By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The battle for Lake Erie supremacy will ensue this weekend in Cleveland as the Buffalo Bills (6-2) head south to face the Browns (2-6).
Here are seven storylines to watch for as the battle unfolds in Week 10:
Josh vs. Baker
Another 2018 NFL draft class QB matchup awaits us in Week 10. The Bills and Browns have met in the preseason, but that doesn’t count. This is the first time that Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield will square off in the regular season so, who wins it?
The Browns are struggling this year and it’s easy to see that Mayfield is playing a part there. After 14 games in his rookie season, Mayfield had 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. This year he’s at a 7-12 ratio there.
Allen currently sits at a 10-7 ratio plus four rushing scores. Allen’s also had his problems with fumbles too, so it isn’t all roses. There’s one thing each fan base will point to when arguing who’s better.
First, Allen, who does have a better completion percent at 60.9 this year to Mayfield’s 58.7, has a 6-2 record, while Mayfield has typically been asked to do more as a passer so far in his career.
Let’s see who takes Round 1.
Bonus: How much does Allen get to pass in this one? He only attempted 20 throws last week.
A better win?
The underlying storyline of the Bills season thus far is their “types” of wins. Many criticize Buffalo’s strength of schedule and claim the team is only 6-2 because its been an easy path, including teams such as the Jets, Dolphins and last week’s Redskins. But would a win against the Browns quell that narrative for at least a week?
Cleveland sits at a lowly 2-6 record. But they need this win a lot more than the Bills do. They should be in desperation mode. Plus, there’s a reason many had high hopes for this squad. On paper, they’re pretty damn good with Mayfield, Odell Beckham, Olivier Vernon, Denzel Ward, and Myles Garrett.
And look no further than Vegas, who have the Bills as slight underdogs entering this one.
So if the Bills do win soundly against such a team, that could start to kill the narrative that Buffalo only beats up on bums, even with Cleveland’s record.
Capitalize on fans
Can the Bills capitalize on the Cleveland fan base?
The Dawg Pound hasn’t had much to cheer about this year at home or recently. The Browns are on a four-game losing skid and have lost all three of their home games this season.
While the Bills let the Redskins hang around last week, they did get out to a 17-3 lead. If that happens at home for the Browns once again, Buffalo could actually put this one away early if the boo birds start flying at the hometown team.
Expect to see a paper bag or a sign or two in the crowd expressing some frustrations as a hot start could help the Bills a lot this week.
Short-yardage offense improvement?
Woof did the Bills look bad in short-yardage situations last week or what? It’s infuriating for fans during the video game era to see a team do it.
Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll didn’t dial up many creative calls in short-yardage situations against the Redskins in Week 9. He preferred to put a bunch of big bodies in front of another big body via running back Frank Gore and run it forward. Essentially he was telegraphing things and the Redskins stopped them most of the time.
Buffalo’s red zone offense has actually performed at a good click this season, but last week was just plain ugly and a little frustrating. Even when the Bills scored on the goal line, they did so running it up the middle four times. It took all four attempts.
Devin Singletary continue?
Last week’s win against the Redskins was Devin Singletary’s day. The rookie finally got the workload over veteran Frank Gore in Buffalo’s backfield. He gathered 140 yards of offense on his impressive outing.
By comparison, Singletary had 20 carries for 95 compared to Frank Gore’s 11 for 15 yards. Many of Gore’s touches were in short-yardage moments and as mentioned, Buffalo wasn’t very successful there.
Simple question, will that continue this week?
For what it’s worth, Cleveland’s run defense is No. 30 in the NFL, allowing 141.2 yards per game. That could be the ticket to a win.
Run defense fixed up?
The Bills signed defensive lineman Corey Liuget this week to hopefully help shore thing sup in the middle of the Bills’ defensive line. But it’s going to need to be a total-defensive effort to fix their run defense. Overall the Bills are the third-best defense in the NFL, trailing only the 49ers and Patriots, but against the run, the Bills are No. 19.
Two weeks ago, the Eagles put a 218-yard spot on the Bills. Last week the lowly Redskins even had a 100-yard rusher… in the first half… via Adrian Peterson. That cannot be a weekly thing.
The Browns now have a great one-two punch coming at the Bills. Nick Chubb has averaged 5.2 yards per carry already this season while Kareem Hunt returns from suspension and head coach Freddie Kitchens already said his Cleveland offense will include Hunt.
Good time to improve against the run would be… now.
Jarvis Landry revenge game?
Remember this from a year ago? Cleveland wideout Jarvis Landry laid an ugly block on then-rookie Taron Johnson of the Bills. For basically his entire two-year career, Johnson has battled injury, starting right here.
The Bills were very unhappy with what happened when this took place during the 2018 preseason. Any fireworks from it in Week 10?