The offense for the Buffalo Bills has been their strongest point of attack that has helped the team get to 5-1 in the first year of the Joe Brady era. With there being continuity from Brady’s days as the OC (and him still calling the plays), it’s no surprise to see this offense carrying the Bills in a majority of their games.
One big aspect of this unit is their dedication to running the football with James Cook, who currently ranks third among RBs with 627 yards, while also scoring 6 touchdowns on the ground.
Cook has rushed for over 100 yards in 50% of Buffalo's game this year and he's only had one game where he hasn't reached the endzone. However, for as dynamic as Cook is, he also has a fumbling issue that he's been dealing with throughout his career. After Buffalo's thrilling Monday Night Football win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, Joe Brady talked about Cook needed to focus on ball security due to his two fumbles he had in that game (four on the season already).
Now with the Bills coming off of their bye week, they have a tough AFC matchup with the Baltimore Ravens coming to town and things don't look exactly great for Cook's matchup against this run-defense.
James Cook faces major challenge against Ravens' run-defense
Baltimore has a Top 10 run-defense with only allowing 96.6 rushing yards per game. In four out of their six games, the Ravens have limited opponents to under 100 rushing yards.
Buffalo's rushing attack ranks second in the league (148.8 yards per game) only behind the Chicago Bears at 154.3 yards per game. This is a key matchup that isn't being talked about enough heading into Sunday.
If the Bills are not able to get the rushing attack going, they are going to be stuck in a gameplan where Josh Allen is going to have to find ways to carry the offense through the air, which is not sustainable. Sure, he can use his legs as well because he is dangerous outside of the pocket, but the Ravens know exactly the way Allen plays because it's similar to the way Lamar Jackson plays when the pocket starts to collapse.
Joe Brady will have to be very intentional with this gameplan and it would be highly wise to set the tone with the rushing attack with a mixture of James Cook and Ty Johnson. Get the running game going, make the Ravens stack the box, do a little play-action, and play Buffalo Bills football.
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