The Buffalo Bills are 2-0, and Sunday’s matchup at Highmark Stadium has all the makings of a statement game. Buffalo hosts the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 27 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, with the Bills looking to stay perfect and the Chargers desperate to avoid an 0-3 start.
A tale of two quarterbacks
Josh Allen is playing like the early MVP favorite. Through two games he has thrown for 9.7 yards per attempt with the league’s third-highest EPA per play, piling up nine combined touchdowns without a single interception. The Bills have scored a touchdown on a league-high 15.9 percent of their possessions.
Justin Herbert is at the other end of the spectrum. He ranks 28th in EPA per play and has found the end zone just once through two weeks. The Chargers have scored a touchdown on a mere 7.7 percent of their possessions, and injuries along the offensive line have left the whole unit out of sync.
Why Buffalo should roll
The Chargers opened the season with home losses to the Cardinals and Raiders, and now they fly cross-country for a 1 p.m. Eastern kickoff — a 10 a.m. body-clock start inside the brand-new Highmark Stadium, where the Bills christened the building with a 41-31 win over the Lions in Week 2. Oddsmakers have Buffalo as a 7-point favorite, and the models agree, giving the Bills roughly a two-in-three chance of winning.
The one caution: Buffalo’s defense still has questions to answer after surrendering 31 points to Detroit. If Herbert and the Chargers’ offense finally click, this could turn into a shootout. But nothing about the first two weeks suggests that turnaround starts in Orchard Park.
Prediction: Bills 31, Chargers 20. Allen keeps the MVP campaign rolling, Buffalo covers, and the Bills head into October a perfect 3-0.