I think the Bills have what it takes to win it all

The one question I get more than any other in my life - especially at this time of year - is this: “How do you think the Bills are going to do?”

Not, “How are you?” or “How’s the wife and kids?” When people see me at Wegmans, or Dunkin’ Donuts, or pretty much anywhere and they happen to recognize me, all anyone wants to know is, “How are the Bills going to do?”

And that’s fine. I get it. The Bills are hugely popular which is why I have the great job that I have. People want to know everything possible about the team, and I probably qualify as a pretty good source in their minds.

It’s actually kind of funny to me, though, because I know I disappoint everyone with my standard answer: “I have no friggin’ idea!” because who possibly could, right? Just because I’ve covered the team for more than three decades does not mean I can answer that question with any percentage of certainty.

I’m sure I have more insight than most people, but when you get right down to it, the NFL is as competitive a league as there is and the difference between the very best team and the very worst team is far less than you would imagine. It may be overused and cliche, but there’s a lot of truth in the saying, “On any given Sunday.”

When Alabama is playing Utah State in football, or Duke is playing McNeese State or some other cupcake in basketball, you pretty much know who’s winning. But in the NFL, nothing is a given because there are so many variables at play every week.

Let me remind you, after their breakout 2020 season, we all thought the Bills would roll through 2021 and win the Super Bowl. Instead, they were 7-6 in mid-December and actually lost a game to the Jaguars. After they got on a roll and it looked like those early-season Super Bowl expectations were indeed a real possibility … and then, well, we all know what happened in Kansas City.

If I had to guess, I’d say the Bills are going to go 12-5 against a pretty demanding schedule (especially early); they will win the AFC East (because the Dolphins and Patriots just aren’t there yet); they’ll get homefield advantage (12-5 was good enough last year for Tennessee), and they will ultimately win the AFC Championship at Highmark Stadium. As for the Super Bowl, sure, they can win it.

That’s what I would guess, based on the facts available right now. But the problem with making pre-season predictions is that they are general meaningless. Things could look a whole lot different when we start scraping frost off our windshields in November, or, gasp, start shoveling snow in December.

But given this roster, as long it doesn’t incur multiple key injuries - Josh Allen at the very top of that list - the Bills are equipped to finally end their Super Bowl drought. Now they just have to do it.

Here are the key Rams to be watching

∎ DT Aaron Donald. He’s the best defensive player in football and if the Bills offensive line doesn’t execute its plan flawlessly, Donald is capable of wrecking this game.

∎ CB Jalen Ramsey. He’s one of the best cover men in the NFL and it will be interesting to see if he travels with Stefon Diggs or just plays whoever comes to his side because Gabe Davis is a threat, too.

∎ LB Leonard Floyd. With Von Miller now in Buffalo, Floyd is the primary threat rushing off the edge. He had 9.5 sacks last season.

∎ LB Bobby Wagner. The long-time Seahawk signed with the Rams and it’s logical to assume he’ll be revived, especially playing behind Donald.

∎ QB Matthew Stafford. He’s been dealing with a sore elbow but reports are that he’ll be fine. After all those losing seasons in Detroit, he won a Super Bowl in his first season in LA. Last year, 41 of the Rams’ 51 offensive TDs came via the air, highest percentage in the NFL.

∎ RB Darrell Henderson. When these teams played in 2020, he rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown.

∎ WR Cooper Kupp. He’s coming off one of the best seasons in NFL history as he led the league in catches (145) and yards (1,947).

∎ TE Tyler Higbee. He’s a prototypical big-bodied tight end at 6-6 and 255 who caught 61 passes last year, second on the team to Kupp.

∎ WR Allen Robinson. Another free agent signing who came over from Chicago and will provide a big-time alternative to Kupp on the outside.

What they’re saying in the locker room

▶ WR Stefon Diggs on the continuity of the offense: “I think we’re fortunate. I’ve been on teams that I’ve had different quarterbacks, different guys lining up next to me, I got like different moving parts. Having that consistency as far as guys that you trust, guys that you play with, guys that you’ve been in the fire with. We’ve been playing with each other for a while. But it’s a lot of friends out there, friends having fun, and I like it.”

