Setting the Stage
Bills lead the AFC East at 7 & 2 and are coming off a 44 - 34 win over the Seahawks. They're being described as the logical successor to the NE Patriots as dominant team within their division.
Cards lost a winnable squeaker to the Dolpjhins and are tied for 2nd at 5 & 3 in the NFC West. They lost the contest in typical Cardinal fashion (i.e. a "scoop & go" fumble/touchdown by the Bills to open the scoring and a fourth quarter FG that would have tied it if it didn't fell short).
Most Recent Bills Game
Bills rolled up with17 unanswered points and led 24 - 10 at halftime. They held off a Seattle challenge which brought the Seahags as close as 27 - 20 in the 3Q and held in the 4Q on to wiin 44 - 34.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Buf 1:25 Isaiah McKenzie 25 pass from Josh Allen (Tyler Bass Kick) Buff 7 - Seattle 0
Buf 7:25 Tyler Kroft 1 pass from Josh Allen (Tyler Bass Kick) Buff 14 - Seattle 0
2nd Quarter
Buf 3:38 FG Tyler Bass Buff 17 - Seattle 0
Sea 8:20 Russell Wilson 1 run (Jason Myers Kick) Buff 17 - Seattle 7
Buf 10:57 Gabriel Davis 4 pass from Josh Allen (Tyler Bass Kick) Buff 24 - Seattle 7
Sea 13:53 FG Jason Myers Buff 24 - Seattle 10
3rd Quarter
Buf 3:05 FG Tyler Bass 22 Buff 27 - Seattle 10
Sea 8:24 DeeJay Dallas 4 run (Jason Myers Kick) Buff 27 - Seattle 17
Sea 13:04 FG Jason Myers 44 Buff 27 - Seattle 20
4th Quarter
Buf 3:33 Zack Moss 1 run (Tyler Bass Kick) Buff 34 - Seattle 20
Buf 5:22 Josh Allen 3 run (Tyler Bass Kick) Buff 41 - Seattle 20
Sea 6:10 David Moore 55 pass from Russell Wilson (Jason Myers Kick) Buff 41 - Seattle 27
Buf 10:47 FG Tyler Bass 31 Buff 44 - Seattle 27
Sea 13:09 D.K. Metcalf 7 pass from Russell Wilson (Jason Myers Kick) Buff 44 - Seattle 34
Final Score -Buff 44 - Seattle 34
Depth Chart
Bills Offense
Quarterbacks
QB ...17 Allen....05 Barkley...10 Fromm
Running Backs
RB...20 Moss...22 Yeldon...25 T Jones
RB...27 Cox...26 Singletary
Wide Receivers
WR... 15 Brown...18 Roberts
WR...19 McKenzie...
WR...13 G Davis...14 Diggs
Tight Ends
TE...81 Kroft...85 L Smith...86 Gilliam...88 Knox
Offensive Line
LT...73 Dawkins...77 Nsekhe...71 Bates
LG...70 C Ford...65 Boettger
OC...60 Morse
RG...66 Winters...76 Feliciano
RT...75 D Williams
Bills Defense
Defensive Line
LDE....55 Hughes...93 Murphy...92 D Jphnson
DT ...91 Oliver...99 Phillips...61 Zimmer
DT....90 Q Jefferson...94 Butler
RDT...97 Addison...57 Epenesa
Linebackers
MLB...49 Edmunds...44 Matakevich...43 Phillips
WLB...xx Milano...54 Klein...xx Lacey...59 Smith
Secondary
NCB...24 T Johnson...33 Neal
CB...27 TD White
CB...29 Norman...39 Wallace
S....21 Poyer...31 Marlowe
S...23 Hyde...46 J Johnson
Special Teams
P......09 Bojorquez
K.....02 Bass
LS...69 Ferguson
H ....09 Bojorquez
PR ...18 Roberts
KR ...18 Roberts
Statistics
Stat..............................Buffalo....Opponents........Cards........Opponents
1st Downs......................216.................206...................207..............194
Offensive Yds...............3396...............3284.................3376............2961
Rushing Yards...............903................1133...................1303...........1009
Rush Yds Per Play........3.9...................4.6.....................5.2............4..6
Passing Yds................2493..................2151................2073...........1952
Pass Yds Per Play......8.2....................7.6.......................7.6...........7.1
Intercepted................5.........................6...........................7................6
Sacks...........................24.....................20.........................22.............10
TDs...............................28....................27.......................29..............20
Turnover Ratio.............+3............................................... - ...............
