Bills vs. Raiders Week 4 Preview

Quick-Hitters

• A 36-20 loss to the New England Patriots brought the Las Vegas Raiders record to 2-1 on the campaign.

• Josh Allen has led the Buffalo Bills to a 3-0 record. The young quarterback has logged at least 31 passing yards in all three contests.

• Buffalo (-170) is favored by 3 points over Vegas (+145) with the over/under set at 52.5 total points. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE GAME ODDS!
  

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Carr's Impressive Start

With a win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, Jon Gruden and the Las Vegas Raiders started to turn some heads after beginning the year 2-0. Of course, a 36-20 loss to the New England Patriots last week brought Vegas back down to earth. With games against the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the next two weeks, the Raiders have a chance to prove that they need to be taken seriously.

Offensively, the Raiders have been impressive when they’ve avoided turnovers. Three giveaways last week against New England was the team’s downfall. However, Derek Carr has six touchdown passes and no interceptions through his first three games. Carr has been even more impressive when you factor in that the Raiders still aren’t getting much from their two rookie wide receivers. On the bright side, Josh Jacobs is giving them a steady rushing attack, which has helped Carr.

Gruden’s defense still needs a lot of work. The Raiders are giving up 30.0 points per game and couldn’t even keep the Carolina Panthers offense under wraps in Week 1. Vegas gave up plenty through the air in the first two weeks of the season only to be shredded by New England’s rushing attack last week. With just three sacks in three games, the Raiders aren’t doing enough to win in the trenches and put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

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Incredible Quarterback Growth

The Bills are one of the more surprising 3-0 teams in the NFL. Playing the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in the first two weeks helped. Plus, Buffalo has only won by three points in back-to-back weeks. That includes a wild game against the Los Angeles Rams last week when they let a 28-3 lead slip away only to respond with a last-minute touchdown to win 35-32 and keep their undefeated record intact.

Through the first three weeks, there may be no player in the league who has been more of a revelation that Josh Allen. He’s thrown for at least 311 yards in each game while compiling 10 touchdown passes to just one interception. His career accuracy before the season was well under 60.0 percent, but has jumped to 71.1 percent early this season. He’s also causing trouble with his legs, which has helped make up for a lackluster Buffalo rushing attack.

On the other hand, the Buffalo defense hasn't been as good as advertised. They dominated the Jets in Week 1 only to concede 28 points to the Dolphins and 32 points to the Rams in the last two weeks. In fact, both of those teams compiled over 400 yards of offense against the Bills. In fairness, Buffalo played with the lead for large stretches in those games, but based on their play last season, one would expect the Buffalo defense to do a better job of holding onto comfortable leads.

Recording Stops

It could be the Las Vegas defense that decides this game. The Raiders have done little this season to indicate that they’ll be able to slow down Allen and the Buffalo passing attack. If the Vegas defense can’t prove otherwise, the Raiders may have to abandon the run and put everything on Carr’s shoulders, which could lead to a shootout, but one that they could struggle to win if they don’t get a few stops from their defense.