▶ QB Josh Allen on what WR Isaiah McKenzie means to the offense: “He knows his job. Every time we put him in there, he seems like he’s doing the right thing. His explosiveness after the catch as well as creating separation before the catch. There’s really not too many guys in the league that can run with him. He’s going to be a great asset for our offense, and to see him mature over the last few years that he’s been here. He’s my longest tenured receiver, so I’ve got a really good relationship and rapport with him.”

▶ S Micah Hyde on defending Rams WR Cooper Kupp: “He can do it all. Obviously he’s the No. 1 weapon for them. Stafford looks for him at any given time. We’ve seen it on film. He’s a guy that always sticks out. You have to always know where he’s at at any given time. He’s just a threat in the pass game no matter what, but when he gets the ball in his hands, just how he’s able to break tackles. That’s something I kind of clued into even more throughout this whole process.”

Extra points

• This is just the second time in franchise history that the Bills will open the season against the defending Super Bowl champ. The first occurred on Sept. 14, 1969, when the Bills hosted Joe Namath and the New York Jets and lost 33-19. That was the day O.J. Simpson made his pro debut with the Bills in front of a record crowd of 46,165 at War Memorial Stadium. Simpson carried 10 times for 35 yards and scored on an eight-yard run, and he caught two passes for 64 yards. The Bills intercepted three Namath passes, but New York broke a 19-19 tie in the fourth with a pair of TDs, one on a 23-yard interception return by Paul Crane off Jack Kemp.

• The Bills are one of only three teams that have enjoyed three consecutive playoff years winning at least 10 games - Kansas City and Green Bay are the others. Buffalo’s 34 wins since the start of 2019 are third behind the Packers (39) and Chiefs (38).

• Rams coach Sean McVay is 5-0 in his career as Rams head coach in season openers.

• Last year, the Bills ran 54% of their offensive plays in the opponents territory (league average was 46%), and 21% of their plays in the red zone (league average 15%), best in the NFL in both categories.

• The Bills scored 47 red zone TDs, most in the league.

• Bills receivers coach Chad Hall and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford are brothers in law. Stafford is married to Hall’s sister, Kelly.

• Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer coached four seasons for the Rams (2017-20) and his zon, Zak, is currently an offensive assistant for Los Angeles.

• Bills tight end Dawson Knox and Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey were high school teammates at Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy.

Getting to know … S/ST Siran Neal

The first moment you realized that there had been a major communication breakdown on the infamous kickoff with 13 seconds remaining at Arrowhead Stadium was Neal’s reaction as he ran downfield and saw the ball sailing into the end zone.

Clearly, that was not supposed to be what happened. We may never know what was supposed to happen - perhaps someday some of the Bills will come clean about it - but I’m adamant when I say I know exactly what was supposed to happen.

Tyler Bass was supposed to kick the ball to the goal line or thereabouts, and the Bills’ outstanding coverage team - of which Neal is an integral member - was supposed to get down, tackle Byron Pringle, and those 13 seconds would have been cut in half. In all likelihood, that would have been the difference between winning the game, and losing the way the Bills eventually did.

Neal toed the company line when he was asked about it back in February after he signed a new three-year contract potentially worth $9 million, with $3.3 million fully guaranteed, quite a haul for a player who essentially plays only special teams, but also an indication of how valuable the Bills think he is.

“It’s in the past and there’s a lot of things that we can go back and correct or whatever and restructure,” he said. “It’s something we’re not going to get into.”

No one was more disappointed on that particular play than Neal, though. He prides himself on being an elite coverage man and he described what that feeling is like: “On kickoff, we’re like a pack of wild hyenas. That’s how I could describe it. We know what the job is, but us as a unit on that kickoff team, man, it’s just like we’re all hungry.”

