Previewing the Buffalo Bills Week 12 matchup with the New Orleans Saints

In Week 11, the Buffalo Bills were absolutely dominated by the Indianapolis Colts in a 41-15 thrashing. Any margin for error that the Bills had is now gone, as they now sit half a game back of the New England Patriots in the AFC East, and are the seventh seed in the AFC at the moment.

Buffalo needs to turn things around, and fast. That endeavor starts with a reeling New Orleans Saints team on Thanksgiving.

Buffalo Bills’ All-Time Record vs New Orleans Saints

The Buffalo Bills are 4-7 all-time against the Saints. The Bills have lost five in a row against New Orleans, with 1998 being the last time the Bills beat them. The contests between these two teams usually are not even competitive. The average margin between the Bills and Saints during this five game stretch is a whopping 21 points.

Last Meeting

The Buffalo Bills and the New Orleans Saints last met in Week 10 of the 2017 season. The Bills entered the week at 5-3, coming off an upset loss to the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football the previous week, whereas the Saints entered on a six game winning streak after an 0-2 start. The Bills struck first with an early first quarter field goal, but would go on to allow 47 unanswered points before scoring a garbage time touchdown to bring the final score to 47-10. This was the game that led to Tyrod Taylor’s temporary benching, and Nathan Peterman’s disastrous NFL debut.

Last Week’s Results

In Week 11, the Saints were decisively defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles 40-29 in their third straight loss, dropping to 5-5 on the year. The Saints turned the ball over three times in their ugliest game as an offense since Jameis Winston went down.

Trevor Siemian was bad against the Eagles, but his stat line was saved by garbage time. He completed 22 of 40 passes for 214 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. The Saints are clearly in trouble if the quarterback play does not improve.

Defensively, the Saints held Jalen Hurts in check through the air, allowing him to complete just 13 of his 24 passes for 147 yards. Their problems came on the ground, as the Eagles rushed for 242 yards, with Jalen Hurts rushing for 69 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan Howard had 63 yards, and Miles Sanders had 94.

Final Thoughts

The Bills have dug themselves into a hole with seven games to go. They’ve fallen out of first place in the AFC East, and sit in the seven seed, just a game up on a cluster of 5-5 teams. One would like to think that a reeling Saints team that has lost three in a row is exactly what they need to right the ship, but the same thing was being said about their Week 10 victory over the Jets.

The Bills will hopefully be getting Spencer Brown, Star Lotulelei, and Tremaine Edmunds back for their Thanksgiving clash with the Saints, but a sense of doubt has started to creep in for Bills fans.