Green Bay 17 – Buffalo 27 | Too strong, the Bills

After the Packers’ loss to Washington last week, Aaron Rodgers said going up against the Bills in Buffalo might be the best thing for his team. That no one would give them the slightest chance of winning.

Miguel Bujold
The Press

But that’s rarely a good thing when you have to face the best team in the NFL without having the horses to defeat them. The Packers returned the fourth relatively interesting quarter, but never really threatened the Bills, who won 27-17 at Highmark Stadium on Sunday night.

The Packers’ defense and running game performed well enough to cause an upset, but once again their thin, wide-set wing group cut too much off the offense to hope to defeat a team of the Bills’ caliber. Especially since veterans Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb were not in uniform, injured, and rookie Christian Watson left the game in the first quarter due to a concussion.

Freshman wide ends like Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure both caught a Rodgers touchdown pass (19 for 30 for 203 yards). The Packers, however, had to rely on the run for most of the game and surprisingly had success against what was the tightest defense in the league on the ground going into Sunday’s games. Aaron Jones gained 143 yards on 20 carries and AJ Dillon added 54 on 10 touches.

The Packers’ defense, which lost its two main linebackers, De’Vondre Campbell (knee) and Quay Walker (punching), during the game, was not bad against Josh Allen and his arsenal. Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas had interceptions and Allen was limited to 218 yards (13 for 25).

The problem is that Dawson Knox, Stefon Diggs and Isaiah McKenzie all had touchdowns in the first half. The Bills also had 153 rushing yards, including 49 from Allen, who threw 2 touchdown passes. Allen has the ability to dodge blitz and pressure better than anyone, which has the effect of creating opportunities for long plays in almost every series for the Bills.

On defense, the Bills secondary currently has to make do without safety Micah Hyde (neck) and cornerback Tre’Davious White (knee). Hyde will miss the rest of the season, but White is expected to return in the coming weeks, having not played since November. Sunday night, Jordan Poyer, who forms the league’s best pair of safety running backs with Hyde, left the game with an elbow injury.

The secondary’s health is currently the biggest concern for the Bills. It will also be interesting to see if they will find reinforcements before the deadline for transactions, Tuesday at 4 p.m.

On offense, if the Bills want to afford a luxury piece to give themselves the best possible chance of winning their first Super Bowl, they could surely convince Odell Beckham Jr. to come with them. The Chiefs have just compromised in order to obtain Kadarius Toney and probably have no more room for Beckham Jr. The Los Angeles Rams and Packers, two other teams that are often mentioned as possible destinations, have not been staying up late this year. Let’s keep an eye on the Eagles, but the Bills are favorites to get Beckham Jr.

But whether they add Beckham Jr. or not, the Bills will likely be big favorites when the playoffs begin in two and a half months. Provided they avoid serious injury by then. That’s always the big uncertainty in football, as we all know.

The hero

Christian McCaffrey

In his second game with the San Francisco 49ers, McCaffrey threw a touchdown pass, caught one, and scored another ground major. He was the big star in the 31-14 victory for the Niners, who completely dominated the second half of their game in Los Angeles. It was the 49ers’ eighth straight win over the Rams in the regular season.

The zero

Josh McDaniels

It was expected that the Raiders offense would become one of the league’s best under Josh McDaniels, but that’s not happening at all. Sunday, Las Vegas was shut out 24-0 by the New Orleans Saints, a team that had allowed 132 points in its previous four games (33 per game average). “I apologize to Raider Nation for this performance and I take responsibility for it,” said the head coach and former New England Patriots offensive coordinator.

The number

219

That’s how many rushing yards Derrick Henry had in the Tennessee Titans’ 17-10 win at Houston. “King Henry” also scored the 2 touchdowns for his team, who have won their last five games after losing their first two. In his last four games against the Texans, Henry has rushed for a minimum of 211 yards and scored 9 touchdowns in those games…

The number (bis)

156

AJ Brown, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles took on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Philadelphia for their seventh victory of the season by a score of 35-13. They thus remained the only undefeated team in the NFL. Hurts threw four touchdown passes, including the first three to Brown, who finished his day with 156 passing yards. The Eagles will be back in action on Thursday night as they visit the poor Texans in Houston.