He was dying to be the player who would have tackled Pringle, and that was so evident when you saw him on the video looking back and half raising his arms as if to say, “What the hell just happened?”

A new season is upon the Bills, a new challenge confronts the special teams, and Neal is well aware that the type of breakdown that occurred on that horrible night in Kansas City can’t be repeated.

“The reason I don’t say like a pack of lions is because sometimes lions shy away from things; hyenas don’t care,” Neal said. “Like we don’t care who you got. We don’t care about who has the most tackles, we don’t care about who got the most this, that or the third. At the end of every tackle, you see one thing, one guy made the tackle and all the other teammates picking him up, cheering him on, and telling him go make another one.”

Here are a few things to know about Neal:

• He was an offensive star in high school: Neal grew up in Fort Gaines, Georgia and at Eufaula High School, he earned all-state honors in 2011 and 2012 as a wide receiver. When he went to Jacksonville State, the coaches switched him to defense, first as a linebacker and later as a safety.

• He comes from a big family: The son of Glenn Neal and Rhonda Walker has six brothers and one sister, and he’s getting his own family started and has twin daughters. Part of his pre-game ritual is to pray and look at pictures of his daughters.

• Favorite athlete: NBA star LeBron James.

• First jersey: Former NBA star Penny Hardaway.

• First job: Mowing lawns.

• Dream sporting event to attend: NBA Finals.

• Nickname: Bam Bam.

• Favorite food: Soul food.

• Favorite movie: The Wood, which stars Taye Diggs who grew up in Rochester and attended Allendale Columbia and the School of the Arts.

• Favorite book: Mamba Mentality, by Kobe Bryant.

• Favorite TV show: Power.

Blast from the Past: Bills vs. Rams

This will be just the 14th game the Bills have played against the Rams since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, and because the Rams have been a bit of a vagabond franchise - they moved from Los Angeles to Anaheim to St. Louis and then back to Los Angeles - this is only the fourth meeting in the Los Angeles area.

And with the game being played at SoFi Stadium, it will be the third venue where the Rams have hosted Buffalo.

There was a game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1974 won by the Rams 19-14, and one at Anaheim Stadium in 1983, also won by the Rams 41-17. The only time the Bills have beaten the Rams out there was on Oct. 9, 2016, shortly after Rams owner Stan Kroenke jilted St. Louis and relocated his team back to Southern California.

LeSean McCoy led a 30-19 victory at the Coliseum as he had his best game for Buffalo since joining the team in 2015. He rushed for 150 yards on just 18 carries, while unheralded players such as wide receivers Justin Hunter and Marquise Goodwin, running back Mike Gillislee, and cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman made the game-deciding plays.

“I thought we were a better team than that,” said coach Rex Ryan, referring to the Bills 0-2 start which had now been flipped to 3-2. “The Jets game, we just stunk up the joint, especially on defense, and that wasn’t what this team looked like. That was disheartening, but it wasn’t for lack of confidence. I knew we could get the ship righted and right now it looks like we’re going in the right direction.”

Hunter caught a first-quarter TD pass from Tyrod Taylor while Goodwin caught a TD pass with 2:37 left to secure the victory. In between, Gillislee scored on a five-yard run that gave the Bills an early 13-3 lead. And after the Rams had pulled even at 16-16, Robey-Coleman picked off a pass thrown by Case Keenum - who is now Josh Allen’s backup - and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter that put the Bills ahead for good.

“That was a momentum shift in the game,” said Lorenzo Alexander of Robey-Coleman’s play. “He’s a great player. He’s a guy like me; when he gets in there, he makes the most of it.”

It was especially gratifying for Robey-Coleman because he played his college ball in the Coliseum for USC.

“Yeah, that was a good homecoming; today was a good day,” said Robey-Coleman, who in 2017 returned to his roots when he signed as a free agent to play for the Rams. “That play I felt sparked us. It gave our defense some juice, gave our team some juice, and sometimes that what you need to bring everybody together.”

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: I think the Bills have what it takes to win it all