Oakland Raiders: 5 keys to victory vs. Buffalo Bills
By John Buhler
The Oakland Raiders have a tough road matchup in Week 8 versus the Buffalo Bills. Here are the five keys to victory for the Silver and Black on Sunday.
After getting a huge win in Week 7 over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, the Oakland Raiders must now turn their attention to the week ahead. On Sunday morning, the Raiders will have a physical matchup on the road against the surprising Buffalo Bills.
Overlooking the Bills would be a huge mistake for the Raiders. Buffalo may not be the most thrilling watch in all of football, but this is a tough football team that would love to punch the Raiders in the mouth. Buffalo looks to be a wild card contender in the AFC at roughly the halfway point.
Getting a win in Orchard Park would be huge for the Raiders. Buffalo has played well at home in recent years. This might be the best team the Bills have had this century. They are playing very well under new head coach Sean McDermott.
Oakland is a slight underdog in this one. If it were at a neutral site, this game would be a pick ’em. With it being in Orchard Park, the Bills are getting the slight nod. Here are the five keys to victory for the Silver and Black for when they take on the Bills on Sunday.
Play sound on special teams
Though the weather might actually cooperate in this one, special teams is always an important part of football games being played in Western New York. Field goal kicking isn’t easy at New Era Field with there almost always being some degree of wind to overcome.
It is paramount that the Raiders play with poise on special teams. No, this is not the game for Jack Del Rio to give Brad Seely the okay to run a fake punt sweep with Marquette King. Instead, have the Raiders’ stellar punter boot kicks deep into Bills territory to give the Raiders defense a better chance at succeeding.
With Sebastian Janikowski‘s return looming large in Oakland, it did negatively affect kicker Giorgio Tavecchio on Thursday night. He missed two field goals that might have cost the Raiders the game if not for the Michael Crabtree touchdown as time expired. Tavecchio needs to be on point in this game.
With these two AFC teams being evenly matched, maybe the crucial third phase of the game is what ultimately swings it? Oakland cannot muff punts, boot kickoffs out of bounds or have punts blocked in this one. Whichever team has a special teams gaffe on Sunday will likely lose the ball game.