Week 3 – Home vs LA Rams
Despite what is perceived to be a strong Rams offense, ranking them this low is because how good the Bills are expected to be this season. Additionally, having the home crowd on your side is always a huge lift in willing a team to victory.
I also didn’t like the Rams offseason. While you always lose pieces, they didn’t seem to replace wide receiver Brandin Cooks or running back Todd Gurley with equal firepower. We don’t know how good second round pick running back Cam Akers will be. Helping the Rams, if they choose, is they play the Eagles in Week 2 on the east coast so they could remain somewhere along the coastline reducing any travel and time zone issues.
Week 2 – Away vs Miami Dolphins
In writing this projection we don’t know which quarterback the Bills will be facing. Will it be the veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick or rookie Tua Tagovailoa? Either way the Bills should be confident. With the chance to intercept passes from the always opportunistic Fitzpatrick or rattling a rookie the Bills defense will shine in this matchup.
The Buffalo Bills will also have a chance to win two early divisional games while taking another step towards claiming a divisional crown for the first time since 1995. To the Dolphins credit they are making strides and improving under second year coach Brian Flores, but the Bills team is a year or two ahead of their rebuild and won’t lose this game.