63
× THE GROUND GAME TAKES OFF. The
once-struggling line has four new comers:
powerful ex-Titan Quinton Spain at left
guard, nimble ex-Chief Mitch Morse at
center, sneakily athletic ex-Redskin/Jet
Spencer Long at right guard and second-
round rookie Cody Ford
(Oklahoma) at right tackle.
That allows the Bills to
finally get the most out of
their backfield talent, which
has been upgraded with
veteran Frank Gore and jit-
terbug Devin Singletary, a
third-round pick from Flor-
ida Atlantic. Both rotate in
behind 31-year-old LeSean
McCoy, who still changes
directions well enough to
find daylight consistently.
Coordinator Brian Daboll
uses his speedy receivers to build on the
jet-sweep concepts he dabbled in last year,
but his best tactic is the package of run de-
signs involving 237-pound QB Josh Allen ,
who does for Buffalo’s rushing attack what
Cam Newton does for the Panthers’.
× THE BILLS GO DEEP. A l len’s si m i la r i-
ties to Newton extend to his passing. The
second-year QB will never have high-end
accuracy, but he (mostly) compensates
with power throws. Buffalo emphasizes
deep drop-backs and downfield routes,
where Allen doesn’t need to be pinpoint
and completions have large payouts.
× ROBERT FOSTER EMERGES. The un-
drafted second-year pro from Alabama is
the best player in a receiving corps com-
posed mostly of diminutive speedsters.
The 6' 2", 196-pound Foster can not only
stretch the field, but he can also throttle
down—an underappreciated skill that
enables a speed receiver to get separation.
× THE PASS RUSH IS A PROBLEM. The
Bills are two-deep at every D-line spot, but
their only pure pass rusher
is bull-rushing ace Jerry
Hughes. That’s a problem in
their straightforward zone
scheme, which, like any
traditional 4–3, requires a
quality four-man rush.
× YOUNG STARS SHINE
ON D. Tre’Davious White,
a 2017 first-rounder, rein-
forces that he’s a true No. 1
corner. Inside linebacker
Tremaine Edmunds builds
on the improved play recog-
nition he flashed as a rook-
ie, while OLB Matt Milano, in his third
year, continues to show a knack for finish-
ing plays near the ball. Both can cover,
especially in zone. They don’t quite rise
to the level of the Luke Kuechly–Thomas
Davis tandem that Sean McDermott had
when he was the coordinator in Carolina,
but they allow him to expand his third-
down pressure concepts.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
Behind their revamped offensive line, emerging stars on defense and a deep rushing
attack, the Bills show improvement, but they’re still a year away from playoff contention.
SI’S 2019
PREDICTION
6 – 10
2018 RECORD 6Ð 10
SEP T. 8
@ N YJ
SEP T. 15
@ NYG
SEP T. 22
VS. CIN
SEP T. 2 9
VS. NE
OC T. 6
@ TEN
OC T. 1 3
BYE
OC T. 2 0
VS. MIA
OC T. 2 7
VS. PHI
NOV. 3
VS. WAS
NOV. 10
@ CLE
NOV. 17
@ MIA
NOV. 24
VS. DEN
NOV. 28
@ DAL
DEC. 8
VS. BAL
DEC. 15
@ PIT
DEC. 22
(Flex)
VS. NE
DEC. 29
VS. N YJ
We
ak
ne
ss QB
30
RB
13
WR/TE
27
OL
26
FRONT 7
28
DB
11
GRE
G^ N
ELS
ON
(A
LLE
N);
BR
ET
T^ C
ARL
SEN
/GE
TTY
IM
AGE
S
BUFFALO
