The Buffalo Bills are 2-0 under first-year Head Coach Joe Brady and look to capitalize on the Los Angeles Chargers’ early-season struggles. The Chargers find themselves 0-2, losing twice while being the favorites, and their next seven games are an absolute gauntlet; a loss here will absolutely shape the rest of their season, while a win for Buffalo will boost the momentum even further as they take on their division rival New England Patriots next week.
Stats to Know
Let’s take a look at each team’s offense. The Buffalo Bills rank 2nd in the league in total yards per game (427.5) and 1st in points per game (38.5) after one of the league’s hottest offensive starts. The Los Angeles Chargers, meanwhile, rank 23rd in yards per game (289.0). The Chargers are also 30th in points per game (14.0)—an incredible 138.5-yard difference and a whopping 24.5-point advantage for Buffalo.
Now, let’s take a look at how their defenses stack up in this matchup. Buffalo’s defense ranks 28th in yards allowed per game (368.0). The Bills rank T-28th in points allowed per game (31.0). Los Angeles, meanwhile, ranks 23rd in the league through two weeks in yards allowed (349.0) and 22nd in points allowed per game (26.0). On average, Buffalo’s defense allows 19 more yards and 5 more points per game than the Chargers.
Let’s take these numbers and average them out. The Bills’ offense should have around 388 total yards and about 32 points, while the Chargers’ offense should have around 329 yards and about 22 points on Sunday. This gives the Bills a comfortable 10-point advantage and a 59-yard advantage overall, with the Vegas line being -7, favoring Buffalo. The Chargers are 0-2 covering the spread, while the Bills are 2-0 covering. Betting the Bills at -7 seems about right, though I’d do an alternate line of -2.5 just to be safe, especially with how many yards and points our defense has given up the past two weeks.
Who’s Hot & Who’s Cold
As always, let’s look at some hot and cold players on both teams heading into this playoff matchup.
- 🔥 Greg Rousseau is having the best start to a season of his career. In two games, Rousseau has 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles; his impact has been the biggest on defense, as the rest of the team is still getting acclimated to Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard’s 3-4 defense.
- 🥶 Christian Benford is still cold after last week’s performance; through two games, he has allowed 118 passing yards, 2 TDs, and a 119.2 passer rating. Not great for what should be one of the Bills’ core defensive starters.
- 🔥 Derwin James Jr. is off to yet another great start with 9 tackles and 8 assisted tackles. James Jr. has been all over the field, lining up in the box and playing immaculate run defense. He’ll have to keep that up and have an even bigger impact if he hopes to slow James Cook down on Sunday.
- 🥶 Justin Herbert is the franchise QB… uh huh. Year after year, we hear all about how Herbert is going to break through and finally make a run in Los Angeles; the offense was supposed to look amazing with OC Mike McDaniel, and yet it looks even worse after two games. Through a couple of games, Herbert has 2TDs and 3INTs, not what a franchise QB should be doing with the weapons he has.
Game Predictions
I predict that this will be a one-sided game for the most part in favor of Buffalo; the score won’t reflect that because of garbage time, but the Bills win with ease, Dalton Kincaid has a receiving TD, and Omarion Hampton has back-to-back weeks of 100 or more total yards.
Other Content
Check out all of my previous articles, along with future Buffalo Bills and fantasy content, available here: {Articles}, and use code DL10 for 10% off all memberships! Also, tune in to YouTube to view our most recent video, where we discuss the Atlanta Falcons’ incredible Thursday night performance.
