A week ago, the Las Vegas Raiders were embarrassed in Foxborough, Massachusetts, by the New England Patriots. They looked nothing like the team that had started 3-1 and came up just short against the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs.
It's clear the Raiders are still nowhere close to being high-end contenders in the AFC, much less the league itself. However, four of their last five games have shown a team that can compete with some of the best, and while Las Vegas wasn’t on their A-game against the Patriots, they could do so at home against the Buffalo Bills.
Bills Remain One of League’s Premier Organizations
The Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s standards and faces, but right behind them are the Bills, who underwent a half-regime change by promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach to guide 2024 league MVP Josh Allen in his prime. Allen is the best quarterback in football and has been for at least the last year and a half, and slowing him down is almost impossible with the combination of rare athleticism, arm talent, and football intelligence.
Can the Raiders slow him down? It can be discouraging to see your two rookie starters at cornerback and safety, respectively, Hezekiah Masses and Treydan Stukes, but the way the defense has been playing sans Week 5 has been impressive, to say the least, and much of the credit goes to defensive coordinator Rob Leonard for the job he’s done.
Buffalo has several ways it can win this game, but one of its downfalls this season has been its passing defense, one of the worst in the NFL through five weeks. The Bills have been in some showdowns this season, and their lack of shutdown defensive play gives the Raiders' offense a chance to rebound from a rough day.
Opportunities Could Be There for the Raiders
One thing I have appreciated about head coach Klint Kubiak this week was his accountability for not putting his team in the best position to succeed, especially for players who didn’t receive enough opportunities as the Raiders got behind quickly against the Patriots.
Tight end Brock Bowers will remain the Raiders' go-to target in the passing game, but the wide receivers must step up in this one. I can’t think of a better opportunity for them than this matchup against Buffalo. The team’s biggest step in their rebuild is showing they can exploit a major opponent’s flaw, and doing that would earn them a convincing win.
I’m not certain Las Vegas will be celebrating a monster triumph at Allegiant Stadium. The goal for arguably the toughest stretch of any team in the NFL over the next seven games is to remain competitive and take advantage of opportunities when they are there, and the Raiders could certainly do that on Sunday.
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