Buffalo Bills: Time for defense to regain identity against Raiders
The Buffalo Bills will look to keep their undefeated record with an intriguing matchup against the Vegas Raiders and will need their defense to step up.
Through the first three weeks of the season, the Buffalo Bills offense has received a lot of attention, specifically the explosive play from Josh Allen.
Coming off their win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Bills were fortunate to avoid a devastating collapse after blowing a 25-point lead. Considering how the defense was highly regarded coming into this season, this is the last thing many would have expected from this group.
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With a trip to Sin City to take on the Vegas Raiders, there will be a brighter spotlight on the quarterback matchup between Allen and Derek Carr. However, this is an opportunity for Buffalo’s defense to get back on track.
So far, the Bills have allowed 77 points which has them in the middle of the pack in the league which is not where you would have expected them to be. Opposing teams are completing 65.8 per cent of their passes and 4.6 yards per carry which isn’t terrible but not worthy of them being a top 10 unit.
A concerning trend is their struggles to hold teams in the second half as they have been outcored 47-28 as Darin Alexander Baydoun of Sports Illustrated pointed out. While the team has been dealing with injuries, they aren’t missing any key starters and have been getting pressure on the quarterback.
In this game, the Raiders will likely try to establish Josh Jacobs early and often so that it can draw in the Bills linebackers. For the secondary, they will be dealing with a banged-up group of receivers with Bryan Edwards and Henry Ruggs III not expected to play.
Regardless, the offense has shown that it can produce when called upon but eventually there will be some regression and the defense will have to pick up the slack. Week 4 presents that opportunity for this group as they enter a tough part of their schedule.
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What do you want to see from the Bills in Week 4? Are you worried about their defense against the Raiders? Let us know in the comments below.