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Bills looking to build off recent success with 'explosive' & 'aggressive' Cowboys coming to town riding five-game win streak

Dec 13, 2023 at 03:53 PM

Patrick Warren

Contributing Correspondent

One week after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills will now host the highest scoring team in the league when the Dallas Cowboys come to Highmark Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The Cowboys lead the NFL in points per game with 32.4. That number has ballooned during Dallas' current five-game win streak, a sizzling 40.2 points per game. With an NFL-leading 28 touchdown passes and just six interceptions, quarterback Dak Prescott is on track to have his best season as a pro and is the odds-on favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award.

"They have a lot of explosive players and the quarterback does a good job making the right passes," said nickel cornerback Taron Johnson after Wednesday's walk-through.

According to The Ringer’s Benjamin Solak, Prescott has generated a 20+ yard play on over 11 percent of his dropbacks across the last 10 games, something Solak attributed to Prescott's elite ability to scramble and manage the pocket.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has been Prescott's favorite target this season, amassing over 1,250 yards, 96 receptions and eight touchdowns this season – ranking in the top three in each category.

Johnson, who was limited in today's practice with an ankle injury, will likely be tasked with defending Lamb, should he be healthy enough to play.

Lamb has had six games with over 100 receiving yards, including three games with over 150 receiving yards. He has scored a touchdown in each of the Cowboy's last five games. In each of the Cowboy's three losses this season, Lamb has failed to get in the end zone.

"He's a really good route runner. Great at the point of attack, especially when it comes to catching the ball and then breaking tackles, the yards after catch," Johnson said, adding that the Buffalo secondary must "make sure even if he catches the ball, just doing a great job tackling and having the safeties have an eye on him and making sure that they know where he is at all times."

The Bills defense stood strong against the Chiefs in what could have been a devastating game-winning drive from the Kansas City offense. Strong coverage from the Buffalo secondary allowed the pass rush to interrupt Mahomes three straight times to seal the victory for the Bills.

The defensive stand comes two weeks after the Eagles offense executed a touchdown drive to win the game in overtime. The Bills coaching staff made a point to practice that exact situation leading up to the Chiefs game.

"Coach said most likely we will be in that situation to win the game, and it's crazy that is actually how it played out," said cornerback Rasul Douglas. "Just to actually do it shows you that it can be done, something to build off of."

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On the other side of the ball, the Bills offense will be facing one of the best pass rushers in the country in Micah Parsons. The former Penn State star is one of the most versatile defenders in the league with an elite ability to take down the quarterback combined with solid skills in pass coverage.

"He's a great player," said Connor McGovern, who played with Parsons at both Penn State and in Dallas. "Just down to the tiny details. Every day he works on hand fighting and stuff like that, there's boxing, just little stuff like that that people don't see."

Parsons and the rest of the Cowboys pass rush will be a top priority for an offensive line that has been effective at protecting quarterback Josh Allen. Out of quarterbacks who have started all their team's games this season, Allen and Mahomes are tied for the fewest sacks allowed with 18.

"I think a lot of it comes down to him avoiding when we mess up. His ability to scramble is second to none in the NFL," said center Mitch Morse. "Along with that, I think just being on the same page as an offensive line and running backs, taking pride in our technique and understanding that we're always a work in progress."

With a 9 percent sack rate (fourth in NFL) and 45 percent pressure rate (first in NFL), the Cowboys have been getting to the quarterback at a high rate all season.

"Their d-line is really damn good, they fly around and they have some guys that just absolutely wreak havoc," Allen said. "So we're going to have our hands full in our protection meeting tomorrow and need to make sure we know where [Parsons] is at all times, but he's not the only guy on their d-line that can go."

The Dallas secondary is yet another reason the Bills offensive staff might spend extra time in the film room this week. Cornerback DaRon Bland set an NFL record with five pick-sixes this season, adding three additional interceptions that were not returned for touchdowns.

Allen brought Bland's impressive interception rate in his press conference Wednesday. The Bills QB will look to end his streak of 9 straight games with an INT.

"They are very aggressive; they like to jump things and they play really good with each other," Allen said. "I got to make sure that I'm not scripting my passes and making sure I'm switching my eyes up and my feet up so they're not able to jump some of our routes."

Going global

The NFL announced today that the clubs voted to approve an increase in the league-operated international game inventory from four to up to eight games per season beginning in 2025. New markets and host cities will be announced at later dates as the league looks to attract a global audience.

The league also announced that São Paulo, Brazil will host the first-ever NFL game in South America in 2024. Additionally, there will be three games played in London and one in Germany.

No club will be required to play more than one regular season game outside of North America in the same season unless they specifically choose to do so, according to an updated resolution approved by NFL ownership.

Each club will also be permitted to select two of their regular season opponents that will not be eligible to be scheduled as their opponent in an international game.

Injury report

Per the Buffalo Bills injury report, defensive end A.J. Epenesa (rip), safety Micah Hyde (neck stinger) and edge rusher Von Miller (veteran rest day) did not participate in Wednesday's walk-through. Cornerback Taron Johnson (ankle) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (thumb/shoulder) were limited.

The team also opened up the 21-day practice window for rookie WR Justin Shorter who has been on IR since Aug. 30 (hamstring).