Bills Mafia will have to wait until Monday night to see the Buffalo Bills host the Denver Broncos in Orchard Park. The Bills are currently on a back-and-forth win-lose streak since Week 5. Coming off a loss in Cincinnati, the trend shows that the Bills are on the path to win this week but we all know that's not how it works in the NFL. Each game is a different season and any team can be beaten.
The Bills are taking on a Broncos team that has won their last two games, including a 24-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Since Josh Allen has been the quarterback, the Bills are 2-0 against the Broncos which includes a 48-19 win in 2020 that helped the Bills clinch the AFC East for the first time since 1995. However, the Bills are 3-4 on Monday night football under Josh Allen, including their 22-16 overtime loss in Week 1 this season.
Buffalo is looking to find answers as to what has gone wrong the last month of football. As they prepare for the Broncos, there is key components that they will need to keep in mind when establishing their game plan.
Here are the five key factors for a Buffalo Bills victory this coming Monday night.
5.) Create pressure on Russell Wilson
This should be the obvious one, seeing as how Russell Wilson is being sacked on average 3 times a game this season, including being sacked atleast once in every single game. The Bills’ pass rush, while still creating pressure, has not provided it consistently like they have earlier in the season. This defensive unit was getting to the quarterback early and often to start the season. Lately, it has been a different story.
On Sunday night against the Bengals, there were a handful of times in which the Bills would send five to six defenders at Joe Burrow but no one put pressure which opened up the field for Burrow. That cannot happen again against Wilson. It either needs to be rushing no more than four, or the blitzer has to fly in immediately and break the pocket. No matter how it is done, the Buffalo defense will need to put the pressure on the pass and force the Broncos to go to the run game.
4.) Contain running back Jaleel McLaughlin
While the Broncos have a running back group with guys like Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine, the young back in Jaleel McLaughlin serves as a double threat to the Bills’ defense. He can not only run the ball, but catch passes out of the backfield as well. Despite McLaughlin only carrying the ball 38 times, he is averaging 7 yards a carry. On the receiving end, he is getting over 5 yards a catch as a back.
For some reason, the Bills tend to let under-the-radar players make the big plays and that is who McLaughlin is. If the defense can take away McLaughlin’s ability to be a playmaker and help open up the field, it should come down to the passing game on Wilson’s shoulders.
3.) Establish the run and get Josh Allen involved
The Bills are 5-0 when they run for over 100 yards in a game, and their four losses show that when they do not run the ball, more than likely the outcome does not look good for them. Up until this season, Allen has always been involved and sometimes the main leader in each game in rushing. While it is nice that Allen is not taking unnecessary hits, the offense doesn’t seem to be the same without the QB designed runs. Or even Allen scrambling outside the pocket brought more life to the offense and the run game.
This is not to say that the Bills should rush Allen in moments that can be avoided, but adding the legs of Allen can help open up the field and allow the passing game to become more effective, rather than the go-to for every other play. On top of that, James Cook has been underutilized in recent weeks. It is time for the Bills to build the running game and going against the Broncos, they can control the clock by doing so.
2.) Get more involvement from Deonte Harty
When the Bills brought in Deonte Harty in free agency, he was the replacement for Isaiah McKenzie but Harty could stretch the field with his speed. That has not been the case up to this point. He has just 13 carries for 113 yards and one touchdown on the year. His targets have gone down each week and his big statistical game took place in Week 5 with 2 catches for 62 yards. Aside from that, Harty is lucky if he gets two passes thrown his way in a game.
His quickness that he can bring to the passing game can serve as a Cole Beasley type of player, where if the offense just needs a few yards to move the chains, Harty can provide that impact. Obviously that has not been the case with tight end Dalton Kincaid taking on that role, but the Bills need to get other weapons involved, including Harty. Brandon Beane had mentioned that the Bills are still trying to figure out their identity, maybe getting other fast weapons involved can help speed up that process.
1.) Up-tempo offense
Most of the time, Bills fans get a better understanding of how the team will look on Buffalo’s first offensive drive. Part of that is looking at the confidence of Josh Allen and how effectively they can move the ball early on in the game. With the offensive struggles that the team has been having lately, Buffalo should strongly consider moving into an up-tempo kind of offense and catch the Broncos’ defense off guard.
Don’t overthink the defensive scheme for Denver and don’t try to get fancy with the ball. Running an up-tempo offense is beneficial for the Bills not just in this game, but moving forward as well. Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey has been getting a lot of heat about questionable play calling so it might be time to change up something for this unit. Going into Monday night, the Bills’ offense needs something different rather than what they have been doing the last couple of weeks.