Bills have perfect weapon to fight what they can't control
The Buffalo Bills' odds of making the postseason are higher than ever and as it just so happens, the team just pulled off its most dominant win of the season.In other words: The arrow is pointing up in a big way. With two upcoming games against the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots, things […]
The Buffalo Bills' odds of making the postseason are higher than ever and as it just so happens, the team just pulled off its most dominant win of the season.
In other words: The arrow is pointing up in a big way. With two upcoming games against the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots, things should look even better heading into the season finale.
A major reason for all the excitement is James Cook's coming out party against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15. Cook ripped the Cowboys defense to shreds as he recorded over 220 total scrimmage yards and two total touchdowns. It was the exclamation point on what's been a very good, yet underrated, season and the second-year running back should continue to see a lot of success moving forward.
And, what's even better, is he has an offensive coordinator in Joe Brady that's not afraid to feed him -and the rest of the Bills running backs- as much as possible when things are clicking. That's a big advantage for the Bills as the team heads into the months that not only feature the worst weather of the entire season – they're also the most important.
"I think you talk about December and January football games, weather could be a part of that equation," Josh Allen told reporters on Tuesday. "To go out there and trust the run game and trust our offensive linemen up front to get a job done – and they did it so well this last game. You know, that was a really good interior line that we faced. So credit to our guys for working hard and communicating well and going out there and executing.
"Not many teams, I think, can change your game plan like that midway through a game and just attack the run. It's something that was good to see from our guys and you know, it was good to see Joe just continuing to calling it. And it's something we're gonna need down the stretch."
The Bills play the Patriots in two weeks, so they could certainly experience some bad weather. Being it's and AFC contest, as well as this week's game against the Chargers – these games are crucial. Who cares about the record; the Bills cannot afford to slip up in either matchup.
Having an explosive, reliable rushing attack would really help lower the chances of an upset and with each victory, the Bills get closer and closer to the playoffs. Sure, they're currently ninth in the AFC, but they have a 68% chance of making the postseason when factoring in each team's scenario over the next three weeks. If the Bills pull off the next two wins, then they're going to have one of the top-7 seeds heading into the regular season finale.
From that point on, it's all about navigating the road to the Super Bowl, which will likely run through Baltimore. The Charm City isn't really known to be sunny and warm in January, so the Bills will need the ground success to continue if they want to make it Vegas.
It's not just Baltimore, either. Right now, four of the seven playoff teams in the AFC play outdoors and in areas that have bad winter weather. Hypothetically speaking, if the Bills knock the Colts out of the seventh spot and the rest stays the same, it would then be five of the seven when including Buffalo.
No matter where you look, it's obvious that the Bills are going to need to not only lean on the ground game – they're going to need to have success. The best part is they have both the coach and the players to make it happen.
