The Buffalo Bills have leaned on their offense to get to 5-1 in the first year of the Joe Brady era, and the ground game has been a big part of that push. With Brady bringing continuity from his days as offensive coordinator and still handling the play-calling, Buffalo’s attack has looked familiar enough to keep rolling in a lot of its games.
At the center of it all is James Cook, who has become one of the league’s most productive backs. He ranks third among running backs with 627 rushing yards and has added six touchdowns on the ground. He’s topped 100 rushing yards in half of Buffalo’s games this season and has only failed to score in one contest.
But Cook’s production comes with a blemish Brady has already addressed. After the Bills’ wild Monday Night Football win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, Brady said Cook needed to clean up his ball security after fumbling twice in that game, giving him four on the season.
That issue gets a much tougher test coming out of Buffalo’s bye week, with the Baltimore Ravens heading to town. Baltimore brings one of the league’s better run defenses into Week 8, and that’s a problem for a Bills offense that likes to set the tone on the ground.
The Ravens are allowing just 96.6 rushing yards per game, which puts them in the top 10 against the run. They’ve already held opponents under 100 rushing yards in four of their six games.
That creates a fascinating matchup against a Buffalo rushing attack that ranks second in the NFL at 148.8 yards per game, trailing only the Chicago Bears at 154.3. It’s the kind of battle that can quietly decide how the game unfolds.
If the Bills can’t establish the run, they may end up asking Josh Allen to do too much through the air. Allen can absolutely create outside the pocket and hurt defenses with his legs, but Baltimore knows that style well because it mirrors the way Lamar Jackson operates when things break down.
That makes Brady’s job straightforward but demanding. Buffalo will need a deliberate plan, one that uses both James Cook and Ty Johnson to get the run game moving early. If the Bills can force the Ravens to crowd the box, then the play-action game can open up and Buffalo can lean into the kind of football it wants to play.
In Other News...
Josh Allen Could Be Headed For A Huge Bills Statement Game
Josh Allen is entering another matchup with the kind of spotlight that tends to follow him when the Bills need a defining offensive performance. The setup is familiar enough: Buffalos game plan leans into his dual-threat ability, and recent form has made him one of the most dangerous red-zone weapons in the league.
There is also a practical edge to the conversation around this one, with the Bills managing protection questions and trying to make the most of their goal-line opportunities. If the blocking holds up, Allen could be in position to put his stamp on the game in a way that changes the tone around Buffalos offense going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Defense Just Got A Much Bigger Week 8 Problem
Week 8 in Buffalo just got a lot more complicated. Baltimore has been waiting for Lamar Jackson to get back on the field, and the Ravens enter the matchup at 4-3 with the kind of offense that can change a game in a hurry when its quarterback is healthy. Before the ankle injury sidelined him for three games, Jackson was piling up production early, throwing for 967 passing yards with six touchdowns and just one interception in his first four outings.
For the Bills defense, the timing matters as much as the opponent. Jesse Minter confirmed Jackson is set to return Sunday against Buffalo, which gives the Ravens a different level of threat than the one the Bills have been preparing for during the last stretch. Facing Baltimore is already a tricky assignment, but now Buffalo has to sort through a quarterback who can stress every level of the defense and do it against a team still very much in the playoff race. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Face A Deadline Problem Despite Their First-Place Start
The Bills are sitting in first place, but the calendar is turning toward the NFL trade deadline with a familiar kind of roster tension. Buffalo has been weighing ways to help its defense, and the shopping list makes the needs fairly clear even without a deal on the table yet. Injuries and some recent performance trends have only added to the urgency, making this a stretch where the front office has to decide whether a modest move is enough or whether staying patient is the better play.
What complicates everything is the cap situation, which leaves Buffalo working with very little room to maneuver. The team can look at help across the defense, but any serious addition will require creativity, patience, and probably a narrower field of options than contenders usually prefer at this time of year. [Read more 🡒]