Team Preview: Buffalo Bills
The NFL might wish to be a year round industry, however, here at Article 8, we like to take some time off to recover from the last 285 games in the 2021 season!
We’re back, and to kick things off, let’s take a look at each team, as they prepare to return for pre-season.
Starting with the AFC East, we’re going to see how the best team, on paper, looks for 2022.
Offence
One of the greatest offences in the league is pretty much ‘as is’, plus a few extras. The main weapons are all still there, but this time around, we all got to see just high the ceiling is for Josh Allen. His highlight reel from the AFC Divisional game was probably the best game any QB played last year, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady, it’s hard to see how any of them could have improved upon what Allen did that night.
Having guided his team to a 3 point lead and only 13 seconds left in the game for Kansas to reply, he did his part. Unfortunately the rest of the Bills coaching staff and special teams couldn’t do the basics of their job and now the rest of that game will live as another painful memory for all Bills fans.
But tomorrow is another day, and it gives the Bills a chance to change this story and turn it into a wonderful adventure, one that could lead them to a Super Bowl trophy in 2022. They have Stefon Diggs resigned for another 4 years, they have a new weapon for Allen with the signing of OJ Howard, and they have brought in Jamison Crowder too, Allen hasn’t had this many top receivers before, and with the selection of James Cook to add to the back field that already has Isiah McKenzie, Duke Johnson, Devin Singletary and Taiwan Jones, the bigger problem will be keeping all these players happy with the amount of playing time they all get. With the list of targets for Josh Allen growing, it will be interesting to see how they develop Khalil Shakir, a promising WR from Boise State, depending on who you listen to, he could become a primary target if he can translate his college success into the NFL, with a year of coaching, he could push his way into a starting role for 2023.
Defence
As mentioned by just about everyone in the league, the Bills do need to work on keeping the better opposition’s in check. They can rely on Josh Allen leading the team to score about 30ish points a game, but they can’t keep letting teams score 24+ in the playoffs. Offence wins games, but defence wins championships, and that is why the Bills have had to put more money, and draft picks, into the defence.
Highlight signing is of course Von Miller, after his brief Super Bowl stopover in LA, he’s maximised him earning potential. Perhaps his contract wont be maxed out, he signed for 6 years and $120M but, likely, he’s on a 3 year deal that might get him around $50M of that. It’s still a lot to pay for a 33 year old OLB that might not get 100% of the snaps every week. It’s likely this is the reason they brought in Shaq Lawson, a solid DE that can more than just attack the edge, he’s also likely to hang around in the offensive backfield more than in his previous teams.
Special Teams
Anything but! Well, if you fail to understand basic situational football, you’re going to come under the microscope and get a lot of bad press, and that includes some criticism from people like me who know less about football than coaches can forget. But, still… when everyone and they’re cat knows, if you need to burn a few seconds off the end of the 4th quarter, you don’t just run a normal kickoff! Make them play inside, make them play live football, don’t give them outside leverage. You don’t have to play prevent defence, just be smart.
Reports from people inside the Bills org have said little has been spoken of, and not much was addressed after the game. That’s less than ideal in any situation, but after a crushing loss, people need to be accountable. They have brought in a new special teams coordinator, promoting former assistant Matthew Smiley into the position. Will it prevent future brain fog moments, we can only hope so. The talent on the Bills team should be on show during the Super Bowl, and not having to deal with questions about special teams coverage.
The Season Ahead
The first 7 games of the season includes matchups against 4 teams that were in the playoffs last year, and their opener is against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, not exactly a cake walk, even for a team with such talent. Coming out of their first 7 games with 4 or 5 wins should set them up nicely though, they have some easier matchups for the rest of the season, particularly with a weak AFC East and also games against the Bears and Lions. The hardest part of the season is likely to be a run of games against the Ravens, Steelers, Chiefs and Packers, if they can come out of those 4 games with at least 2 wins, they shouldn’t find much more problems during the season.
Providing injuries don’t sideline too many players, there is no reason to think the Bills don’t win their division and finish with 13 or 14 wins. This team is about as good as anything you’ll see on paper, but the games are not played on paper, so let’s hope that the fireworks kick off early and we see more of the magic that delighted us from Josh Allen and Co last year.