Seattle, Wash. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills will look to win their third-straight game on Sunday, and improve to 6-2 in the process when they face the Seahawks at Lumen FIeld.
To do that, here are my three keys to the game, plus notes and stats:
1.) Defensive line domination
The Seahawks' offensive line has struggled this season. That hasn’t stopped them from being the most pass-heavy team in the NFL, throwing the most times (280) and running the second-fewest amount of times (151) in the league.
Seattle is starting Mike Jerrell from Division-II Findlay College at right tackle, which will be only his second career start (he started last week).
The Bills will be without defensive tackle DeWayne Carter, who was placed on Injured Reserve on Friday, and Von Miller, who is set to serve the final game of his four-game suspension.
However, Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones are both healthy on the interior, and edge rushers Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa are both coming off very solid performances against the Tennessee Titans last week.
They’ll have opportunities, and will need to take advantage of them when they arise.
2). Big plays!
This is a game that could be determined by big plays.
Seattle has had plenty of them on both sides of the ball. They have given up nine runs of 20-plus yards, tied for most in the league, and four passing plays of 40-plus yards.
On offense, last week against the Atlanta Falcons, they had six plays of, at least, 20 yards, including two that went for touchdowns.
The Bills' big-play ability returned last week with six plays of 20-plus yards of their own, including receptions of 57 and 44 yards by Keon Coleman.
There are going to be more than a few big plays in this game. Whichever team can limit them from the other will be a big key.
3.) Balanced offense
New Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper made an immediate impact last week, and that opened things up for others in the passing game. Four different pass catchers - Cooper, Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Dalton Kincaid - all had, at least, 50 yards receiving.
That type of efficiency around the roster leads to an ability to keep a defense off-balance, as long as the offense can run the ball effectively. The Seahawks rank 29th in the league in yards per-play allowed on the ground (4.97) and 29th in yards per-game allowed (146.1).
While the Bills have been good, at times, running the ball this season, they only ran for 74 yards and 3.8 yards per-carry last week against the Titans.
NOTES AND STATS:
