By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun and Olean Star Senior Sports Columnist
How do you set a line on this game?
Two 3-1 teams meeting to establish a pecking order behind unbeaten Kansas City atop the AFC.
That’s what’s at stake when the Bills and Texans meet Sunday afternoon at Houston’s NRG Stadium (1 o’clock CBS-TV, Bills Radio Network).
For the record, Buffalo is a 1-point favorite, mostly because it leads the conference in scoring (122 points) and is third behind New Orleans (127) and Washington (123) in the NFL. That’s despite a 10-point output in last Sunday night’s embarrassing 35-10 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore.
The other reason is that the Texans, possessor of what’s potentially one of the league’s most productive offenses, have struggled. Their three wins are by a combined 12 points and their loss was a 27-point evisceration at Minnesota.
Houston’s attack is averaging just under 20 points a game despite the presence of elite quarterback C.J. Stroud, three star wideouts — Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs (the former Bill) and Tank Dell — an excellent tight end in Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon averaging nearly five yards per carry.
Indeed the Texans defense has surrendered more points than the offense has scored (94-79).
Buffalo, meanwhile, has been more productive than anticipated offensively but coming into this game critical injuries loom on both sides of the ball.
ON OFFENSE, leading receiver Kahlil Shakir (ankle) is out and left tackle Dion Dawkins will play nursing a hamstring issue. Defensively, though there’s hope that middle linebacker Terrel Bernard (pectoral) and nickel back Taron Johnson (forearm) could play Sunday, edge rusher Von Miller is out four games with a domestic abuse suspension by the league, safety Taylor Rapp is out with a concussion and tackle Ed Oliver won’t play with his own hamstring problem. If Bernard and Johnson can’t go, that’s five key elements missing from the ‘D’ and that doesn’t include linebacker Matt Milano (biceps) who might not return until December.
The suspension of Miller caught the Bills by surprise earlier this week after he had claimed, rather cockily, that his attorneys assured him the “case was closed.” Maybe so, legally, but not to the NFL, still stinging from the blown domestic abuse case of Ravens running back Ray Rice, 10 years ago.
“IT’S AN unfortunate situation and we respect the decision made by the league,” coach Sean McDermott said. ‘It’s out of our control and what we need to do is focus on it’s an opportunity for someone on our football team to step up. They’ve had to deal with quite a few situations … injuries and now the suspension with Von.”
The Bills are still reeling from the loss in Baltimore in which the Ravens stampeded them for 271 rushing yards, 199 of them by Derrick Henry of which 87 came via a scoring sprint on Baltimore’s first offensive play.
And though Dell and Mixon are uncertain for Sunday, McDermott knows the Bills have to figure out how to stop the latter.
“IT STARTS by being more physical and making sure we’re playing better at the point of attack,” he said. “That mindset has to be there for us because Mixon is a heckuva football player and you can certainly see it when he’s been healthy this year.
“They’re a very talented football team, offensively, extremely talented on the perimeter with the receiving corps. It’s really hard to stop all of them because you don’t have enough guys to double-team all of them. Stef’s playing at a high level. He was a really good player and competitive here and he’s highly-competitive on tape and playing at a high level (for them), so it’ll be a big challenge for us.”
MUCH OF the pre-game commentary has been directed at Diggs facing his former team. The Bills and quarterback Josh Allen have minimized the revenge aspect for the wide receiver and tried to be nice. But the reality is, Buffalo took a $31 million salary cap hit — the most for a non-quarterback in NFL history — to dump him and the attitude.
Meanwhile, for Buffalo it’s another week of facing former players as, besides Diggs, on the Texans roster are defensive end Jerry Hughes, wide receiver Robert Woods, defensive tackle Tim Settle, guard Nick Broeker and quarterback Case Keenum (injured reserve).
“There are a lot of guys I spent a lot of time with and guys I still care about,” Allen said of the former Bills, “I look forward to seeing them.”
He added of Diggs, “The things he did for me in my career and the things he did in a Buffalo Bills uniform won’t be forgotten any time soon. At the same time, going into my seventh year, I understand the business and what that (reality) of this league is.”
As for the Texans he admitted, “They’ve got a really good defense and some guys, who are really fast, that can get after the quarterback. On the back end, everybody knows the cornerback they’ve got in Derrick Stingley, a great young player who seemingly makes plays on the ball week-in and week-out.”
Of course, days later, Allen was still being quizzed about the ill-fated trick play called by offensive coordinator Joe Brady that foiled Buffalo’s comeback attempt and turned it into a blowout loss at Baltimore.
“At the same time he’s feeling that way,” Allen said of Brady blaming himself, “I’m feeling that way about myself. Whatever he calls, I’ve got to go out there and execute it. I didn’t do that at a high level and we didn’t do that at a high level during the game last week. “(Brady’s) trying to take accountability and take the blame but it takes everybody when we’re out on the field, especially me being an extension of what he’s calling. Me trusting him, him trusting me, that’s not going to waver and that’s how we’re going to attack this thing.”
Pollock’s Pick: Texans 27, Bills 20
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
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