Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills return to action on Sunday night, looking to stay atop the AFC when they face the Green Bay Packers at Highmark Stadium.
In order to do that, here are my three keys to the game, plus notes and stats:
1.) Start fast
The Packers have not only been disappointing on the field with a 3-4 record, but have also had plenty of strife off of it. This includes quarterback Aaron Rodgers saying that they may need to simplify the offense, and that players who aren’t performing should take fewer reps in practice.
Head coach Matt LaFleur is trying to keep his team together around it all. Now they come to an environment that's wild, with "Bills Mafia" seeing their team in-person on "Sunday Night Football" for the first time since 2007.
If the Bills can feed off that energy and get on top of the Packers early, it might cause them to start doubting themselves, and maybe even bickering.
Not to mention, Green Bay only averages 18.3 points per-game, which would make it even tougher.
2.) Run away
The Bills have Josh Allen under center. Their bread-and-butter is throwing the football.
While they need to continue to do that on Sunday, they should be able to run the ball well against a Packers defensive unit that’s allowed a whopping 4.79 rushing yards a contest, 24th in the NFL, and 139.6 per-game, which is 27th overall.
Bills running back Devin Singletary is averaging 5.18 yards per-attempt over his last three games. He’ll have a terrific opportunity to keep that going Sunday night, and that could go a long way towards a win.
3.) Don’t let Aaron get going
Rodgers is going to walk into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as he’s eligible. He’s the reigning back-to-back league MVP, a four-time NFL MVP, and a Super Bowl winner.
While his team and offense haven’t been nearly as productive as he’s been used to, or they want to be this season, he’s still extremely capable of making plays and making defenses pay for mistakes.
The Packers and Rodgers will be missing wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb on Sunday night, but will get speedy rookie Christian Watson back. That's in addition to Rodgers having a tremendous running back in Aaron Jones to hand it off and throw it to.
Rodgers can make plays to keep his team in games, even when things aren’t going as well as expected. The Bills have to make sure they don’t allow that to happen, and not give Green Bay hope, knowing they have one of the best to ever play throwing the ball.
NOTES AND STATS:
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