Buffalo offense vs. Arizona defense

	BILLS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	9
	Pass	22
	Tot. Yds.	16
	Scoring	20
	Int's allowed	14
	Sacks allowed	22
	CARDINALS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	30
	vs. Pass	7
	Total yds. allowed	17
	# of Ints.	14
	# of Sacks	29
	Turnover differential	-9

The Bills lofty rushing ranking is one of the biggest misrepresentations in the National Football League. The teams' chief concern this season has been its inability to establish a ground game when they have needed it the most, as witnessed last week against the Giants when RB's Jonathan Linton and Thurman Thomas were held to virtually no yards when the team needed to run out the clock.

The Bills are going to look to run the ball early in the game against the Cardinals on Sunday, wanting to attack a Cardinal defense that has had major breakdowns against the run. Last week, the Cardinal allowed RB Stephan Davis to run for 189 yards because they were consistently out of position and could not hold their ground at the point of attack.

The Bills, judging on last weeks' performance, are in trouble at the right tackle position. Marcus Spriggs has been forced into duty at the position because of the loss of Robert Hicks to injury, and he was unable to handle the rush of Giants' defensive end Michael Strahan. Spriggs will again line head-up against one of the league's top rush ends, Andre Wadsworth.

The Bills RT struggles bode well for the Cardinals, who are going to mirror the style of pass rush that the Giants were so effective using against Doug Flutie last week. Arizona will use its rush ends, Wadsworth and Simeon Rice, to rush upfield quickly, forcing Flutie to step up into the pocket instead of outside it where he can be dangerous as a dual threat. When Flutie is forced to step up inside, he runs into traffic, which not only cuts down his vision in the passing lanes, but it also makes it more difficult for him to scramble.

Since the loss of TE Jay Riemersma, the effectiveness of the Bills passing game has dipped. With Riemersma out of the lineup, Flutie seems uncomfortable throwing the ball in the middle of the field. Present starter, Bobby Collins, is inexperienced but talented. He has tremendous size and strength, but he also has the raw speed and athletic ability to get down the seam and pose a threat to opposing secondaries. The receivers will face a lot more cover-two reads that will take away from its effectiveness as a unit.

Joyce's matchup will be the biggest problem for the Cardinals as they send up a lifelong reserve offensive guard against DE Bruce Smith, who is still one of the top defensive ends in the league. This matchup will undoubtedly cause the Cardinals to use a double team on Smith, which means the rest of the Bills' defensive line is going to have one-on-one matchups and the linebacking corps will have tempting lanes to work with in the blitz package.

The Cardinal's are struggling to do much of anything on offense. The running game has been atrocious, with the exception of a 133-yard performance from Michael Pittman against the Lions, and does not look to get much better against a Buffalo defense that is stout against the run. The Cardinals are averaging just 75.4 yards per game, while the Bills rank fifth in the league versus the run.

DT Ted Washington has not been as big of a force in the middle as he was over the course of the past two seasons, but he is doing his job of clogging up the middle of the field, taking up space and the attention of teams' offensive center and offensive guards in order to allow LB's Sam Cowart and John Holecek to roam freely in the middle of the field.

Besides the fact that the pass protection has been spotty, there are lots of consistent problems with the Cardinal passing attack as well. QB Jake Plummer seems to be out of rhythm since returning from injury. He has now thrown 18 interceptions on the season, and it is evident in the film that he is not seeing the entire field.

Adding to the Cards' troubles is a receiving corps that runs poor routes and does not come back to the ball when Plummer tries to improvise. Wideouts Rob Moore, Frank Sanders and David Boston were held ineffective again last week against a marginal Giant secondary. Moore caught four passes, two of those in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach, for a non-threatening 6-yard average. Sanders, the NFC leader last season, didn't catch one ball. Boston snagged one for 43 yards late in the first quarter and then was shut out the rest of the game.

The Bills do not have great talent in their secondary, but they do an excellent job of getting pressure up front with four man rushes, which allows them to drop at least six men in coverage on almost every passing down. The Bills will run a lot of complex zone schemes that will give Plummer trouble. The pressure up front will be controlled in order to keep Plummer inside the pocket, which means Plummer is going to be forced to make the throws that he has shown incapable of making since coming back from injury.

Chris Jacke is among the leagues' most inconsistent this season, connecting on just 18-of-25 with a long of only 49 yards. Scott Player has not been much better as the teams punter, averaging 41.8-yards per punt and landing just 16-of-82 attempts inside the opponents twenty-yard line. Mario Bates isn't getting too many opportunities, but he has been solid, averaging 25.7-yards per kickoff return.