The Bills are riding a two-game win streak heading into Week 8's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams lead their divisions.
Here are five storylines to get you ready for Sunday.
👍1. Josh Allen vs NFC
Bills quarterback Josh Allen has fared well against NFC opponents throughout his NFL career. Allen has 21 wins and only six losses in his 27 games against the NFC (.778 win percentage).
In those contests, Allen has totaled 76 touchdowns (53 passing touchdowns, 22 rushing), 583 completions for 6,651 passing yards and has a 95.7 passer rating. The QB has averaged 2.8 total touchdowns per game against NFC teams.
Allen has won 11 out of the last 13 games against the NFC. He currently has a two-game win streak going against the conference.
The QB has faced the Seahawks only once in his career. Buffalo hosted Seattle in Week 9 of the 2020 season and beat the Seahawks 44-34. Allen had a game to remember completing 31 of 38 (81.6%) pass attempts for 415 passing yards and threw for three touchdowns. He finished with a 138.5 passer rating and also had one rushing touchdown.
⚕️2. DK Metcalf injury update
The Seahawks have the best passing offense in the NFL averaging 270.9 passing yards per game. Quarterback Geno Smith has a bevy of wide receivers to throw to with one of them being wide receiver DK Metcalf. Metcalf has the third most receiving yards in the league with 568.
Metcalf was carted off the field during last week's game against the Falcons. That leaves his status up in the air for Sunday. According to head coach Mike Macdonald, Metcalf suffered an MCL sprain.
"I think it's a minor MCL (sprain)," Macdonald told reporters on Monday. "Timeline, not sure. Doesn't look like it's a long-term injury. We know DK's probably going to do anything humanly possible to be able to play in this game, I would imagine. We will assess it as the week kind of unfolds here."
Metcalf is known to play through injuries and has only missed two games in his six-year career.
If Metcalf is unable to go, Seattle still has two other receivers with more than 300 yards in Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett. They're second in the NFL this season with 976 yards after catch, and it's been a group effort to move the ball.
"We got a deep crew so, Jake (Bobo) stepped in yesterday after DK went down," Macdonald said. "And the way that we build (it), all three guys can kind of play all three spots so you can mix and match…there's lots of options that are at our disposal that are in the system. So, if we didn't have him, you're never going to fill the shoes of a DK Metcalf, but you can kind of work around it in certain ways."
🙌3. How the Bills build off Amari Cooper's first game
Unlike last week, new Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper will have a full week to prepare for Sunday's game against Seattle. Cooper had the second-most receiving yards (66) and a touchdown in his first game as a Bill.
"(He) made some huge plays in the second half," offensive coordinator Joe Brady said of Cooper. "And obviously you can see the impact it kind of has on the offense."
With Cooper in the lineup, other receivers had successful performances as well. Rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman had a career-high game when it comes to receiving yards with 125. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir caught all seven of his targets for 65 receiving yards.
Now that Cooper has one game under his belt, the coaching staff wants to focus on building off that performance.
"We got to be able to find ways to interject him in a run game and find ways to just get him moving around different personnel groupings," Brady said. "…it's more of just kind of learning the game plans right now, as opposed to trying to learn an offense."
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes Cooper will help diversify the offense as a whole
"I think number one you have a person you can put by himself," Orlovsky told One Bills Live. "…the different ways you can just close your eyes and imagine where it's Cooper and Shakir on the same side and then it's Cooper and Kincaid on the same side…I do believe he's a chess piece that they can move around for information in matchups."
💨4. Turning halftime adjustments into fast starts
The Bills have been solid when it comes to making adjustments at the half. In two of their five wins this season, Buffalo has been trailing heading into the third quarter.
The Bills were down by seven against Arizona (Week 1) at the half and were trailing by three against Tennessee (Week 7) entering the third quarter. In both games, Buffalo made key adjustments at halftime that allowed them to finish with victories.
Against the Titans, Buffalo's defense allowed 10 points and 217 total yards in the first half. In the second half, they allowed only 72 yards and zero points.
The Bills have been firing on both sides of the ball in the second half so far this season. In fact, the Bills are outscoring opponents 52-20 in the third quarter through seven weeks of play.
While it's great that the Bills have been able to turn it around in the third and fourth quarter, the team is ready to turn the adjustments into fast starts.
"Honestly, I'm kind of sick about talking about the strong second half," defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said. "They've done a great job in the second half. We just need to come out firing…you go to this game (against Tennessee), we come out with a four out…I believe it was the next two series, second, third series, they moved the ball a little bit and we have to maintain that same energy and focus that we had on the first series as we do those next two."
Babich is happy with the way the defense is grasping what the offense is doing at halftime but wants that to start sooner. It's not just on defense either, head coach Sean McDermott wants to see it from all three phases.
"I think just execute, comes down to execution," McDermott said. "And as you saw against Tennessee, some fundamentals and then not beating ourselves with pre-snap penalties. So, I give all the opponents credit, but there's also an element for us of just execution more than anything."
In terms of overall execution, the Bills rank fifth averaging 28.4 points per game. On defense, they're allowing the fifth-least points per game (19.4).
🐐5. Tom Brady on the call
Sunday's game against the Seahawks marks the first time seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady will be on the call for a Bills game.
Brady will be alongside play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt, sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi and rules analyst Dean Blandino. Sunday's game is one of Buffalo's two Fox games this season.
The five-time Super Bowl MVP is a known supporter of quarterback Josh Allen's play. Brady appeared on the DeepCut Podcast in April and gave Allen some praise. The former QB was asked on the podcast to pick the next quarterback to win a Super Bowl who hasn't won yet.
"I pick Josh," Brady told the DeepCut Podcast. "I like Josh a lot as a guy, a leader. But, he's got to get past the Chiefs and that's hard because Patrick (Mahomes) is incredible in the way he leads that team."
