5 burning Bills questions with Buffalo Rumblings

Week 3 is dead and gone — it’s forever a number etched in this season’s record, no more.

We’re looking forward to this weekend’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills and your Las Vegas Raiders and we’ve asked the nice people over at Buffalo Rumblings five (similar yet different) questions about the status of the Bills ahead of this matchup.

S&BP: How is the health of this Bills team, and is there any one position affected greater by injuries ahead of this one?
BR: Fingers crossed but for the most part the team has been relatively healthy. Week 2 against the Dolphins was rough because the team was without two starting linebackers in Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano. The good news was both of those players returned last week against the Rams but look out for Edmunds who is still hurting from his shoulder injury and not quite at 100% yet. Other than that, some players have had some nagging injuries but the team has not been hit by the season-ending injuries that we have seen on a lot of other teams.

S&BP: Has Josh Allen been as good as his pro-social-media fans have made him out to be?
BR: Yes. The jump that Allen has made in Year 3 has been outstanding. It was a long time since the Bills have had a 300-yard passer and Allen has been able to do so in each game this season. Allen is progressing through his reads in a way he has not done in his young career and has been able to pick apart defenses by doing so. Last season he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league in deep-ball accuracy but this year he has been one of the best. He still has some moments for sure like the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he took after turning the ball over against the Rams but he is starting to complete the transformation into a true NFL quarterback that the team hoped for.

S&BP: Finish this sentence: The Bills will win this game unless __________.
BR: The Bills will win this game unless the old Josh Allen returns. The old Josh Allen has two characteristics that made it hard for the offense to put points on the board. 1) His accuracy was all over the place and often put the team in tough third down situations. 2) Allen at times felt that he would have to play hero ball and attempt throws that he had no business attempting. These throws were either intercepted or not even close to his intended receiver. The new and improved Allen is taking what the defense is giving him and there has only been about one occasion on the season where he has tried to play hero ball.

S&BP: Say you’re Jon Gruden, how do you find a way to stop Josh Allen and an offense that is second in the NFL in passing yards per game?
BR: This is going to sound weird but hear me out: A potential way to stop Allen would be letting him run when he is scrambling. Then the key is to have your defenders always go for the ball to get a turnover. If it is one thing that Allen struggles with it is holding onto the football. As a defender, if you go for the football, there is a high chance that you will be able to strip Allen. Another option is to disguise the coverage until the last possible moment. Buffalo has been doing a lot of pre-snap movement to see if it is going to be a man or zone defense to make the reads easier for Allen.

S&BP: What is your prediction for this game? Who wins? Final score?
BR: I feel that this game is going to be overshadowed by the fact that there are games like the Chiefs v Patriots going on this week but I feel that this could be one of the best and closest games of the week. These are two great teams that are both playing well this year and it is a toss up and will probably come down to the turnover battle. Buffalo will keep up their momentum and Allen will keep on pushing for his fourth straight win of the season, 27-24.

Well, there we go.