Time of Possession.....30:45...........29:15....................29:23........31:49
Player Stats
Passing
Murray 190 of 279 for 2130 yds...68.1%...16 TDs...7 Ints...Sacked 10 Times...99.3 Rating
Allen - 217 of 315 for 2578 yds....68.9%...9 TD 0 INT Sacked 20 Times...107.2 Rating
Rushing
Murray 76 for 543 yds 7.1 YPA 8 TDs
Drake 119 for 512...4.3 YPA...4 TDs
Edmonds 54 for 246....4.6 YPA
Singletary 95 for 386...TDs
Allen 65 for 241...5 TDs
Moss 52 for 204...3 TDs
Receiving
Hopkins 60 for 734, 3 TDs
Fitzgerald 33 for 261... 0 TD
Edmonds 29 for 240 2 TDs
Kirk 23 for 240 6 TDs
Biggs 63 for 813 yds 3TDs
Beasely 44 for 533 yds 2 TDs
Singletry 24 for 192 yds 0 TDs
Brown 23 for 314 yds 2 TDs
Davis 19 for 275 yds 3 TDs
Tackles -
Hicks 66
Campbell 63
Baker 64
Reddick 31
Poyer 79
Edmunds 63
T Johnson 53
Hyde 41
Sacks
Reddick 5
Peters, Phillips, Kennard and Baker 2 ea
Hughes and Addison 4.0 ea
Klein 2.5...Poyer, Murphy, Jefferson 2.0 ea
Interceptions
Baker and Peterson 2 ea
6 players with 1 apiece)
Cardinals Depth Chart
Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 15 Streveler, 07 Hundley
Running Back
41 Drake, 29 Edmonds, 38 Ward 26 Benjamin
Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...17 Isabella
WR - 13 Kirk....19 KS Johnson
WR - 10 Hopkins 16 Sherfield
Tight Ends
TE - xx William 82 Arnold 81 Daniels
Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries ....66 Miles
LG - 67 Pugh 73 Garcia
OC- 52 Cole 65 Galliard
RG- 64 Murray
RT - 68 Beachum...79 J Jones
Defensive Interior Line
DT - 95 Fotu, xx Mauro
NT - 98 Peters
DT - 97 Phillips 92 Blackson
Linebackers
OLB - 43 Reddick...49 Fitts
ILB - ..59 Campbell 48 Simmons 47 Z Turner
ILB - 58 Hicks 51 Vallejo
OLB - xx Golden 45 Gardeck
Defensive Backs
CB - 21 P Peterson...27 K Peterson
CB - 20 Kirkpatrick
S - xx J Thompson...35 D Thompson...28 C Washington
S - 32 Baker...xx Banjo. 40 Tillman*
Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....05 Gonzalez
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR -29 Edmonds
PR - 13 Kirk
Matchup: Bills Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
We haven't watched much Buffalo football, but walk away with the impression that from #53 to #1, this is a physical large and tough team from top to bottom. No Pro Bowl receivers in this passing offense, but 6-5 Josh Allen spreads the ball around to his receivers, Diggs, Beasley, Singletary and Smokey Brown
Ever-more apparent Cardinal defensive weakness is at corner,where Kevin Peterson is undressed weekly opposite the Pro Bowl Peterson (Patrick). Because Buffalo likes to spread it around, it will be hard for the Cardina ls to "cover everyone" in passing downs.
Key Matchups - Cardinal secodary vs. Diggs, Beasley, singletary and Brown. Campbell and Golden vs. Dawkins and Ford
Matchup: Bills Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Statistically, the Bills running atttack is pretty much "ball carrying by committee" with Allen picking up yardage when they're not handing off to Moss or Singletary
Key Matchups
Buffalo OL vs. Cardinal Front 7.
Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Bills Pass Defense
Murray has caught the eye of most NFL fans both with his arm and his feet. He's posting gaudy numbers but isn't quite as consistent as you'd like him to be nor "money in the bank" when it comes to carrying the offense on his back to bring his team back late in games.
No names jump at you on the Buffalo defense, but the team's strong presence within their NFC East division speaks for itself.
Key Matchups:
Hopkins vs. Norman... Cardinal OL vs Edmunds
Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. Bills Run Defense
Cards like to run Drake between the tackles and Edmunds on the perimeter, but Drake's been banged up of late, and the Cards have lacked a physical presence in recent games. (Their inability to convert on short yardage may have cost the Cards a win over Miami).
(That said - this leaves Murray as an uncovered ballcarrier or a covereage "magnet" that causes another skilled playerto remain uncovered).
Key Matchups
Murray vs. Spy (Edmunds?)...C Edmonds vs. Buffalo Front 7.
Matchup Bills Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
(Do we have to evaluate Gonzalez after he cost us the Miami win)? He and Lee are better than average week in and week out, but just when you take your eye off Gonzo and stop crossing yur fingers...he gets you.
In the return game, Kirk looks like he's on the verge of breaking out. Edmunds is a solid presence. Don't know much about Bass or Bojorquez, but Cards would appear to have the edge. Former Card Andre Roberts is the KR and PR. He brings both speed and experience to the Bills return game.
Key Matchups
Edge to Gonzalez and Lee. We also like Roberts (who wouldn't be returning kicks and punts if he wasn't that good). Last Word
On paper, we like the Cards. But on football-turf, Buffalo has been outplaying us and winning more games.
(Fitting place to drop in one of those banal Bill Parcells "it is what it is" commentary). Bills look like they're more consistent at winning. |
