With today's game against the Chicago Bears now in the rear-view mirror, the Washington Redskins turn their attention to the AFC East's Buffalo Bills.
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With today's game against the Chicago Bears officially a thing of the past, the Washington Redskins set their focus on an opponent in the AFC East.
The Redskins next Sunday play host to the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff at FedExField is set for 1 p.m. ET.
The Bills entered today's action with a 6-6 record – good enough for third in the AFC East – and took on the Philadelphia Eagles today at Lincoln Financial Field.
Buffalo to this point has been battling inconsistencies week in and week out. The team alternated wins and losses in its first six weeks before losing two straight to the Cincinnati Bengals (34-21) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (34-31). The Bills rebounded with two straight wins over the Miami Dolphins (33-17) and New York Jets (22-17), and once again dropped two straight in Weeks 11 and 12 to the New England Patriots (20-13) and Kansas City Chiefs (30-22).
Last week, the Bills rebounded to defeat] the Houston Texans, 30-21.
Buffalo is led by first-year head coach Rex Ryan. Ryan, 53, in January was named the 18th coach in franchise history and is entering his 19th total season in the NFL coaching ranks. He had spent the previous six seasons as the head coach of the New York Jets, where he ended his tenure ranking third in franchise history with 50 combined regular season and postseason wins, and his 4-2 record in postseason games was the best mark in team history.
The Bills entered today's game against the Eagles off the heels of a satisfying 30-21 victory over the Texans at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. In that game, quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay with 1:53 left to secure the win.
Taylor completed 11-of-21 passes for 211 yards with three touchdowns, while also adding 28 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground. Running back LeSean McCoy ran 21 times for a game-best 112 yards on the day.
Second-year wide receiver Sammy Watkins caught three passes for 109 yards with a touchdown, while Clay had four total catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Linebacker Preston Brown had a game-high nine tackles for the Buffalo defense, while defensive end Jerry Hughes and safety Bacarri Rambo each had sacks on the day.
The Bills entered today's game ranked 17th in the league in total offense with 350.7 yards per game. Their 140.9 yards rushing per contest ranks fourth in the league, but they have had their struggles through the air, as they average 209.8 yards passing per game, ranking 29th.
Scenes from the Oct. 30 game between the Redskins and the Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Rogers Centre in Toronto is the site of the Redskins-Bills game.
John Beck makes his second Redskins start.
The game's two head coaches -- Buffalo's Chan Gailey and Washington's Mike Shanahan -- have a pre-game chat.
A young Redskins fan in attendance.
A pair of Redskins fans get revved up during pre-game.
Anthony Armstrong pulls in a pass during pre-game.
Wide receiver Niles Paul gets in some pre-game work.
Head coach Mike Shanahan greets tight end Fred Davis during pre-game.
Donte Stallworth looks for running room against the Bills after a catch.
John Beck gets off a pass.
Ryan Kerrigam tries to set an early tone by tackling Bills running back Fred Jackson in the backfield.
Keyaron Fox holds on tight to Bills running back Fred Jackson.
Josh Wilson gets in on a tackle.
Bills tight end Scott Chandler pushes the ball past the pylon ahead of London Fletcher, giving the Bills an early lead.
John Beck tries to elude pressure from Bills defensive lineman Dwan Edwards.
Jabar Gaffney hauls in a 5-yard pass in the first half.
A look inside the cavernous Rogers Centre during the Redskins-Bills game.
Brian Orakpo celebrates after recovering a first-half fumble by Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
John Beck targets a receiver downfield.
London Fletcher celebrates an interception vs. Buffalo, the 18th of his career.
LaRon Landry tries to chase down Bills running back Fred Jackson.
LaRon Landry and DeAngelo Hall try to take down Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson.
John Beck was sacked nine times by the Buffalo defense.
The Redskins and Mike Shanahan have some soul-searching to do following the 23-0 loss to Buffalo.
The Buffalo defense, meanwhile, ranks 20th in the league in total yards allowed per game at 359.7. They rank about middle of the pack, 14th, in rush defense (104 yards allowed per game) and 23rd in the league in pass defense (255.7 yards allowed per game).
Entering today's action, Taylor had completed 176-of-271 passes (64.9 percent) for 2,171 yards with 17 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He has also run the ball 63 times for 318 yards and three touchdowns. McCoy, the former Eagles standout, leads the way with 173 rushes for 792 yards (4.6 yards per rush) with three touchdowns on the year.
The Bills have two receivers with more than 500 receiving yards: Watkins (34 catches, 635 yards, six touchdowns) and Clay (50 receptions, 519 yards, three touchdowns). Wide receiver Robert Woods also has three receiving touchdowns to go along with 402 yards and 38 receptions on the year.
Leading the Buffalo defense are Brown and Corey Graham with 93 and 92 tackles, respectively. Hughes has a team-best four sacks, while Stephon Gilmore leads the secondary with 36 tackles, 18 passes defensed and three interceptions.
Game notes:
Here's some more facts and figures from next Sunday's Redskins-Bills matchup in Landover, Md., courtesy of Redskins Public Relations:
- The game will be a rematch of the Redskins' 37-24 victory in Super Bowl XXVI. Including a Super Bowl XVII rematch against the Dolphins in Week 1, the Redskins are featured in two of the NFL's 19 Super Bowl rematches this season.
- The Redskins will attempt to even their all-time home record against the Bills at 3-3 and earn their first home win against Buffalo since 1990.
- The game will mark the Redskins' first meeting with Buffalo since the teams met in Toronto during the 2011 season.
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