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The Buffalo Bills have the most explosive offense in the NFL through the first eight weeks of the season.
According to ESPN’s stats and information, the Bills are No. 1 in total yards per game (430.6), No. 1 in passing yards per game (307.7), and are second in points per game (29) only behind the Kansas City Chiefs.
On Sunday Buffalo will travel to MetLife Stadium for the first of two matchups against the New York Jets. Despite all of those statistical achievements, one rookie doesn’t seem intimidated.
Sauce Gardner Sends Stern Warning to Bills
Sauce Gardner was recently asked about the challenge that the explosive Bills offense presents:
“They present a huge challenge having a lot of weapons, having a quarterback that can throw the ball and do it with his legs, and having a great running back. They will present a huge challenge but I feel like we got what it takes with the guys here to stop it.”
If the Jets are going to stop the Bills, they would be the first team that accomplished that feat this season. Buffalo enters this game with a 6-1 record with the only blemish coming in a very weird Week 3 matchup versus the Miami Dolphins.
Despite dominating statistically and controlling the clock for the majority of the game, the Bills lost 21-19. Those 19 points were the fewest they have scored all season.
Buffalo has won four straight in this rivalry and last year they often picked on whoever was playing cornerback. Head coach Robert Saleh was stringent in the past with moving his corners around and the Bills took full advantage of that.
This year the Jets have been a lot more creative on the backend. Sauce has stayed on his side and has also shadowed some of the best players in the league. He recently said, “I’ll match up with whoever, it doesn’t matter to me.”
One secret sauce to potentially winning this game was revealed by NFL dot com’s Dan Hanzus who had this stat:
“The Bills have won 11 straight when their No. 1 wideout crosses the receiving century mark.”
A good example of that stat came during the Bills’ last game versus the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
When Josh Allen targeted other receivers not named Stefon Diggs versus Green Bay he was 7-of-17 with one touchdown and two interceptions.
So if the Jets can win this strength-on-strength matchup between the team’s cornerbacks and the Bills’ wide receivers, they could very well win this game.
A Lot of Respect Between Jets-Bills Heading Into This One
Bills head coach Sean McDermott was asked about Sauce Gardner ahead of their scheduled matchup and he called him a “shutdown, No. 1 corner.”
McDermott continued saying he has been “as advertised” so far this season and gave a funny confession that the Bills didn’t do much homework on him in the 2022 NFL draft because “we knew he was going to be gone.”
That commentary was certainly pleasant but superstar quarterback Josh Allen went a step above that this week.
Appearing on Kyle Brandt’s podcast, Allen said he doesn’t even consider Sauce a rookie based on what he has seen from him so far this season:
“We are seven games into the season and I think they’re (the Jets) eight games into the season already. I stopped calling our rookies ‘stupid rookies’ a few weeks ago now they’re just a part of our team. I think eight games is plenty of time to get acclimated, at this point you’re a ball player. The dude’s (Sauce) is a ball hawk, he’s a baller, and he was that way in college.”
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