Oakland Raiders: 5 players to watch vs. Buffalo Bills
By John Buhler
The Oakland Raiders will have a tough road matchup on Sunday afternoon versus the Buffalo Bills. Here are five Raiders to watch in this Week 8 game.
With 10 days to get ready, let’s hope the Oakland Raiders will play with great focus in potentially a very tough game on Sunday. Oakland is coming off its best win of the season, knocking off the arch rival Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football in Week 7, 31-30.
However, the Raiders have to travel across the country to play one of the most physical teams in the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff from New Era Field in Orchard Park will be at 10:00 a.m. PT, 1:00 p.m. ET on Oct. 29.
Buffalo is a surprising 4-2 on the season. The Bills are far from a perfect team, but have really seemed to have bought into the new coaching philosophies of Sean McDermott. We haven’t seen a Bills team play with this kind of focus in years. Will Oakland be up for the challenge on an early start time?
The Raiders should have health on their side, but will not have starting running back Marshawn Lynch available for this game due to his one-game suspension stemming from last week’s game. Here are the five Raiders you will need to pay attention to in this game.
. Defensive End. Florida State Seminoles. Mario Edwards Jr.. 5. player. 28
The Bills have some excellent players on their offensive line, including left guard Richie Incognito and center Eric Wood. Buffalo prefers to play solid defense with a strong complementary running game. Look for the Bills to pound the rock on Sunday morning.
One player for the Raiders that will need a big game is defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. Edwards is proving to be worth the high draft pick he merited coming out of Florida State a few years ago with his solid play this season. It’s great to see what he can do now that he’s finally healthy.
Buffalo has a deep and versatile rushing attack. The Bills have one of the best running backs in the game in LeSean McCoy. They also have one of the most mobile signal callers in the league in Tyrod Taylor. When those two are working in unison in the ground game, watch out.
Stopping Buffalo in the running game will be key for a Raiders’ road victory. Edwards has to be a huge part in the Raiders’ quest to win in the trenches on Sunday afternoon. At 4-2, the Bills look very much like a wild card team in the AFC, something this 3-4 Raiders team aspires to be.