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2016-2017 Buffalo Bills Preview
Key Additions: S Colt Anderson, S Robert Blanton, C Fernando Velasco, LB Zach Brown, LB Lorenzo Alexander, CB Sterling Moore, CB Corey White, TE Jim Dray
Key Subtractions: RB Anthony Dixon, RB Cierre Wood, WR Chris Hogan, TE MarQueis Gray, DE Mario Williams, DL Alex Carrington, DL Stefan Charles, LB Nigel Bradham, LB Ty Powell
Strengths
The Bills will build on a vicious ground game if they are to rule the AFC East. LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams lead Buffalo’s backfield which rushed for a league-best 152.0 yards per game last season.
Williams was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season because he violated the NFL’s drug-use policy, but the Bills have other weapons outside of the backfield to complement McCoy during that stretch. For one, there’s Sammy Watkins, who had 1,047 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games last year.
Tyrod Taylor appears to be the permanent answer at quarterback for the Bills and the dual-threat signal-caller will have this season to prove that further.
Weaknesses
Surprisingly for a Rex Ryan team, the Bills struggled on defense last season. The Bills, who are +450 to rule the AFC East, were just 15th in scoring defense (22.4 points allowed per game) and 19th in total defense (356.4 total yards allowed per game).
The departure of Mario Williams sounds concerning, but the Bills appear to be confident they’ll recover from a letdown season as far as defense is concerned when they picked a couple of studs up from the draft, namely Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland. Having said that, there’s so much for the defense to prove and until they do, Buffalo’s stop unit is going to be under a microscope.
Key Player – Tyrod Taylor
Taylor gets a bigger share of the spotlight following the announcement of Karlos Williams’ suspension. Taylor was a revelation last year, collecting 3,035 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He also did some nifty things using his legs, rushing for 568 yards and four touchdowns. It’s been quite some time since the Bills enter a season with relative confidence on their quarterback and they are hoping for Taylor to elevate his game even more.
Key Game – vs Arizona (September 25)
The first four games of Buffalo are no jokes. The Bills open the season in Baltimore, then will host the Jets and the Cardinals for the next two games. Week 4 is against New England, but Tom Brady’s not going to play in that game, thus taking away much of that contest’s appeal.
The Arizona game is a very tough test for the Bills, particularly for their defense. The Cardinals are as complete an offensive team as you can find out there. If they do a good job of bottling up Carson Palmer and company, then that would be a big boost to their confidence moving forward.
2015 Team Stats
| Category | Stat (Rank) |
|---|---|
| Points per game | 23.7 (#12) |
| Passing yards per game | 208.9 (#28) |
| Rushing yards per game | 152.0 (#1) |
| Scoring defense | 22.4 (#15) |
Writer’s Prediction
The Bills improve from last season and finish with a 9-7 record.
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