Buffalo Bills: 2021 schedule analysis and predictions
Buffalo Bills: Week 4 vs Houston Texans
There is no NFL team in a more precarious position than the Houston Texans.
Only two years removed from ousting the Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the team has imploded. Gone are DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt, and mired in controversy is quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Clearly the Watson situation isn’t going away anytime soon, and the Texans may already have the his replacement in house. Houston signed the author of the Bills’ 2017 playoff run in Tyrod Taylor, and drafted Stanford quarterback Davis Mills this April.
First-time head coach David Culley has inherited a tough situation, as even if Watson is cleared to play, he has already made it known that he wants out of Houston (where have we heard that before). The Texans have a long way to go before they can hang with a team as deep as the Bills.
Prediction: 40-14 Bills
Week 5 – at Kansas City Chiefs
The biggest game of the Bills’ regular season comes in Week 5 as Buffalo travels to Kansas City for a rematch of the AFC Championship Game on Sunday Night Football.
After a blowout Super Bowl loss in which quarterback Patrick Mahomes was running for his life, it was pretty clear what the Chiefs needed to address in the offseason. Kansas City somehow pried tackle Orlando Brown Jr. away from the Ravens (who run one of the most offensive line-dependent schemes in football), and presumably will also be getting McGill product Laurent Duvernay-Tardif back from his amazing work at a long-term care home in his native Quebec during the pandemic. Although former first overall pick Eric Fisher was not retained, the Chiefs’ line will be better than it was on Feb. 7, 2021.
Fortunately, so will the Bills’ pass rush. Under the lights at Arrowhead would be the perfect time for the first-round pick Gregory Rousseau to have his coming-out party. If Rousseau, Ed Oliver and crew can move Mahomes off his spot, the Bills have a chance.
If this game was at Highmark Stadium, I’d give it to the Bills, but the Chiefs don’t lose at home.