Given all of Rex Ryan's bluster and the major additions the Buffalo Bills made to their roster in free agency, this lackluster season has to be considered a disappointment. But at least they're not the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys were considered Super Bowl contenders at the start of the season and are now just playing out the string. Injuries, most notably Tony Romo's two broken collarbones, were their greatest undoing.
The 4-10 Cowboys have only won one game in Romo's absence and will be starting their fourth different quarterback of the season Sunday. Former Boise State star and fourth-year backup Kellen Moore, who took the reins from Matt Cassel last week, went 15 of 25 for 158 yards and threw three interceptions in Dallas' loss to the New York Jets.
Buffalo's pass defense was atrocious against Washington last week, allowing Kirk Cousins to throw for 319 yards and four touchdown passes. But it doesn't appear as if the Cowboys will be in position to take advantage of any weak points in the Bills' secondary; they're currently ranked 29th in the league in passing.
Though the Bills' defense received a lot of hype heading into the year, the play of quarterback Tyrod Taylor may be their biggest story of the season. Taylor, who never started a game in his career before 2015, has posted an average QB rating of 100.3 since Oct. 11.
One of the biggest reason for the recent success of the Bills' passing game has been the re-emergence of Sammy Watkins, who's rebounded after a sluggish start to the year. Watkins has reeled in six touchdown catches over his last four games and recorded 100 or more receiving yards in three of those contests.
Instead of playing for a playoff berth like some expected, Buffalo will try to reach the .500 mark before the season concludes. Only one picker at both ESPN and CBS Sports is taking the Cowboys, while all eight of our experts at SB Nation expect the Bills to win.
Week 16 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
DAL vs BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF | BUF |