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Game 4 preview
Sunday Oct 4, 1:00 PM - Giants at Bills

Giants (1-2) vs Bills (2-1)
Last Sunday the Bills were on the road playing in the Miami Dolphins home opener. It wasn't much fun for the home crowd as the Bills pushed their record to 2-1 with a commanding 41-14 win over the Dolphins.
In a Thursday night game at MetLife Stadium the Giants commanded the field from start to finish with their 32-21 win over the Washington Redskins. They were facing an 0-3 start, but came up strong in all areas.
Giants - Redskins Wrap-Up

Buffalo Bills
So where did he come from? We're not talking about, Rex Ryan the Bills new head coach who replaced Doug Marrone. We know where he came from. We want to know about Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback who has seemingly emerged out of nowhere. Taylor has quarterbacked the Bills for three games, has completed 74.7% of his passes and 7 have gone for touchdowns. If Taylor rolls out of the pocket you have to be careful because he could take off on you. He's run the ball 17 times for 96 yards and 1 touchdown.
Taylor came from the Baltimore Ravens where Joe Flacco is the quarterback and he didn't get much playing time. In his four years there he'd thrown 35 passes with most coming in his second year, Taylor threw just one pass in 2013 and none in 2014. Now this 2011 sixth-round draft choice out of Virginia Tech is the Bills quarterback.
It might not have happened if Rex Ryan didn't become the head coach, but Marrone who brought the team to a 9-6 record for the first time since 2004, used a clause in his coaching contract to opt out with $4 million if ownership changed. Marrone is currently the offensive line coach and assistant to the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ryan got his job after being dismissed from the Jets and he decided Taylor beat out the others during preseason and would be the starter. Kyle Orton quarterbacked the final 12 games of last season and decided to retire after 10 years in the NFL. He had taken over from EJ Manuel after four games. Veteran Matt Cassel was acquired from the Vikings in a trade and looked to be the starter going into the season.
Then strangely, but later found out to be a money move, Cassel was cut by the Bills and then re-signed three days later. Ryan explained that he wanted to carry three quarterbacks all along on the active roster for the regular season and that all three of them 'played pretty darn good in preseason'. Strangely, Cassel took the first snap on offense to open the season in a Wildcat look, technically making him the starting quarterback for that game. Then he was traded to the Cowboys when Tony Romo went down for a 2017 seventh-round draft pick. Welcome to Rex Ryan Buffalo fans and if Rex has finally found a quarterback he can rely on, something that eluded him during his time with the Jets, you could be in the playoffs for the first time since 1999, just as he's promised you.

Buffalo Bills Offense
As we pointed out, Tyrod Taylor could be the real deal, and the Bills have the top rushing offense even with LeSean McCoy struggling with a hamstring issue. McCoy gained just 16 yards on 11 carries last week, and Rookie Karlos Williams actually leads the Bills with 186 yards on the ground and has three rushing touchdowns. Williams has run the ball only 24 times so far, but will have to carry the load this week as McCoy will not play. Taylor has contributed with 17 runs for 96 yards and tends to take off if he can't locate a good target for a pass. For his offensive line, Rex Ryan didn't hesitate to pick up left guard Richie Incognito, who was out of football for a year after the Miami bullying incident, and he is extremely skilled in his role.
Taylor will miss having wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who left the game in the first half last week with a calf injury. They added Percy Harvin to the team in the offseason and Harvin, a former Jets player under Ryan, has been reliable for his quarterback. Harvin's been targeted a team-high 18 times, and pulled in 16 of them for 192 yards and 1 touchdown. Robert Woods should see more action. He only had 10 passes come his way and has caught 9 for 125 yards and 1 touchdown. Free agent tight end Charles Clay has been proving his worth as the second leading receiver with 12 catches for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Buffalo Bills Defense
They currently have the best running defense in the NFL and they know how to pressure quarterbacks with their pass rush. The way they mix things up, they currently have 6 sacks from six different players and last year led all other teams in that area with 54. Their biggest weakness is the amount of passing yardage they give up, about 326 a game, almost the worst average in the league. Of course some of that was affected by their one loss to the Patriots.
Why even try to run the ball into the Bills defensive strength when you have a quarterback like Tom Brady? Brady threw the ball 59 times for 466 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. Conversely, the Patriots ran the ball only 12 times, 15 total if you count Brady's scrambles, which totaled minus 4 yards.
The Bills righted things quite a bit last week with their lopsided win over the Dolphins. Middle linebacker Preston Brown had two of the Bills three interceptions, including a 43-yarder he returned for a touchdown. S
afety Aaron Williams will miss another game and that's not good news for the Bills secondary. Overall though, the Bills have forced three fumbles, have five interceptions and rank 13th in points allowed per game.

