By V-Ry the Sports Guy, photo courtesy of the NFL
Los Angeles – The Buffalo Bills kickoff the regular season Thursday night against the defending Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams. It’s an intriguing matchup featuring two of the NFL’s most potent offenses and dominant defenses. The Bills enter the season with high expectations as Super Bowl favorites. This game is a great early test and the Bills are currently favored to win.
Bills Cornerbacks vs Rams Wide Receivers
The biggest test for the Bills comes in the defensive secondary. The team will be without All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White for at least the first month of the season. The starting outside cornerbacks for the Bills are veteran seventh-round pick Dane Jackson and rookie first-round pick Kaiir Elam. Both players are talented, but Jackson is inconsistent at times and Elam is still learning how to play in a zone coverage scheme. The Rams field a formidable tandem at receiver, including the NFL’s receiving leader from last year in Cooper Kupp and veteran free agent addition Allen Robinson.
Bills Pass Rush
An intriguing matchup to watch will be the Bills pass rush against the Rams offensive line. The Bills pass rush will be much improved from last year with the addition of All-Pro edge-rusher Von Miller. Miller won the Super Bowl last season with the Rams and is a 2x Super Bowl Champion. On the other side, Greg Rousseau returns for his sophomore season following a promising rookie campaign. Having two talented pass rushers on the outside should create more one-on-one matchups for Ed Oliver to create pressure up the middle.
Running Back Rotation
Offensively, it will be interesting to see how new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey divides carries at the running back position. Devin Singletary will likely get the majority of the snaps out of the
backfield with Zack Moss handling short-yardage and goal-line duties. I’m also curious to see how rookie James Cook is utilized as a potential mismatch nightmare. It could however prove difficult to establish an effective running game with 3x Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald anchoring the Rams defensive front.
