Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - It was a crash back to Earth for the Buffalo Bills, and for Howard Simon this past Sunday.
The Bills traveled across the pond in Week 5 to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, England, where they fell flat in a 25-20 loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The main story of the day was the major injuries the team sustained on defense. This included All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano (right leg/knee) and defensive tackle Daquan Jones (pec), who left early during Sunday's loss.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott confirmed Monday that both players will require surgery, but did not know whether the injuries were season-ending.
Related
Despite the injuries to the defense, the unit was able to contain Jacksonville, for the most part, holding them to just 25 points. Edge rusher A.J. Epenesa stepped up for the team while playing in an elevated role, and had a career day with two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
As for the offense, that unit struggled to get any sort of rhythm going throughout the day. Buffalo didn't score its first points of the game until the end of the first half, and couldn't find a way to get over the hump.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen had another solid outing with 359 yards passing, two touchdowns, and also accounted for one rushing touchdown. However, it wasn't enough to make a difference in the end.
Related
After getting a taste of some harsh reality, especially with more injuries to key defensive pieces, the Bills are back in the U.S. and are in preparation to host the New York Giants on "Sunday Night Football" at Highmark Stadium.
The Giants have had a difficult start to the 2023 season, winning just one game and struggling to find any sort of consistency on both sides of the football.
This past week saw the Giants getting stomped out by the Miami Dolphins in South Florida, and quarterback Daniel Jones picking up a neck injury that puts his availability for this Sunday's game in question.
If there is any sort of good news for the Giants is they could have the services of running back Saquon Barkley again after suffering an ankle injury during New York's Week 2 comeback win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Sunday's game has some added significance to it with Giants head coach Brian Daboll making his return to Buffalo for the first time since taking over in New York following the 2021 season.
After a confident round of picks last week, Howard was a bit more reserved in some of his choices going into Week 6. He still has some confidence in the team going forward, but has flipped with his picks on a few games, including some important games in the AFC.
When the dust settled on Week 6's edition of "Howard Picks the Bills", Howard not only picked the Bills to beat the Giants this week, he has Buffalo finishing with an 11-6 record. This included losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, but also losses to the Miami Dolphins and a suddenly resurgent Cincinnati Bengals.
What this all means is it could set up for a dicey finish in the AFC East, depending on how well the Dolphins play. If there is any good news, an 11-6 record is still likely good enough to see the Bills make the playoffs as a Wild Card team.
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen to, and watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" available below: