Bring on the cold weather of the NFL season. The Buffalo Bills (6-2) are away from Orchard Park for the first time in three weeks as they travel to the dawg pound to face the underperforming Cleveland Browns (2-6). The Bills have shown that they are a game-managing team when they have the lead and that is what you can expect from them if they have control in the second half.
Even though it is not the greatest thing to see as a fan, it is better to chew the clock out and hold on to the victory rather than get fancy and cost a deadly turnover that could lead into a devastating loss. The Bills biggest victory came last week with a 15 point win over the Washington Redskins. They are not the team to blow up the scoreboard. Although, that is no reason to be pessimistic about the team.
This is the best start for the team since 1993. Call it a trap game, don’t label it as one. This game will be a true test to see what the Bills are capable of in four quarters. Yes, the Browns are plain out awful this year. Freddie Kitchens is not a great head coach, Baker Mayfield has been horrendous this year and all of the hype surrounding the Browns was clearly too much pressure for the organization.
Even though the Bills still have questions to be answered on both sides of the ball, here are three reasons to be excited to watch the Bills this week against the Browns:
1.) Devin Singletary
Bills’ offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has been under a lot of heat this season with his limited offense and not distributing the ball properly in different games this season. The rise of Devin Singletary has been crucial for this offense. When he is heavily involved, the Bills have yet to lose this season. Singletary missed some time in the beginning of the season with an injury in week two but his first two weeks were nothing but solid production.
After a bad loss against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which the Bills offense could not get anything going, Daboll had to open up the playbook more for the next game and he was able to get Singletary involved. There was a massive gap between the Bills offense vs the Eagles, and the Bills offense against the Redskins. Singletary served as the main back against the Redskins racking up yardage both on the ground and in the air.
Against the Browns, Singletary will face a middle-of-the-pack run defense and a solid pass defense. With his shiftiness and acceleration in the open field, Singletary should see himself as a threat against this Cleveland defense.
2.) Tremaine Edmunds and company
Edmunds has been an absolute stud for the Bills defense this year. He leads the team in tackles and has been excellent and taking control of this defense. His defense will face a Browns offense that has talent but has not been clicking all season long. Edmunds will be looked upon to pressure Mayfield and causing mistakes to the second year quarterback.
Edmunds, Matt Milano and Lorenzo Alexander are the x-factors for this game and they will help control this Browns offense. If they can establish a game plan to stop Nick Chubb and the return of Kareem Hunt, all that pressure is put on Mayfield who has not looked good at all this year. In perspective, if you were to compare Mayfield to Daniel Jones, someone who took a lot of heat from the media after the NFL Draft, you can see who has been more productive.
3.) Coaching Differences
If you were to examine the coaching staffs between these two organizations, the Bills have a more organize foundation. Sean McDermott and his coaching staff are more disciplined and have slowly helped the team grown over time. Even though the team has lacked discipline in penalties this year, the culture has changed for the better long-term future. Sitting at 6-2 in McDermotts’ third year at the reign, the Bills are set up for success this season.
The Browns took a chance on Mayfield’s’ offensive coordinator from last season. Kitchens has not proven to be a good coach so far in his first year. He has talent in the backfield and on the outside but it does not show so far. The culture was looked at as a sleeper super bowl team this past offseason. Now, they will be lucky to get above nine wins this season. This coaching staff has not done the greatest at building this team because the chemistry is not there.
-Brandon Ray is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the Buffalo Bills. Make sure to follow Brandon on Twitter at @brandon_ray79.
