The Buffalo Bills will look to improve to 2-1 on the 2021 season against the Washington Football Team. Washington is also 1-1, coming off of a wild win against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football in Week 2.
Washington’s defense has been off to a rough start in 2021, sitting at 25th in total defense after two weeks. Chase Young in particular has gotten off to a slow start, failing to register a sack or a quarterback hit in the first two games. Jonathan Allen has been the most productive member of the Washington defense. He has registered nine tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, and six quarterback hits in the first two weeks. That has earned him an 83.9 grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF).
The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, have been excellent defensively thus far. They’re coming off an effort in which they shut out the Dolphins and took the ball away three times. Young pass rushers Gregory Rousseau and A.J Epenesa had fantastic days. Rousseau registered two sacks and six pressures. He had an astounding 35.7% pass rush win rate according to PFF. Epenesa did not register a sack, but he had a team-high eight pressures on 27 pass rush snaps. Epenesa was all over the place against Miami and was Buffalo’s best defensive player in Week 2.
Epenesa has earned a stellar PFF grade of 89.8 so far. However, an argument can be made that he has not been Buffalo’s best defensive player. His main challenger would be Matt Milano, who has earned an 86.6 PFF grade and registered ten combined tackles, nine of them solo and four of them for loss. Milano has also been all over the ball through the first two weeks, and he has benefitted Buffalo’s defense tremendously.
Neither team’s offense has been able to generate any momentum yet, as Washington sits at 22nd in total offense, and Buffalo is currently 21st. It has been an especially disappointing start for the Bills on offense, given how good Josh Allen and the offense were in 2020.
Final Score Prediction: Buffalo Bills 17, Washington Football Team 14
Despite Washington’s defensive struggles, this game will likely be a tight, low-scoring affair. This one will likely come down to the wire in a fun game. The Buffalo Bills will defeat the Washington Football Team 17-14 to improve to 2-1 on the season.