Game Preview: Buffalo Bills stay out west for week 6 game in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV (WHEC) – After taking down the Los Angeles Rams, 37-34 in overtime, the Buffalo Bills are staying put on the West Coast, ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Raiders.

Buffalo Bills game day basics:

Teams: Buffalo Bills (4-1) and Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
Date: Sun., Oct. 18
Time: 4:25 p.m.
Location: Allegiant Stadium | Las Vegas, NV
Network: CBS

Game preview

When you’re out in the wild, wild West, wild things will happen! The Buffalo Bills saw that come true in Monday night’s epic win over the Rams. After a casual and somewhat sloppy first half, the Bills and Rams caught fire, trading off touchdowns for 41 points on six straight drives to close regulation. In overtime, the craziness didn’t stop, as James Cook fumbled just outside of the red zone, Greg Rousseau blocked a game-winning field goal attempt, and Josh Allen drove the Bills back down the field to set up Tyler Bass for another game-winning attempt that was good and ended the madness.

This brings us to Sunday’s game, as the Bills will be on a short week and decided to practice at UC Irvine instead of traveling from coast to coast for a quick turnaround. They’ll take on a Raiders team that has lost two straight games but have shown flashes of being a contender to make the playoffs in the AFC.

This is also Buffalo’s final game before their bye week. It’s a bit earlier than a team may want their bye week to fall, so it’ll be important for them to head into it on a high note, potentially with a 5-1 record.

Years past

If you feel as if the Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders haven’t had much of a history, you’d technically be correct. The Raiders only moved to Nevada in 2020 and the teams have met just twice since then, for a home-and-home split. Buffalo won in Vegas, 30-23, in 2020 and on home soil in 2023, 38-10.

But the history goes back much further when looking at the Raiders’ franchise as a whole. The Bills just barely hold the series edge, 22-21, and have won three straight dating back to 2017. That means Josh Allen has never lost against Las Vegas.

But the Raiders once dominated this series, winning six straight contests between 1967 and 1972.

Despite having as even as a series as you can imagine, the history hasn’t extended much into the postseason. The Bills took them out of the playoffs in 1991 and 1994, but that has been it as far as games played in the NFL Playoffs.

Of course, this isn’t a playoff game, but it could have playoff implications later down the line. With it being a conference game, both teams understand the heightened importance of coming out on top.

Player to watch: Dalton Kincaid

Where has Dalton Kincaid gone? After piling up 12 catches for 225 yards in the first two games of the season, Kincaid has had just 4 receptions for 52 yards over the last three. And in both the week 4 and week 5 games, Kincaid has had 1 reception for 7 yards.

The Bills’ star tight end just can’t afford to do that for a third straight game, because the offense simply doesn’t look as sharp without him picking up a big gain or two. While there are certainly ebbs and flows to games and seasons, this is definitely a slump for someone the team considers to be a top option in the passing game.

Luckily for Buffalo, the Raiders haven’t faired too well against the pass. Las Vegas has allowed 236 passing yards per game – 24th in the league. And taking it a step further, the Raiders are allowing 12.5 fantasy points per game to tight ends, the fifth most in the league. That has included six touchdowns to tight ends so far this season. And other than Travis Kelce, the tight ends they’ve faced arguably aren’t as talented as Kincaid.

Could this make for a huge week six bounce-back game? The numbers might say so.