’s the first time we’ll have a chance to see the reigning MVP, as he did not play a single snap during the preseason. Will there be some rust? The Baltimore defense is a group that has given him some trouble in his career, as Allen is just 1-2 as a starter against the Ravens during regular season games. He’s completed just 48% of his passes in those contests, the only team he’s played against more than once and failed to complete at least half his throws against. He has just two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in those games, and a quarterback rating of 66.3. Granted, those numbers include his professional debut in the 2018 opener, a game where an overmatched Buffalo squad was trounced by the Ravens. It also doesn’t include his 2-0 record against them in the playoffs, where he’s completed 66% of his passes and turned in quarterback ratings of 86.1 and 86.7, respectively, in those two contests. Allen has much of the same offense returning, though there will certainly be contributions from at least one new face among the pass-catchers. The Bills will likely go as Allen goes, and if he has a good night, there are plenty of other woes that can be covered.
WR Joshua Palmer
I am very interested to see how the newcomer fares this week. I heard you (or, more accurately, saw you) when many of you questioned my characterization of Palmer as a field-stretcher due to his 4.51-second forty-yard dash time, but looking at his usage with the Los Angeles Chargers over the course of his career, he made a lot of big plays on deep over routes and double-moves, something that offensive coordinator Joe Brady loves to use. Allen particularly loves the deep over route, and it’s something that was not consistently as large a part of the offense last season. They were able to burn the Denver Broncos on it in the playoffs with a healthy Curtis Samuel, for example, but I view Palmer as a...
