What we learned from the Bills’ win over the Raiders
Here are five things we learned from the Buffalo Bills’ 38-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2:
Very much alive
After losing to the New York Jets in Week 1, the Bills were dead. Gone. Buried. The AFC East was no longer theirs and playoffs? You must be kidding…
After a four-touchdown rout of the Raiders, who won their season opener, it’s clear Buffalo can still bounce back… and is still near the tops of the power rankings in the AFC.
Can play a clean game
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was a disaster in Week 1. It was a brutal effort from him where he turned the ball over four times.
Allen was clean of turnovers against the Raiders. That, en route to 31-for-37 passing for 274 yards with three touchdown passes.
These linebackers... could work
Both of the Bills’ starting linebackers recorded interceptions against Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garappolo. Bernard swung the momentum Buffalo’s way with his first-career pick, then Matt Milano had an impressive one which created the term “Milano’d.”
Tremaine Edmunds will no longer be missed if efforts like that keep happening.
The run defense can stop 'em
Our first three things we learned we just skimming over a few bigger topics. Not only does the linebacker duo of Milano and Bernard deserve praise for their takeaways, how about the overall defensive effort against the run?
In front of that duo, the defensive line had a great effort. Ed Oliver set the tone right away early on with a tackle for loss. Fellow defensive linemen Greg Rousseau and DaQuan Jones added two more.
Overall, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs only mustered up minus-two yards total. Per ESPN Stats & Info, it’s the first time since the NFL-AFC merger that the reigning NFL rushing champion finished a game with negative rushing yardage.
The help is there
Secondly, along with Allen performing better, so did just about everyone else on the offense.
Touchdowns were found all over the place as five different players scored for the Bills: Damien Harris and Latavius Murray on the ground and Gabe Davis, Khalil Shakir and Dawson Knox in the air.
In addition, running back James Cook had 124 rushing yards. It was his first time over the century mark in his career. That wouldn’t have been possible without a stellar game from the offensive line, either.
