It's Saturday, which means that it's prediction day here at Buffalo Rumblings. I'm on something of a roll of late. I started off 4-0 picking Buffalo Bills games this season. Then I made the mistake of picking them to beat Cleveland. 4-1. I've picked against them since, and when I've picked against them, the Bills are undefeated this season. Sensing a pattern, you're probably aware that there is now a severe lack of suspense to this weekly post as I continue to play the superstition angle. The 4-3 Houston Texans are coming to town, and with any luck, the Bills will hit their bye at .500 after a 1-4 start.
At any rate, predictions must be made. Tim and Jake from Battle Red Blog are here to drop his prediction. My prediction joins theirs after the jump, and yours, as usual, are welcome in the comments section.
Tim's prediction is below:
The Bills are a scrappy squad with some real talent, especially in the secondary and at running back. The problem, as I see it, is that they're not equipped to match the Texans score for score. Barring Schaub and/or Slaton handing the Bills the ball back, this is a game the Texans should win. As I noted above, I'm feeling unnaturally good about the turnover situation right now, so I'm backing the good guys, even on the road. Texans 27, Bills 17
Jake's prediction:
The Bills are a scrappy team that can't be overlooked just because the Texans play the Colts in a week, which is a possibility. As with every week, the final results depend greatly on which Texan team shows up. Sure Buffalo is starting their backup quarterback, but the Texans secondary made the 49ers backup look like a Pro Bowler instead of a bad first overall pick last week.
If the Texans defense plays as well against the BIlls' double headed monster of Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson as they have against the previous four opponents, I just don't see Ryan Fitzpatrick keeping up with Matt Schaub and the rest of the Texans offense. I do, however, think that the odds makers knew what they were doing when they thought this game would be as close as three points. Texans 30, Bills 24
And here's my prediction:
Tim's right - the Bills are scrappy. Unfortunately, they're not particularly scrappy at home, where they've lost 7 of their past 8 games - so there goes that home-field advantage. As they do in any given week, they have a real chance of pulling another upset. But at some point, teams are going to figure out that the easiest way to beat the Bills is to let them beat themselves. Buffalo has been gift-wrapped two straight victories. Houston won't grant them that honor, as Matt Schaub is playing the most efficient football of his life, and Gary Kubiak will stress ball security more than anything else. The rest will take care of itself. Texans 28, Bills 13