The Buffalo Bills face off against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6. This matchup between the 4-1 Bills and the 3-2 Raiders gets a prime spot in the late Sunday window as one of the best games of the week. These two original AFC franchises haven't played a game with meaningful stakes for both teams since the 1993 “Just Freeze Baby” Divisional Round game. Now, as both sides come into this game with winning records, let's make some bold Bills-Raiders predictions.
Start your Raiders in fantasy football
The Bills are their own worst enemy so far this season, as they love to gift their opponents chances to stay in the game. Whether it is shockingly cavalier Josh Allen interceptions, infuriating James Cook fumbles, or the fact that the defense (outside of Deone Walker and Gregory Rousseau) looks like it has no clue what it is doing right now, Buffalo loves keeping the other team in the game.
Sunday will be no different, as fans should expect at least two turnovers from the Bills' offense and long stretches where the Raiders' O looks like the 2007 New England Patriots.
That means big games from the Raiders' defense, Kirk Cousins, Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, and maybe even the likes of Mike Washington Jr., Michael Mayer, and Tre Tucker. So, for all you fantasy football players out there, any Raiders on your roster should be a good play in Week 6.
Josh Allen delivers again
Despite the mediocre (or worse) play at times from the Bills' offensive line, wide receivers, tight end, and running backs, and defensive back seven, the Bills are 4-1 and leading the AFC East thanks to one man: Brandon Beane.
Just kidding! He's the reason the rest of the team is struggling so much. The real reason is Josh Allen.
Through five weeks, Allen is still the betting favorite for NFL MVP this year. Yes, Brock Bowers is playing great, and Patrick Mahomes is back, but if you define MVP as the players whose absence would tank his team's chances the most, Allen has to be the answer.
Monday night's dramatic OT win over the preseason Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams came courtesy of 210 yards passing and a staggering 121 yards rushing from the Bills QB. Sure, he threw his obligatory head-scratching pick in the first half, but in the second, it was a one-man battle with 53 Rams players, and the singular man won.
Against the Raiders, expect more of the same. Vegas has an improved defense this season and an incredible pass rusher in Maxx Crosby, but that only means Allen will be forced to take off even more as usual. And with his receivers getting minimal separation and Cook's suspect ball security, it will be all Allen, all the time in Week 6.
Article Continues BelowBills 31, Raiders 24
This won't be a cakewalk for the Bills by any means, as the Raiders are one of (if not) the most improved teams in the league. We know Cousins is a professional QB, the Raiders have some incredible young offensive weapons, and Klint Kubiak seems like a legit NFL head coach with an incredibly bright future.
Allen doesn't have those last two things, as his skill position core is the exact same as last year, as long as D.J. Moore is out injured and his “new” head coach is just the same offensive coordinator who couldn't get it done the past three seasons, but with a more impressive title.
Nevertheless, Allen should be able to will his Bills to victory over the Raiders in Week 6 just by sheer force of talent and will. As good as Las Vegas has looked at times this season, they are probably a year or two away from being legit contenders. That's why we'll take the Buffalo to win here, and to do so by slightly more than the -5.5-point spread suggests.