Bills at Raiders: Week 4 keys to victory

The Las Vegas Raiders are hitting the quarter point of the 2020 season with a huge home test as the 3-0 Buffalo Bills visit on Sunday afternoon.

Here are five ways the Raiders can improve to 3-1:

Get Waller involved:
Along with running back Josh Jacobs, tight end Darren Waller is a huge key to the offense. He is quarterback Derek Carr’s top bail-out option — when Waller is fed, the Raiders often win. The Patriots took him out of the game by double teaming him and using various different tactics. Surely, the Bills will try a similar attack against Waller?

But if Waller — who dealt with a knee injury last week — has improved health on Sunday, I believe he will be able to be successful against the Bills. The Raiders must get him going, especially with rookie starting receiver Bryan Edwards and Henry Ruggs III not expected to play.

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No mistakes on offense:
In addition to getting Jacobs and Waller involved, the Raiders can’t make any mistakes when they have the ball. They will need to score often (probably more than 30 points). Las Vegas lost three fumbles at New England. That can’t happen this week. The Raiders only win when they are efficient on offense. That has to be the case against Buffalo.

Keep the ball out of Josh Allen’s hands:
The Bills’ quarterback is an early NFL MVP candidate. The Raiders’ offense can win this game by controlling the clock. It all goes back to offensive efficiency ... if Buffalo gets too many cracks on offense, they will take advantage.

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Make some plays on defense, finally:
We’re looking at you, Maliek Collins and Cory Littleton. These two key free-agent pickups have been disappointments thus far. They both need to pick up their play and keep Buffalo from taking over offensively.

Win penalty game:
The Raiders committed six penalties total in their two wins, over Carolina and New Orleans. but they were penalized six times against New England and most of them were untimely penalties. The Raiders won’t be able to beat Buffalo if they continue to be sloppy.