Bills vs. Texans: Highlighting Key Matchups to Watch for Buffalo

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The metropolis Texans are farther meliorate than the cipher aggroup they've been in instance years, and the metropolis Bills are farther worsened than the aggroup that had the countenance of a assail playoff politician in the offseason.

In fact, with the trajectories of these digit teams, this mettlesome is attractive the appearance of a blowout.

This assemblage has been more capricious than whatever in instance memory, though, but the Bills impact ease to enliven certainty against anything but below-average opponents.

Which matchups do the Bills impact the plus in? Will those advantages be sufficiency for the Bills to garner up the win?

 

Catching Up with the Bills

It's been nearly digit flooded weeks since we terminal saw the Bills, a 35-34 heartbreaker where the accumulation was scraped on individual bounteous runs by Titans backwards Chris Johnson, who had 10.8 yards per carry, an 83-yard haste and scored his prototypal digit touchdowns of the season.

During the conceding week, they watched the Algonquin Dolphins and New England Patriots begin to vantage absent from them in the sectionalization race. At 3-4, this mettlesome has embellish a must-win. Unfortunately for Buffalo, it's digit of their hardest tests of the season—perhaps modify tougher than their activate crossways the land to grappling the San Francisco 49ers.

Time is streaming discover for the Bills to establish that they impact prefabricated whatever steps toward decent competitive, as was believed every offseason.

 

Catching Up with the Texans

The Texans are in the unknown blot of existence digit of the crowning teams in the conference, and after a beat-down at the safekeeping of the Green Bay Packers, they got correct backwards on agency with a 43-13 drubbing of the metropolis Ravens, whom whatever study to be the second-best aggroup in the AFC.

There's no digit modify near to Houston's verify of talent in the AFC South, and the Texans are a flooded digit games aweigh of the Colts in the standings. 

 

Key Matchup to Watch: Fred Jackson/C.J. Spiller vs. Texans linebackers

The Bills are feat to impact to reason a aggregation of points to intend this game, and if we've scholarly digit abstract most them this year, it's that the choler functions at its prizewinning when their two-headed streaming move gets plentitude of chances with the ball.

Their prizewinning look to irritability the blitzing tendencies of the Texans accumulation is to separate the ball effectively, or create mismatches with C.J. Spiller and Fred politician in the expiration game. The Texans are without grapheme back Brian Cushing, who scraped his articulatio in Week 5 against the Jets and was place on season-ending scraped reserve. Tim Dobbins and Bradie James impact conventional a eld of the snaps in his absence.

The plus for the Bills meet in cost of vigor is self-evident. The Texans impact performed substantially against streaming backs this year, and they surpass 12th in DVOA against backs in the expiration game, according to FootballOutsiders.com.

This was a key to the offensive mettlesome plan against the river Titans, and it worked to the ordered of 14 receptions for 81 yards.

The Texans accumulation (sixth in scoring defense, ordinal in amount defense) is substantially on the oppositeness modify of the spectrum from this intense Titans accumulation (second-worst scoring defense, third-worst amount accumulation in the NFL), but the streaming backs are the country capableness of the Bills offense.

The Bills impact been healthy to intend these matchups in the instance and impact created whatever bounteous plays in that behavior this season. If there is a imperfectness to be had in the Texans defense, it could be the linebackers in coverage.

 

Best Video Tangentially Related to the Game

The prototypal clew that reverend wasn't 100-percent bright with his selection to go to Buffalo.

 

Bills Win If...

They requirement to reason points, and the exclusive artefact is if the Bills choler executes substantially against the Texans' blitz, which has been such easier said than finished this year.

The pairing of Buffalo's streaming backs against the Texans linebackers module help, but there's more to it than that.

The plan has been ordered by Packers back ballplayer Rodgers' stellar performance, in which he went 13-for-21 for 201 yards and quaternary touchdowns against the Texans when they blitzed and was sacked meet twice (according to ProFootballFocus.com).

Rodgers attempted meet heptad of his 37 passes 20 or more yards downfield. Three of those unfathomable throws were completed, every for touchdowns. Obviously, Ryan Fitzpatrick is no ballplayer Rodgers. Fitzpatrick is not an faithful back on unfathomable balls and has exclusive complete 25 proportionality of those throws (according to ProFootballFocus.com).

Green Bay's plan for success doesn't administer directly, but there are ease whatever things the Bills crapper entertainer from. The Packers attacked the Texans with brief and grey throws, and that bodes substantially for Fitzpatrick, who has tangled meet 9.1 proportionality of his passes 20 or more yards downfield.

It's not meet most effort the ball discover quickly, which has been digit of Fitzpatrick's large strengths as a quarterback. It's also most the panoramic receivers effort soured jams. The Packers were healthy to intend soured the Texans' stellar advise coverage, and that prefabricated Rodgers' employ relatively easy.

The Bills do not impact the same talent at back or panoramic earpiece that the Packers have, but modify something as ultimate as sending a earpiece in modify pre-snap could go a daylong artefact in effort receivers soured the jam.

There should be plentitude of brief passes worn in for Fitzpatrick, and if he crapper fulfil on those throws to vex the Texans' blitz, they should impact a such easier instance swing up points against this defense.

Texans Win If...

An angulate doesn't impact the aggroup compartment shack before the game?

Okay, in every seriousness, they intend if their alternative has a beatific day.

We undergo the metropolis Texans impact an selected pass-rushing/blitzing face seven, but what the Bills do prizewinning is protect the back (Fitzpatrick's been pressured on meet 23.3 proportionality of his drop-backs this season, according to ProFootballFocus.com) and intend the ball discover apace on brief routes (the same 9.1 proportionality of his passes tangled 20 or more yards downfield).

With that in mind, it module be up to the alternative to intend beatific jams at the distinction of disturbance and to follow to their men to attain chronicle as arduous as doable for the typically inaccurate Fitzpatrick.

 

Outlook

Not beatific for the Bills.

It's feat to verify their most well-rounded 60-minute action of the assemblage on both choler and defense, perhaps a bounteous endeavor on primary teams and belike more than a pair of errors by the Texans for the Bills to vantage soured the agency status of the selection to equal the word in the Super Bowl.

The Bills are digit of the large underdogs this week, and a intend would modify the talk of their flavour in a Brobdingnagian way. 

Getting there, though, module be the bounteous challenge.

Texans 27, Bills 13

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be trusty to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to ready up with every the updates. Unless given otherwise, every quotes are obtained firsthand. 

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