By Lawrence Lang
Football Is back for the Buffalo Bills as they begin their quest for the franchise’s first Lombardi trophy(currently, they lost all four chances they had in the early 90s). Many experts expect the Bills to compete if not win the AFC. They open the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Los Angeles Rams, on Thursday Night Football.
The Bills had a great 2021 season. They went 5-1 in the division, only losing to the New England Patriots in week 13 of the regular season 14-1, and they won the division for the second year in a row. When it came time for the playoffs in the Wild Card round, they not only beat the Patriots but they trounced them 47-17 by scoring a touchdown every time they had the ball. Then the following week, with an AFC title game in reach, the Bills just had to kill 13 seconds of the game clock left. Still, with the Kansas City Chiefs having the ball, Patrick Mahomes led the chiefs to a game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime, and with winning the coin toss would march the team down the field and win the game ending the Bills’ season.
Now stats-wise, the Bills had a great 2021 season
• Quarterback
o Josh Allen: 4,407 passing yards ,36 touchdowns, and 15 Interceptions
• Running back
o Devin Singletary : 870 rushing yards , seven touchdowns
o Josh Allen : 763 rushing yards six touchdowns
o Zack Moss: 345 rushing yards four touchdowns
• Receiving
o WR Stefon Diggs : 1,225 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Got a four-year contract extension worth 96 million in the off season.
o TE Dawson Knox : 587 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Got a four- year contract extension worth 53.6 million on 9/7/22.
o Gabe Davis : 35 receptions 548 yards and six touchdowns. Davis had 200 yards and four touchdowns in the playoff game against the Chiefs. With Emmanuel Sanders retiring and Cole Beasley still on the FA market Davis should have a big year.
Heading into this week the Bills team has a tough task ahead of them going against the defending champions. The Rams road to glory began in the WC round with beating the Arizona Cardinals, then beat in what was Tom Brady’s last game and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, next task was to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the conference championship and they did in superior fashion, and finally beat the Cincinnati Bengals in SuperBowl 56 23-20.
When you have players such as
• WR Cooper Kupp 1,947 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns
• WR Van Jefferson 802 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
• QB Matt Stafford who had 4,886 passing yards 41 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Defense wise
• Aaron Donald who had 12.5 sacks last season
• Cornerback Jalen Ramsey with 4 interceptions
• Safety Taylor Rapp four interceptions
• Linebacker Leonard Floyd Nine and half sacks
There are two ways Thursday night game can go. First either a high scoring game for both teams or Second it will be a defensive battle between the both of them since both are loaded on defense.
Three key players for the Bills
- Josh Allen: Allen is out to prove this year that he can be a MVP candidate and that he can get past the Divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs and what better way to start that by beating the champion Rams? The Key for Allen is if there is no play to pass or where he can run just throw the ball away when he tries to make a play happen. When it can’t, that’s what gets him in trouble.
- Stefon Diggs: with getting paid by the Bills Diggs can also throw his name in the MVP race Diggs is their number one WR so expect the ball to get to him a lot during this game
- Von Miller: Miller had nine and half sacks last season if he can break through the Rams O-Line he might be able to get one or two sacks on Stafford.
This is a great way to kick off the NFL season with what could be a possible SB 57 match-up. Both teams will look hungry to start the season 1-0. LA will raise the banner to celebrate their SB win from February, and with Buffalo, in town, they will spoil the celebration and take care of business. This will be a game you don’t want to miss as a predictor for a score Bills 35 Rams 32.
The Sports Insanity Network 