Haven't done one of these season threads in a few years...thought I'd try to do a game and opponent breakdown each week for the Bills.

WEEK 1 - ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Buffalo Bills (-2.5) @ Los Angeles Rams
Thursday Night Football Sept. 8 5:20 EST

What world are we living in where the Bills are road favorites against the defending Super Bowl champs? Crazy. I gotta say, it makes me nervous because the Rams should be favored, right?

Well, after doing a little bit of research I can say I understand why the Rams are slight dogs in this one. This is the story of two very good teams - one of which has lost a few key parts of their championship winning roster, and the other - at least on paper - getting even better in the off-season.

The big story is obviously the Rams losing Von Miller and the Bills gaining him. That's a big deal, even if Miller no longer plays as many snaps as he used to.

But the Rams have lost a few key players along their offensive line, their wide receivers, and their linebackers. No more Robert Woods or OBJ, no more Darious Williams, Austin Corbett, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, and Sebastian Joseph-Day, either. They did pick up an old and slow Bobby Wagner and a talented but mercurial Allen Robinson, but at first glance, the Rams' roster seems not as good as their Super Bowl winning team 8 months ago.

The loss of Robert Woods is one I don't see being discussed much, but losing a guy who's averaged 90 catches and 1100 yards the last three seasons (two of which with Jared Goff) is nothing to sneeze at. And Van Jefferson, their normal no. 3, doesn't look to be available for this game. Mathew Stafford is said to be healthy but has tendonitis in his throwing elbow and has practiced sparingly this summer.

On the Bills side, they've added pro-bowl guard Roger Saffold, solidified the middle of their defense with newcomers Daquon Jones and Tim Settle, and had - by all accounts so far - an outstanding draft (even with that disastrous punter crap). So how do they match up?

When the Bills Have the Ball

The Rams' DL is as imposing as ever and Aaron Donald might be the best football player of all-time, but their back 7 is slow, with some inexperienced newcomers playing LB and DB. Look for Josh Allen to exploit that slowness over the middle. I expect to see all-pro Jalen Ramsey covering Stefon Diggs for the most part, and that should leave Gabriel Davis, Dawson Knox, and the Bills' other weapons available to feast. Look for a little more balanced attack out of the gate with Devin Singletary getting the majority of the snaps in the running game. Rookie James Cook adds a nice speed wrinkle for the passing game out of the backfield, and look for Josh Allen to spread the wealth around. New Bills OC Ken Dorsey is aggressive, and I expect to see the Bills offense on the attack a lot in this game. The only question is how Dorsey will react when the bullets start flying, as this will be his first game actually calling plays. Edge To the Bills


When the Rams Have the Ball

The Rams will start out with their running game - Cam Akers and Darrel Henderson are shifty speed backs who look for the seams in the Rams wide-zone offense. Cooper Kupp should've won the league MVP last year and is a BEAST, but I expect to see the Bills employing Taron Johnson, their slot corner, on him most of the game and bracketing Kupp with either of their all-pro safeties, Micha Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
The real question for this Bills D is how will the rookie CBs Elam and Benford fare against the other Rams' WRs? I expect to see them platooning some with veteran Dane Jackson taking the majority of the CB snaps on the other side. Both Elam and Benford are handsy, press-man corners and that could be a key to this ballgame - withy rise up and prove they belong, or will the moment be too big for them? Tre White is out for at least the first four games of the season, and that's a big blow for the Bills, but Jackson stepped in ably last year when White went down and the Bills still finished as the no. 1 defense in the league.
It's going to come down to two things: getting pressure on Stafford, and tackling. The Bills can't let Kupp and the RBs break a lot of tackles and expect to win. The Rams rely on their YAC and you can't let them get even more with shoddy tackling. Slight Edge To the Bills

Prediction

The Bills have improved on both sides of the ball while the Rams have a lot of question marks, most notably in their back 7 and their WRs after Kupp and Robinson. But what it comes down to, imo, is the depth of both teams. The Rams are not deep at all and if they get a key player injured, they could be in deep trouble. On the other hand, the Bills could conceivably still field a competitive team with only their backups and are probably the deepest and most complete team in the league. Edge: Bills.

If Josh Allen even comes close to how he was playing in the playoffs last season, this game won't be close. Bills 34-20.



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What are your thoughts?

MVP Race

1. Josh Allen

and the Bills will have all-pro CB Tre White back for their next game.

QB1

This bills season has been too much. I don't know if I can handle anymore. And now there are talks about the bills/bengals not being resumed and the 1 seed essentially being handed to the chiefs.

Another long cold winter in Buffalo.

I feel sorry for the Bills. They finally get back to elite level and then there are several other elite AFC teams they have to compete with.

Joe Cool is better

Bust

Super Bowl

Josh Allen