Oakland Raiders vs. Buffalo Bills: Raiders Will be Facing Plenty of 8 Man Fronts

The Raiders pass game was abysmal last week, and there is the very real possibility that they will be without their top three receivers this week. The Bills should and will dare the Raiders to beat them with the pass.

The Bills are a 3-4 team, but in the first game they ran a variety of defenses including multiple looks in the 46. Here is an excellent breakdown of their formations on Buffalo Rumblings. I am sure they are going to run plenty of sets with eight men in the box, and their focus on stuffing the run.

The above linked Rumblings article highlights what kind of defensive approach Campbell will be facing:

Gailey and Edwards, along with Wannstedt, have decided to play a multiple defense. Call it necessity or common sense. As the defense breaks their huddle, the quarterback has to carefully check the defense's alignment and positioning. Pre-snap reads become more difficult, since the defense can do many things from some similar sets. Is this defense going to confuse Tom Brady to an extent that he plays poorly? Not likely. It could confuse a lineman or receiver, for example, for a half-second, and that might be what it takes to get pressure into the quarterback's face. Or stop a run. At a minimum, this defense is a sure upgrade schematically. As Nix continues to add players, this defensive scheme has a chance to be very good.

Eight men in the box or not, the Raiders still need to be able to run the ball to help the passing offense. They need to get positive yards on first down, use the run to setup the pass and dictate the action to the defense. The Bills like to give a QB a lot of looks. Jason Campbell will be forced to navigate this with receivers he has barely played with.

The Raiders need to make sure they put themselves in a position by getting plus plays on first down to dictate the action. Keep the Bills guessing run or pass and their ability to confuse the offense is almost muted.