5 of the biggest questions facing the Buffalo Bills at this point of the season
Do the Bills have enough weapons outside of Stefon Diggs?
I already indicated my thoughts on this with earlier comments but both Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir have emerged in the Bills offense over the last few weeks. I mentioned in the past that Shakir's snap share has consistently increased every week since the start of the season and now we're starting to see that turn into targets in the passing game.
Threw for the first six games, Shakir received five targets, turning four of those into receptions and a touchdown. In the last three games, he's been targeted 14 times, catching every one of them and 184 yards. He's a weapon that if the Bills continue to incorporate into the passing game as they have, defenses will have to start paying attention.
In largely the same way that we've seen Shakir starting to rise, we are also seeing Kincaid take flight in this offense. He too has seen a rise in targets over the last three games, totaling 26 targets, with 23 receptions, 221 yards, and a touchdown. Defenses are going to have to start accounting for these guys, which should open things up downfield a bit more, but Allen has to be consistent and willing to hit those underneath routes to Shakir and Kincaid.
Can the defense play well enough for the Bills to make a run?
This is a big concern going forward, especially with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers, and Miami Dolphins on the horizon. All four of those teams have elite offenses, capable of putting up huge numbers. So, it will be vital for the Bills offense to put up points and keep the pressure on opponents to keep up.
I honestly can't answer this question though because the additions of Rasul Douglas and Linval Joseph are huge, especially with Douglas. You could argue that Douglas is an upgrade over even Tre'Davious White, given that White wasn't quite fully back to his All-Pro form and Douglas was playing better this season. The one missing component in all this though is Matt Milano, and now the team has more players that have popped up on the injury report.
One other question that needs to be asked though, is will Milano and/or DaQuan Jones be able to return later this season. We have no idea and the Bills have given exactly zero hints as to the likelihood of this happening. I doubt they are just trying to be secretive about it, as it's more likely that they simply don't know at this point. Could you imagine if these two guys were to come back just in time and the Bills make that final push to the playoffs and beyond?