The Houston Texans are coming into Buffalo as a fine tuned machine on offense.  If it is indeed windy in Buffalo then the Texans will keep the passing game to the short stuff and run the ball with Steve Slaton.  Slaton is not having a good season but the Bills’ D has given up 172.4 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry so he should have his best game of the year.  With Andre Johnson gimpy for this game if he plays, look for Matt Schaub to focus on getting the football to Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter and Steve Slaton out of the backfield.  Schaub had better be careful though as the Bills have 13 interceptions already this season.

The Bills will likely come out running the ball with Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in an attempt to hog the football.  The Texans are allowing 115.6 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry so the Bills should have some success on the ground.  While Ryan Fitzpatrick has been getting the ball to Lee Evans he is far from perfect hitting only 44.7% of his passes this season.  If it is windy in Buffalo I just don’t see the Bills putting the ball up much as Fitzgerald’s arm is very weak.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 20, BILLS 17

With Trent Edwards under center he was mostly throwing short passes to the TEs and the RBs.  I don’t blame him really as he didn’t have much time to throw the ball as he has been sacked 19 times this year.  Ryan Fitzpatrick has a lot more mobility than Edwards does and that buys him the time to get the ball downfield to the WRs.  Lee Evans seems to have benefitted the most out of having Fitzpatrick under center.  He has now caught 21 passes for 302 yards (14.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs this season.  Evans leads the Bills in catches, receiving yards and receiving TDs this season.  Pretty soon though teams will likely start doubling him and leaving Terrell Owens in single coverage so we will see how well Evans adjusts to that.

23-year old rookie CB/S Jairus Byrd has been outstanding for the Bills so far this season.  With a rash of injuries to the secondary the Bills needed someone to step up and Byrd has been that guy.  He has played in 7 games for the Bills this season and he has 27 tackles, he has defensed 7 passes and he has 5 interceptions (91 return yards) so far this year.  Byrd was a second round pick this season by the Bills out of Oregon and he might not return to the bench even when the backs ahead of him get healthy.  This looks like an excellent pick for the Bills last April.

The Buffalo Bills forced the Panthers into some big time mistakes and that covered for another lackluster effort by the offense.  Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 11 of 22 passes for 123 yards with 1 TD pass.  He also carried the ball 7 times for 10 yards (1.4 ypc) in this game.  Marshawn Lynch was the leading rusher for the Bills in this game with 40 yards rushing on 17 carries (2.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Lee Evans had his best game of the season for the Bills with 5 grabs for 75 yards (15.0 avg) with a TD.  The Bills finished up with only 167 total yards in this game as they only had the ball for 25:20 of this game.

The defense was in bend but don’t break mode for the Bills as they only gave up 7 points on offense (the Panthers got a safety on D).  Linebacker Paul Poslusny led the way for the Bills with 11 tackles in this game.  Safety George Wilson was also very effective finishing with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  S/CB Jairus Byrd was a game changer for the Bills yesterday as he finished up with 2 tackles, 2 passes defensed and he picked off two passes.  The Panthers finished up with 425 total yards on offense (116 rushing, 309 passing) in this game.  The Bills somehow improve to 3-4 on the season.

Both of these teams got to be feeling a little bit better about themselves lately.  The 2-4 Bills beat the Jets 16-13 last week while the 2-3 Panthers outlasted the Bucs 28-21 for their second win in a row.  This game will likely be the fastest NFL game of the day as both teams will try to run the football.  The Panthers are allowing 149.2 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry so look for the Bills to attack them early and often with Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch.  The secret weapon for the Bills in this game could very well be the feet of QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.  With his weak arm he can’t throw a lick but he is a good running QB.  The Panthers only give up 156.8 yards passing per game this season but opposing QBs have a rating of 92.8 so there is success to be had in the passing game for the Bills if they can trust the offensive line (19 sacks) to give Fitzpatrick time to throw the ball.  The Bills would be smart to throw the ball early in this game to try to get a lead and protect the defense.

It’s no mystery to what the Panthers will do on offense in this football game.  The Bills are allowing 181.8 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry this season and that has to have DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart foaming at the mouth.  The Bills should put 8 or 9 guys in the box and dare Jake Delhomme to beat them with a pass.  Still, Steve Smith always has potential to bust out and have a monster game so the Bills will have to be careful with him.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 20, BILLS 17