Giants offense
The Bills give up passing yards, and you can't run on them. Can the Giants make that work for them? They have before if you have an offensive line that can pick up the blitz and give Eli Manning a shot at some big plays with Odell Beckham Jr. Last week Eli Manning realized that without Victor Cruz playing he would have to rely even more on Rueben Randle and it paid off. Against the Redskins, Randle had seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Whatever they worked on to reestablish their connection, they'll need to do it again because Cruz is still out. It also helps if you have a running back like Shane Vereen who can get past the line and catch passes when Manning needs to get rid of the ball fast. Left tackle Ereck Flowers and tight end Daniel Fells are both listed as questionable and the Giants could really use them going up against Buffalo's defense.

Giants defense
Their two major tasks are to test quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and see if rookie running back Karlos Williams is for real. With LeSean McCoy not being able to produce the way he should when healthy, Williams is currently the leader on the Bills with 186 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Without McCoy in the mix the Giants can focus on Williams who has only 24 NFL rushes to his name. They have only allowed an average of 74.7 rushing yards per game facing the top runners they've played against.
Their bigger problem will be handling a quarterback like Taylor, who's based on the old Michael Vick model with the exception that he's the starting quarterback here with more knowledge, having played backup to Joe Flaco for four years.
Unfortunately for the Giants, d
efensive end Robert Ayers will miss his second straight games due to a hamstring injury and defensive tackle Markus Kuhn will also be out once again. Even if they get a pass rush going, Taylor's elusive and has shown to be careful with the ball under pressure. Covering tight ends is not the Giants strong point. One example - last week Washington's Jordan Reed became their top receiver, so the Giants will have to step up in this area and really watch out for Charles Clay.

Overall
It's hard to win a division title when the New England Patriots are part of your group, and then, though starting off strong, the Bills have already lost one game to them. There's always the wild card option to consider if you casually dismiss the Jets (maybe unfairly) and the Dolphins (probably fairly) and all the rest of the AFC contenders. The team brought back it's reliable defense and has shown an improved offense and Rex Ryan has his hands in the mix on a team that went 9-7 last year. Ryan put out his playoff promise and the Giants are in his way this week.
This will be a tough game for the Giants, but having played their last one on a Thursday, they've had extra time to prepare. Tom Coughlin likes to use the term 'Green Zone' for his team being inside the opponents 20-yard line and it's been a laugh. The Bills have made that term work for them because they've gotten there 6 times this season, and have scored five touchdowns. The Patriots showed one way to beat the Bills, just put it all in the hands of your elite quarterback, and the Giants have one. It's just too bad that Victor Cruz couldn't make it back for Eli Manning this week and that could be the difference.

NFC East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (1-2) at Bills (2-1).
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles(1-2) at Redskins (1-2).
Sunday at 8:30pm Cowboys (2-1) at Saints (0-3).
The Eagles are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games.
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Notes.

Giants Tom Coughlin holds a 7-1 record in the regular season against the AFC East since joining the Giants in 2004.

Giants Victor Cruz will miss his 15th consecutive game.

Bills Tyrod Taylor posted the Bills highest QBR since at least 2006, the first year they tracked that stat.

Bills will meet up with the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Oct 24, then have their bye week.


Next Games
Oct 4 - Giants at Buffalo.
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Oct 11 - 49ers at Giants.
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