After the Buffalo Bills barely defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16 last Sunday afternoon, they will have a chance to fix their turnover issues and secure a much better margin of victory against their AFC East rivals, the New England Patriots, this Sunday afternoon.
Even with the Patriots struggling to handle a first-place schedule and a 1-2 start, they always seem to play the Bills tough, making this a classic divisional rivalry for years, dating back to the AFL days. Which team, with its franchise quarterback, will pull off this important divisional win? We are here to give you our prediction and a whole lot more.
4 bold predictions for Bills vs. Patriots in Week 4
Prediction #1 - Josh Allen has 2 scores
Last week against the Chargers, Josh Allen scored twice with two goaline QB sneaks that eventually led to the 24-16 victory. This week, he doubles down, scoring 1 touchdown himself on a tush push as the Bills coaching staff tries to limit his running.
He will also throw for another touchdown pass, but this time, Khalil Shakir will be the recipient of his first touchdown catch of the season.
Prediction #2 - CB Davison Igbinosun earns 1st start
While it was not wonderful to hear that starting cornerback Christian Benford suffered a toe injury in last Sunday's game, it was a positive in that rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun stepped into the starting role and made a huge impact in the secondary.
It's not that Benford hasn't been a productive corner since being drafted in 2022, but the Bills are trying to run a defense that wants more man coverage, and they drafted Benford as a zone corner when Sean McDermott was head coach.
If Benford can't suit up on Sunday, look for defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard to pick up right where he left off and run more man-to-man coverage with Igbinosun, Maxwell Hairston, and possibly Te'Cory Couch, or a practice-squad call-up from Kani Walker.
Prediction #3 - Drake Maye is sacked 2+ times
Justin Herbert was sacked twice by Greg Rousseau, who now leads the NFL with six sacks total in the first three games. This week, expect Rousseau to extend his streak to four straight games with at least two sacks against Drake Maye and a Pats squad with a bad offensive line.
You may also expect Bradley Chubb to get into the action and add another sack to his Bills career, while Deone Walker brings Maye down at the nose tackle position. The NFL should take note that the Bills may have a competent defense built on pressure, blitzing, and sacking the quarterback to force third-down and long situations, and eventually punts on fourth down.
Prediction #4 - Final score
The Bills should be able to improve on their 5-turnover performance from last week and come out more efficiently on offense against another desperate team in their division, which was thumped by the Jaguars last week 35-6.
Allen and the Bills' offense will get right back on track this week, and the stingy Bills defense will continue to improve by forcing Maye into uncomfortable situations; hopefully, the crowd noise at Highmark Stadium will force the Pats into more delay-of-game situations or make them burn their timeouts.
The Bills win a high scoring 34-21 game to move the team to 4-0 on the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google