Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Yet here the Bills are, sitting pretty with a 6-2 record and miles ahead in the AFC East thanks to the struggles of the Dolphins and Jets. Yeah, it has been quite a start for the Bills.’

‘Tagovailoa has faced Buffalo eight times, he has won just once (and barely at that in Week 3 of 2022), and in those games he has completed just 61.8% of his passes, has averaged just 200 yards per game and 6.78 per attempt, his TD-to-pick rate is terrible at seven to 10, and most importantly, he has suffered two concussions.’

‘The Dolphins are a middling run defense as they rank 16th in the league with an average yield of 123.7 yards per game. They have already lost outstanding edge rusher Jaelen Phillips for the season, and in their somewhat stunning final play 28-27 loss to Arizona Sunday, star safety Jevon Holland, always a hammer against the run, left the game with a knee injury.’

‘And who knows how much more lopsided it would have been had the Bills not committed so many penalties, several of which wiped out nice offensive plays, prompting McDermott to add, “Definitely things, again, that we have to improve on – pre-snap penalties and the penalties overall, and then just some decision-making.”’

‘The Bills were ready to play, another check in the positive column for the coaches, but the penalties are a problem. Two weeks ago in the win over the Jets the Bills committed 11 for 94 yards, and in this one they had 13 for 85 yards. They managed to win both those games, but that’s not always going to be the case.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 30, Seahawks 24.’

‘Play-by-play: Kevin Burkhardt. Analyst: Tom Brady. Sideline reporter: Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi.’

‘Coach Sean McDermott announced Friday morning that Bernard, wide receiver Curtis Samuel, and defensive tackle DeWayne Carter will not be able to play. And Carter is going on the injured reserve list due to a broken wrist, so he will now have to miss at least the next four games.’

‘They have won the turnover battle five times and they won four, the only loss coming in Houston. They were even in turnovers in their victory over Arizona and their loss to Baltimore, and for the season they are an NFL-best plus-10 in turnover margin as they have just two lost fumbles while they’ve made seven interceptions and recovered five opponent fumbles.’

‘For as exciting as it is for the Bills to have injected Amari Cooper into the offense, the reality is this: He’s the present, but he’s probably not the future because it doesn’t seem like the Bills would be looking to pay him a sizable chunk of change in free agency before 2025. Coleman, the 2024 second-round pick, is the future, a future that looked a whole lot brighter Sunday.

‘With Geno Smith firing on all cylinders this season, the Seahawks have the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL at 271 yards per game, so it’s no secret what they will try to do against Buffalo. However, while the Bills rank just 17th against the pass, they have a top-flight trio of cornerbacks in Taron Johnson, Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas. How the Seahawks fare with apparently only two of their threesome of wide receivers – DK Metcalf is expected to miss the game with a knee injury, leaving Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba – might determine the outcome.’

‘The first hour or so of their eventual 34-10 runaway victory over the Tennessee Titans Sunday was a complete mess as their defense buckled to Mason Rudolph’s methodical but efficient ways, and Josh Allen and the offense was woefully out of sync with three consecutive three-and outs.’

‘I didn’t like that for the second time at home, the Bills came out completely flat and looked ill-prepared to play. Against Arizona in Week 1 they fell behind 17-3 before rallying, and Sunday the deficit was 10-0 before they woke up. Sean McDermott acknowledged that he has to get that figured out.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 27, Titans 13.’

‘Play-by-play: Andrew Catalon. Analyst: Tiki Barker, Jason McCourty. Sideline reporter: AJ Ross.’