NFL
By: Charlie Gross
Buffalo Bills vs Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, September 8th. The Buffalo Bills travel to Los Angeles to face the Super Bowl Champion Rams. I’ll take you through some of the biggest matchups and storylines for a game that many people consider to be a preview of Super Bowl 57. While Los Angeles is known for beautiful beaches and beautiful people there is no doubt that the Buffalo Bills must heed the words of one of our greatest philosophers, and step through the fog and creep through the smog on their way to victory.
Offense
Any conversation about the Buffalo Bills offense matching up with the Los Angeles Rams defense has to start with Aaron Donald. The 31-year-old Donald has an elite resume. Three-time defensive player of the year, eight pro bowls, and 7 All-Pro selections. Donald is one of the three best players in the league and will undoubtedly go down as one of the best defensive players in NFL history. This will be a huge test for the revamped interior offensive line for the Buffalo Bills.
Speaking of the offensive line, this looks like the best one the Bills have had in the Sean McDermott era. Mainstays Dion Dawkins and Mitch Morse are joined by 2021 third-rounder Spencer Brown, veteran Roger Saffold, and 2021 revelation Ryan Bates. To me, this is the key matchup for the Bills. How do Bates, Morse, Dawkins, Brown, and Saffold hold up against Aaron Donald and the rest of the Rams defensive line? Aaron Donald gets most of the attention, but Les Snead and Sean McVay have done a good job surrounding him with other talented players like Leonard Floyd, and A’Shawn Robinson.
Aaron Donald is not the only elite defensive player on the Los Angeles Rams. Jalen Ramsey figures to be matched up against Stefon Diggs most of the time, so this will be a big opportunity for Gabe Davis, Isaiah McKenzie, and the other Bills wide receivers. In different ways, Davis and McKenzie have both been waiting for their opportunity. There are questions about both players when it comes to route running, so this should be a great look at that.
I can’t move on to the defense until I talk about Dawson Knox and James Cook. As I mentioned in my article predicting Josh Allen’s stats for the 2022 season, I think Dawson Knox is “pass catcher 2” and will have a monster season. I’ll be interested to see how the Rams prepare for him or he’s a bit overlooked. The rookie James Cook is a wild card in all of this. Will he dress? How much will he play? are valid questions that I’m eager to see answered.
Defense
The line of scrimmage is the first thing I think about for this game. Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth retired and has been replaced by Joseph Noteboom. Just as the Rams defensive line is a tough matchup for the Bills offensive line, the same can be said when the Rams have the ball. Going up against Von Miller, Ed Oliver, and Greg Rousseau won’t be an easy task for the Rams. Let’s also not forget the addition of DaQuan Jones to play alongside Ed Oliver. Jones should shore up the Bills run defense and help to make teams more one-dimensional.
Tre White won’t be available for at least the first four weeks of the season and the Bills will certainly miss him in this game. Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier have a lot of confidence in Dane Jackson and Kaiir Elam but this might be the toughest matchup the Bills secondary will face all season. Cooper Kupp lead the NFL in every receiving statistical category and Allen Robinson is being slept on a bit. Kupp and Robinson are two of the best receivers in the game and the last time the Bills and Rams played, Buffalo struggled with the Rams horizontal passing game.
Prediction
Both the Rams and the Bills are two of the best four teams in the NFL. I think the Rams have the better roster but I think the Rams don’t have an answer for Josh Allen. I’ll take the Bills to win 34-31.
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