Dalton Kincaid proves to be the missing piece in the Buffalo offense

Kincaid has been very effective in the Bills offense right away

While the Buffalo Bills have perhaps underperformed on the season, given their latest lost against the Bengals puts them at 5-4 on the season, there has been a clear bright spot on the offensive side of the ball. It’s always nice when you hit on your draft picks and even better when they can produce right away, and it certainly feels like the Bills hit big on first round rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid.

Since an injury took veteran Dawson Knox out of the lineup for Buffalo, Kincaid has stepped up in a big way. Over the last three games Kincaid has managed 23 catches, 221 yards, and the first touchdown of his career. Kincaid has proven to be the safety blanket for quarterback Josh Allen and is quickly becoming the second most reliable receiver on the Bills’ roster.

Even with the struggles on the offensive side of the ball for Buffalo as of late it’s promising that their young playmaker is stepping up to already be one of the better tight ends in the league. If this Buffalo offense really starts to click later in the season Kincaid could blow up even more, he certainly has the talent to do so.

Rookie stat projections: Buffalo Bills

Projecting the rookie stats for the Buffalo Bills draft class of 2023

With the NFL draft over and rookie camps underway, it is a good time to evaluate the draft picks and see what kind of impacts the projected contributors will make.

Let’s take a look at the Buffalo Bills draft picks and project some stats for the early role players:

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Prediction Game Preview

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs AFC Divisional Round game preview and breakdown for the game on Sunday, January 22

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Divisional Round prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch, Sunday, January 22


Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Prediction Game Preview

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Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills How To Watch

Date: Sunday, January 22
Game Time: 3:00 ET
Venue: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY
How To Watch: CBS
Record: Cincinnati Bengals (12-4), Buffalo Bills (13-3)
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NFL Expert Picks Playoffs Divisional Round
Mock Draft: First 23 Picks, Draft Order
NFL Draft Underclassmen Position Rankings
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Why Cincinnati Bengals Will Win the AFC Divisional Round

The Bills didn’t exactly lose their swagger, but something is missing.

Last year’s team ripped through New England in the Wild Card round with ease. Last year’s team knew down to its core that it was one coin flip away from probably winning the Super Bowl.

The earlier version of this year’s team ended the Rams’ season in Week 1. It had the stuff to walk into Arrowhead and come away with a win. It lost, but even when it did it put up well over 400 yards, or it blew it on its own with turnovers.

Oh sure, the Bills are on an eight-game winning streak, but Miami was the only playoff team of the bunch. In fact, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Miami twice. That accounts for all of the wins among the 14 against playoff teams.

And all four of those wins were fights, including last week against the Dolphin third string quarterback.

Okay, fine, so Cincinnati needed the Fumble in the Jungle – and a gift of a non-call on what appeared to be a clip – and an inch or so on a final desperation pass to survive Baltimore, but now it’s in a position it seems to relish – the underdog.

This is likely going to be a firefight. All it might take is the slightest mistake to tip the scales, and Buffalo appears happy to provide it.

What’s the problem with that lost Bills mojo? Turnovers.

Easy wins have become a whole lot harder with lots and lots and lots of giveaways, turning it over multiple times in nine games and only going mistake-free three times.

On the flip side, the Bengals have been relatively careful with the ball. They were a disaster in the opener with five giveaways in the loss to Pittsburgh, but they only gave it away 14 times since and had only two more multi-giveaway games.

However …

Why Buffalo Bills Will Win
Bengals at Bills Prediction, What’s Going to Happen

NEXT: Why Buffalo Bills Will Win the AFC Divisional Round

NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Predictions: 5 Best Picks Against The Spread

5 best NFL Playoffs predictions and picks against the spread and point totals for the Divisional Round games.

5 best predictions for the Divisional Round round of the NFL Playoffs. What appear to be the best bets and picks?


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The Wild Card round is the buffet of various carbs and fillers. The Divisional Round has the prime rib and crab legs.

This is it. This is everything to the hardcore NFL types. The Super Bowl … your mom watches the Super Bowl. Championship Sunday is big, but this is the weekend we get the best bulk games. Four of them that all take on a life of their own.

I’ll try to find the five best picks against the spread – and point totals – out of them.

As I mentioned for the Wild Card round, with so few games to choose from, the reasonable goal is to bat .600, and I got that last week going 3-2 thanks to the obvious call of Dallas over Tampa Bay and Jacksonville’s easy-peasy walk in the park win – and the over – against the Chargers (yeeeeeeeeeeeeesh).

