Las Vegas Raiders vs. Buffalo Bills injury update, scouting report and predictions
Raiders-Bills at a glance
Kickoff: 1:25 p.m. PDT Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
Fresno TV/radio: KGPE-47.1/KFIG & KFPT (940 AM & 790 AM)
Records: Raiders 2-1; Bills 3-0
Line: Bills by -3.5
The matchup
At least through two quarters against the New England Patriots, it still was looking hopeful for the Las Vegas Raiders. They headed into halftime trailing just 13-10.
Then the third quarter happened.
New England outscored Las Vegas 10-0 en route to a 36-20 victory in Week 3 of the NFL season. The Raiders’ tackling issues led to the downfall. It shows on the team’s statistics this year.
The Raiders are ranked 24th against the pass and the run.
“No. 1, we obviously missed some tackles,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “When you miss tackles, that’s a hard thing. It’s hard, the yards add up. That was No. 1. Number 2, we had some guys out of their gaps. We lined up wrong one time and we had a couple of times where we didn’t get in our gaps appropriately on blitzes. And when you make mistakes in a one-gap defense and you miss a few tackles, yardage can add up, and that’s what happened (Sunday).”
Raiders linebacker Cory Littleton has struggled through the first three weeks. Pro Football Focus has him with an overall grade of 29.8, ranking him 133rd at that position.
“The only thing I can is do what is coached to me and try to put on the best performance I can,” Littleton said. “So far, it hasn’t been great. Hopefully, get back on track and be the best player I want to be.”
The Raiders are hoping Littleton and Maliek Collins can get going to help the defense, and they probably need to if they are to pick up a win against the red-hot Buffalo Bills.
Gruden noted he had a meeting with Collins and believes “he’s trying to do too much right now.”
“Maliek Collins can play better and he will play better,” he said.
On offense, the Raiders will be without Bryan Edwards (foot/ankle) and quite possibly fellow rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (knee/hamstring), who is listed as doubtful.
Veterans Nelson Agholor and Zay Jones are expected to start.
For Jones, it is a revenge game after playing for the Bills from 2017 to 2019; he was traded midway through last season.
“I definitely have seen an excitement,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said of Jones going up against his former teammates. “He has a lot of friends that played there and any time as a competitor you get traded or you get released, you obviously want to play well against your former team.”
Agholor said he’s going to “pick his brain” about the Bills’ secondary.
The Bills come into the game with plenty of momentum, led by quarterback Josh Allen who was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September.
Allen has thrown for 10 touchdowns against one interception and has two touchdown runs.
Despite the Raiders’ dreadful defense through the season’s early stretch, Allen did hand the unit some praise.
“Very athletic players, especially on the back end,” Allen said. “They’ve got guys that can fly around. They’re going to come up and they’ll pop you, so we’ve got to be prepared for that. Obviously, they’ve got the two second-year guys in (Clelin) Ferrell and Mad Maxx (Crosby). They’re two guys who get to the passer pretty early and often, I’ll say.”
The Bills’ offense ranks fourth in the NFL and the defense is 21st.
Injury report
Las Vegas Raiders - OUT: CB Damon Arnette (wrist/thumb), WR Bryan Edwards (foot/ankle), DT Daniel Ross (foot). DOUBTFUL: T Trent Brown (calf), WR Henry Ruggs III (knee/hamstring), WR RIco Gafford (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: S Johnathan Abram (shoulder/thumb), LB Nick Kwiatkoski (pectoral), CB Amik Robertson (illness).
Buffalo Bills - OUT: LB Del’Shawn Phillips (quad). QUESTIONABLE: RB Zack Moss (toe), DE Mario Addison (knee).
The Bee’s prediction
Despite not having Ruggs III and Edwards, the Raiders’ offense should continue to do well and put up points.
The biggest question is the defense. The Raiders have given up 90 points through the first three weeks.
Unless the Raiders change that trend against Allen and the Bills, it could be another long day.
Prediction: Bills 32, Raiders 28
National picks
Five of the six Sports Illustrated “Monday Morning Quarterbacks” experts are siding with the Bills.
Out of the eight CBS experts, only two picked the Raiders.
Eight of the 10 ESPN experts went with the Bills.
NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal, who went 8-7-1 last week with his predictions, thinks the Bills win 30-24.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Las Vegas Raiders vs. Buffalo Bills injury update, scouting report and predictions."
