Buffalo Bills Take Down Washington Redskins in Toronto
Looking ahead at this Sunday’s NFL matchup we see two teams that have shown success beyond what many of their critics would have expected prior to the season. The Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills have enjoyed moderate success this year but are facing their own challenges if they are to continue to progress. Both will be looking to gain another step towards a crucial playoff berth, so let’s examine three pivotal battle areas to determine who will be the likely victor and where NFL bettors can gain the most value.
Arguably the most important area in football is the quarterback position and this matchup promises to be no different. The Washington Redskins have had enough of Rex Grossman and his sloppy, interception-prone play and replaced him with John Beck who has had mediocre success (in one complete game) stepping in as replacement. In his first game as starter with the Redskins he rated an 80.8 QB Rating, with one touchdown, one fumble and one interception and wound up losing to Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. For the Buffalo Bills, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been having a very good year and although lost to the New York Giants in his last game can look back to victories over Michael Vick and the Eagles as well as Tom Brady with the Patriots. Certainly nobody is crediting Fitzpatrick entirely with victories such as these, but if your quarterback is one of your team leaders then he has led the way past some notable names this year.
Looking at the slate of injuries for both teams going into this matchup, the Buffalo Bills have recently received the unwelcome news that they have some pretty big holes to fill. Tight end Chris Cooley, wide receiver Santana Moss and Tim Hightower are all out with injuries and the Redskins have to be scrambling to find players to replace them. Cooley and Moss were both quality receiving targets for John Beck, so we have to think their replacements are going to be of substantially lower skill. Tim Hightower was having a great season running the ball and taking some of the pressure off of the passing game. On the Buffalo Bills side, although they have recently lost linebacker Shawne Merriman, his impact is nowhere near that of Moss, Cooley and Hightower. Lower quality players filling in for the Redskins means greater pressure on the already hard-pressed John Beck, which probably means good chances for the Bills to capitalize.
Finally, the Washington Redskins have been playing football designed around their defence and ball possession. This strategy is a sound one for a team with mediocre quarterbacks and a quality running game. However, as we’ve already covered one of the Redskins best passing threats (Moss) and rushing threats (Hightower) are out of commission, meaning their defence is going to be even further pressed to make up for a lacklustre offence. The Buffalo Bills certainly have room to improve on defence, as they are ranked 30th versus the passing attack and 29th versus the rushing attack. However, they are ranked the best among arguably the most important statistic in football-takeaways. Coaches are constantly preaching to their players to protect the ball at all costs and to take it away from opponents whenever possible. The fact that the Buffalo Bills are ranked so highly in such an important category speaks volumes to their success so far this year. It is of concern that they give up so many yards on defence, however when we look on their past four games we notice they have victories against the Patriots and Eagles. The Eagles have beaten the Washington Redskins (albeit with Rex Grossman) in roughly the same time frame.
Prediction: Take the Buffalo Bills and lay the six points against the Washington Redskins (BetOnline.com)
Written by Greg Smith
Buffalo Bills betting • Washington Redskins betting