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In Sunday’s win against the Oakland Raiders, the Buffalo Bills made a statement. The Raiders were riding high after their win against Kansas City and had confidence going into the game. Defensive end Khalil Mack even guaranteed a win. A lot of our guys showed up for the game, unlike Mack himself. We recap the 5 players on our watch list:
QB Tyrod Taylor
In another efficient game for Taylor, he kept the chains moving on offense. He completed 74.1% of his passes for 165 yards, added a touchdown, and had a QB rating of 101.6. Taylor was sharing the wealth with everyone as he completed passes to nine different pass catchers. Zay Jones and Taylor looked to have taken a step in the right direction in building a connection as well. The Bills are now 11-1 when Taylor throws between 155-185 yards.
RB LeSean McCoy
McCoy had his best game by far. He had 27 carries for 151 yards, which averages 5.6 yards per carry. He added another rushing touchdown to his season total and was a reliable checkdown target for Taylor. The Bills controlled the clock for the majority of the third quarter, keeping the Raiders offense off the field. His long touchdown run late in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for the Bills if it wasn't done already.
WR Deonte Thompson
Thompson didn't show up on the stat sheet other than a catch for 5 yards. However, his snaps are inching up, and he took 23 this week. Taylor and Thompson have a personal connection as well as being teammates so I wouldn't expect him to stop seeing targets altogether, though his snap numbers could suffer with the addition of Kelvin Benjamin.
CB Shareece Wright
Wright held his own against the Raiders stud receivers. After giving up an early catch or 2 to Cooper, Wright was on Crabtree almost the entire game. Crabtree had 5 catches for 83 yards but nothing that broke the Bills. Wright racked up 4 tackles at the corner spot where he has been known for his solid tackling abilities.
DE Jerry Hughes
Hughes didn't get a sack on the stat sheet but he did blow up Donald Penn on a noticeable run stop. Along with the entire defensive line, he made Carr look uncomfortable in the pocket forcing some inaccurate throws. Overall it wasn't a great day for Hughes but the rest of the defensive unit picked him up.