For the first time in eight years, the Cowboys travel back to Buffalo to take on the Bills, who recently defeated the reigning champion Chiefs. The Cowboys have a 10-3 record and are on a five-game winning streak, but their road record is just 3-3. Here are the thoughts of the staff writers regarding Sunday’s matchup with the Bills.
Patrik Walker: The Cowboys will face yet another tough test in a week. They are ready to take on the formidable Bills, who are 5-2 at home and possess a lot of firepower, in the tough confines of Highmark Stadium. They are 7-0 at home but 3-3 away from home. Josh Allen has only been sacked 18 times, but he has been pressured on one-third of his snaps. This indicates to me that the Cowboys will be able to get in his zone, but the goal will be to contain him (maybe by spying on him) and take him out, which is not a simple assignment. I do anticipate that both offences will struggle against the predicted rainy but not frigid conditions, although Dallas emerges slightly more spotless than Buffalo.27–21, Cowboys
Nick Eatman: To be clear, I think the Cowboys are a superior football team over the Bills. That’s what the records show. However, I was convinced that the Cowboys needed to win five straight games to go to 10-3 back when Dallas lost to the Eagles. I’m not sure why, but something prevented me from continuing past the Bills game. I just don’t think the Cowboys have a good shot here, especially since Buffalo is playing a little better right now after suffering a terrible loss in Philadelphia and a win at the Chiefs. In addition, the latest weather forecast indicates that it will rain all day. It’s not easy to win in this league, much less maintain that level of performance. I believe the Bills are probably a little more of the hungry team at this point with them fighting for a playoff spot. All of these things don’t look good for me to pick the Cowboys. I’m probably going to regret this, but I’ll go with the Bills 23-20.
Nick Harris: I’m getting less and less confident that the Cowboys offence can continue to maintain its current hot streak as each day goes by and the circumstances surrounding Sunday’s game become more apparent. The offence will need to rely on the running game to handle the load, and the defence will need to contain the running attack by keeping Josh Allen and James Cook out of the Buffalo backfield due to the predicted medium wind gusts and heavy rain. I predict that it will be a physically demanding game, but the Cowboys will fall short, 28–26.
Kyle Youmans: This week’s rain, the weather, and the Bills’ offensive potency have all raised a lot of concerns. And even after witnessing the Cowboys develop and improve throughout the season, I still believe they were made for this exact moment. Error margin and justifications are nonexistent. Whether they’re battling the weather or not, this offence has been the greatest in football, and they’re up against a defence that has had trouble stopping teams that move the ball quickly and down field. Dallas excels at two things. Although there would be a struggle in the beginning, Dallas wins their sixth straight game in the end. Cowboys triumph 41–23 away from home.
Mickey Spagnola: My intuition tells me that the Cowboys defence needs to step up and become the difference-maker if they are to win 24–20, even though both teams have top-ranked offenses—the Cowboys in fourth place and the Bills in fifth. The Cowboys are also the NFL’s highest scoring club, averaging 32.3 points per game. The Cowboys defence needs to keep playing as well as they did in that 33-13 victory over the Eagles. According to DeMarcus Lawrence, this is the “standard” that the defence has to meet in these crucial games. Although they succeeded in doing so against the Eagles, they still need to “show the world” that this is who we are.
