Bills fans have had the chance to watch the offensive line grow together and help protect Josh Allen as much as possible. The protection has been solid to keep Allen upright. Don’t get me wrong, Allen has had pressure but it hasn’t been as much as the stats show.
With the wide receiver room not getting separation on the field, it forces Allen to hold the ball longer which creates a great chance to be sacked. Anything more than 3-4 seconds that results in a sack is not on the offensive line.
From left to right; Dion Dawkins, David Edwards, Connor McGovern, O’Cyrus Torrence, and Spencer Brown have been the group that’s had the most continuity on the team since last season. Typically, they do their job and they do it right. For this Thursday night, they will have their hands full against Houston’s dominant pass-rush duo in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
Bills have tough task to limit Houston's pass-rush
The Texans have themselves a great pass-rush with Anderson and Hunter coming off the edge. Anderson has 8 sacks while Hunter has 9 himself and they each have 30+ total tackles.
In addition, they have 5 combined forced fumbles which proves that they don’t just get to the ball, but they attack it to give it back to their offense. The Bills have had some issues at times with fumbling this season so they cannot allow any room for Houston to force a turnover.
For as great as Josh Allen is, his wide receivers have not been dynamic at all. Allen may have to hold the ball longer than usual which puts a ton of pressure on his offensive line to contain Hunter and Anderson. At some point, it wouldn’t be a surprise for each of them to bring Allen down.
However, the last thing fans want to see is this game being close in the 4th quarter, and having either Anderson or Hunter make a big play to give the Texans momentum to win this game. Buffalo owes Houston some payback from last year when the Texans didn’t just dominate the Bills from start to finish, but they kicked a walk-off field goal to beat the Bills.
If Buffalo wants to try and pull away from the Texans before the 4th quarter, the offensive line has to keep their eyes on Anderson and Hunter at all times. All it takes is one play for this game to become closer than it needs to be.