4.) Ed Oliver, defensive line came to play
On the first play of the game, the Raiders ran a run play to Josh Jacobs and Bills’ defensive tackle Ed Oliver blew up Greg Van Roten that tripped up Jacobs behind the line of scrimmage. Jacobs would finish the day with nine carries for -2 rushing yards, which was one of the key factors that the Bills needed to accomplish in stopping Jacobs. The Raiders overall had 55 total rushing yards, with their leader being Tre Tucker who had one carry for 34 yards.
In addition to stopping the run, the defensive line was in the backfield pressuring Jimmy Garoppolo which included a tipped pass off of a screen that linebacker Terrel Bernard secured. After being exposed on the ground last week against the Jets, this unit managed to lock it down against the Raiders which took away the comfort zone for Garoppolo and made him use his arm to try and beat them.
3.) Nine different weapons involved in passing game
For the longest time, it seemed as if the passing game was 95 percent Josh Allen-to-Stefon Diggs, and then the field. The offense today involved nine different targets for Allen, with wide receiver Gabriel Davis leading the unit with six catches off of seven targets for 92 yards which included a beautiful 40 yard pass on a broken pass play.
Davis and Diggs led the receiving game with seven targets each, followed by Dalton Kincaid (six targets, five catches for 43 yards). Other players like James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Dawson Knox, Latavius Murray, Deonte Harty, and Reggie Gilliam.
Not only did the passing game include all of these weapons, but the offense played it smart with short throws and managing the clock. This offense has been looking for other contributors outside of Diggs and today showed that if Allen plays smart and doesn’t throw it down the field all the time, the Bills’ offense is able to move the chains without any issue.