Three questions on our mind after Sunday’s win vs. the Las Vegas Raiders:
Was this the get-right win the Bills needed?
The Bills needed a big bounce back after their Week 1 loss to the New York Jets and checked all the boxes in the 38-10 rout of the Raiders.
The Bills showed why they were one of the favorites in the AFC entering the season. They have a lot of talent, as everyone knows. The Bills did what they were supposed to do. They dominated a Raiders’ defense that has a lot of question marks. Las Vegas ranked 28th in the NFL last year on defense. It was 26th on third down and 30th in the red zone. The Bills’ offense dominated them in those two key areas, converting 7 of 13 third downs and scoring touchdowns on five of seven trips in the red zone.
Beyond that, it doesn’t say much about how the Bills are going to fare against AFC East rival Miami or any of the other tougher teams on the schedule.
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The Bills know it, and they weren’t overreacting to the margin of victory.
“C’mon guys, it’s Week 2,” said safety Micah Hyde. “It was Week 1 last week, and the sky was falling. It’s Week 2 in an early season and we’re trying to go out there and play our best ball and this is just something to give us a little confidence.”
Beyond Allen, what was best big-picture performance?
The Bills dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Allen had enough time to complete 31 passes and took only two sacks. The Bills rushed for 183 yards. Defending NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs ran for negative-2 yards.
“We never really got control of the line of scrimmage the entire day,” said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels. “When you don’t have control of the line of scrimmage, it becomes a very one-dimensional type of game. I don’t know how many carries JJ ended up with, but it couldn’t have been many because we were always in second-and-long and feeling like you have to throw the ball too much. Getting control against this team is probably one of the most important elements of playing them.”
How sustainable is the running game?
One of the encouraging elements of the team through two weeks is the backfield looks better than last season, as hoped.
Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was looking for running back Josh Jacobs, and he nearly found him. But so did Milano. Milano leapt into the air practically piggybacking Jacobs, the All-Pro linebacker’s arms closing in like tentacles from the sides. Milano snatched the ball in front of Jacobs’ chest and wrestled it back over the running back’s head while still in the air. He ran it three yards back, just to add insult.
James Cook provides more speed than the Bills had last year, when he was the backup to Devin Singletary and didn’t get consistent touches until the second half of the year. Damien Harris and Latavius Murray provide a power-running presence that the Bills have not had since Allen became the quarterback.
It was good to see Harris and Murray combine for 13 carries. That might wind up being on the high end of their rushing touches per game this season, but it will continue to be critical for the Bills to exploit soft defenses protecting deep against Allen’s passing.
Washington, next week’s opponent, has a better defensive line than the Raiders. So does Miami. We will get more clarity over the first half of the season on how punishing the Bills can be on the ground. But there’s reason for optimism.
