Two of Buffalo’s key defenders will remain sidelined in Week 4.
Head coach Sean McDermott said in his weekly interview with WGR550 that defensive tackle Ed Oliver and linebacker Matt Milano have been ruled out for Buffalo’s matchup with New Orleans on Sunday.
Oliver has not played since Week 1 with an ankle injury. Milano (pectoral) was injured during the Bills’ Week 2 win over the Jets.
Additionally, McDermott noted that right tackle Spencer Brown (calf) and defensive end A.J. Epenesa (pectoral) will be limited in Friday’s practice and listed as questionable for Sunday.
Sunday will mark only the 13th all-time matchup between the Bills and Saints. The last time the two teams played in 2021, Buffalo broke a five-game losing streak dating back to 2001 with a 31-6 victory.
Linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral) and defensive tackle Ed Oliver (ankle) still aren’t practicing, two practices into Week 4.
Milano was injured in the Week 2 win over the Jets, and Oliver was injured in the week leading up to Week 2 and has missed the past two games.
Coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday that they were “improving” and “headed in the right direction” and called them day to day. But unless Milano and Oliver return in a limited capacity on Friday, it seems unlikely either will return this week.
Offensive lineman Spencer Brown (calf) also remained out of practice.
Defensive end AJ Epenesa (pectoral) was limited a second consecutive day.
The Saints are coming off a blowout loss to the Seahawks and oddsmakers think they are in store for another thumping in Week 4.
They will head to Buffalo to face the Bills and sportsbooks currently have the Bills favored by 16.5 points in the game. That’s the largest point spread so far this season and tied for the ninth-largest point spread since the start of the 2020 season.
Only one of the bigger eight underdogs won outright — the Jets beat the Rams in 2020 despite being 17-point underdogs — and six of the other seven underdogs failed to cover the spread.
Per Pro Football Reference, the current point spread would make the Saints the biggest underdogs they’ve been in a game since Week 9 of the 1975 season. They were also 16.5-point underdogs against the Vikings that week and covered the spread in a 20-7 loss. They were 18-point underdogs to the Raiders the previous week, but lost that game 48-10.
Thursday night’s Week 3 opener provided a 31-21 outcome for the Bills, a moral victory for the Dolphins, and a ratings win for Prime Video.
Per Amazon, the game drew an average audience of 16.45 million viewers.
The audience represents a 23-percent increase over last year’s Week 3 game, when 13.37 million watched the Jets defeat the Patriots.
It helped that the game wasn’t the blowout most thought it would be, with the Dolphins down seven and driving late in the game.
Also aiding the boost, for all networks, is Nielsen’s “Big Data + Panel” measurement, which provides a more robust effort for counting out-of-home viewing.
Regardless, the numbers are going up. With the current broadcast deals expected to be terminated at the league’s option after the 2029 season, the trend is a triumph for the NFL.
This week, the margin between 2025 and 2024 will be harder to exceed. Last year, the Cowboys and Giants drew 16.22 million under pre-"Big Data + Panel” calculations.
The Bills surely are not experiencing buyer’s remorse.
Running back James Cook III, who parlayed a training camp hold-in into a new contract, has gotten off to a great start. In each of the team’s first three games, Cook has more than 100 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown.
Via Alec White of the team’s official website, Cook now has a streak of seven straight games with at least one rushing touchdown. It puts him in a four-way tie for the franchise record.
“You have to love how he’s running the football right now,” offensive coordinator Joe Brady said regarding Cook, per White. “He’s been playing so much stronger in the last couple of years, and he’s able to do that, and then you can feel the explosiveness once he gets through the hole, and the vision going. He’s in a really good spot.”
And so are the Bills, with a 3-0 record and a remaining schedule that doesn’t have many red flags.
In Week 1 at Baltimore, Cook had 44 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards. In Week 2 vs. the Jets, Cook rushed for 132 yards, with three yards in the passing game. On Thursday night, Cook rushed for 108 yards and added 10 yards receiving.
Although the Bills won by 10 on Thursday night, the game was closer than expected. A missed field goal on the team’s third drive seemed to take the steam out of a potential romp. But the Buffalo offense nevertheless seems to be able to open the throttle whenever it wants — like receiver Khalil Shakir did when he caught a short pass in the backfield and turned on the jets for what ended up being the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Cook, Shakir, Keon Coleman, Dalton Kincaid. The Bills quietly have put together a supporting cast that can get the most out of quarterback Josh Allen’s skills.