I overestimated Buffalo, underestimated San Francisco, and I might just do it again – at least with the latter – starting with …

Click on each game for the game preview

5. NFL Playoffs: Dallas at San Francisco

LINE San Francisco -4
ATS PICK Dallas

Warning, I’m going to underestimate the guy yet again – it hasn’t been working well for me.

No, the definition of insanity is NOT doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result. However, picking against Brock Purdy hasn’t exactly shown sound judgement so far.

The guy has been absolutely magnificent.

If it was, say, Kenny Pickett, or Sam Howell, or even Trey Lance, he’d be hailed as the next big NFL thing. But because he’s Brock Purdy, and because he’s a third-string option, and because he was Mr. Irrelevant – that whole tag and bit annoys me for some reason; does that mean Travon Walker was Mr. Relevant? – it’s hard to fully buy in.

Every NFL quarterback has a clunker at some point, but seriously? 67%, 13 touchdown passes, four picks, unbeaten as a starter in these big games?

This is more about Dallas.

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Going along with the name recognition thing, if this wasn’t Dallas, and if it wasn’t carrying all this baggage and all of these expectation, it might be favored.

The one giant worry I have is time. San Francisco played on Saturday morning, Dallas played on Monday night, and Dallas had to travel. The 49ers are getting close to two days of extra time off. That’s a problem, but I’m going with talent.

Dallas has the combination of offensive firepower and defensive playmaking that the 49ers – and Purdy – haven’t had to deal with yet. I’d like to be getting a little more than four, but I’ll take it.

And I’ll probably pick against Purdy in the NFL Championship, too.

Speaking of digging the underdog on the road …

CFN Experts Picks: Cowboys at 49ers

NEXT: NFL Pick Against the Spread No. 4: Cincinnati at Buffalo

Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Wild Card Prediction Game Preview

Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs AFC Wild Card game preview and breakdown for the game on Sunday, January 15

Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Wild Card prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch, Sunday, January 15


Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills NFL Playoffs Wild Card Prediction Game Preview

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Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills How To Watch

Date: Sunday, January 15
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY
How To Watch: CBS
Record: Miami Dolphins (9-8), Buffalo Bills (13-3)
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NFL Expert Picks Playoffs Wild Card
Ranking all Bowls | Bowl Grades For Every Team
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Why Miami Dolphins Will Win the AFC Wild Card

It’s been a rough finishing kick with Tua Tagovailoa suffering another concussion, the offense struggling to find any consistency, and with a defense that’s not doing enough to pick up the slack.

But the team still knows how to move the ball.

The 11-6 win over New York Jets might have been in the team photo of the ugliest sporting events – or contests of any kind – ever, but the running game wasn’t bad.

The ground game worked against the Bills in mid-December with a season-high 188 yards in the tough 32-28 loss in Orchard Park – and now that all has to work again.

Raheem Mostert might be a bit banged up, but the offensive front should be able to bang away a bit. For all of the good things the Bills do defensively, they allow a few too many yards per carry.

That means QB Skylar Thompson has to get on the move, he has to do a better job of connecting on the deep shots than he did against the Jets, and …

Why Buffalo Bills Will Win
Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills Prediction, What’s Going to Happen

NEXT: Why Buffalo Bills Will Win the AFC Wild Card

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills Prediction Game Preview

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the game on Saturday, December 17

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch, Saturday, December 17


Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills Prediction Game Preview

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Expert Picks: Bowl Games Dec 20-27
NFL Week 15 Expert Picks | 
Bowl Schedule, Predictions
Ranking all 41 Bowls | Quick Analysis on Every Bowl

Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills How To Watch

Date: Saturday, December 17
Game Time: 8:15 ET
Venue: Highmark Stadium,Orchard Park, NY
How To Watch: NFL Network
Record: Miami Dolphins (8-5), Buffalo Bills (10-3)
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Why Miami Dolphins Will Win

The Dolphin run defense is good enough to hold up. The O wasn’t anything special in the 21-19 win in Week 3, but the defense did a lot of bending without breaking, keeping the Bills to 115 rushing yards.

And the conditions were great.

The passing in this isn’t going to happen in the snow – Tua Tagovailoa coming off a horrible performance in the 23-17 loss to the Chargers – and it’s going to take a big day from the D.

There aren’t a slew of takeaways coming from this group on a regular basis, and Buffalo has chilled on the giveaways, but the defensive front that allowed fewer than 90 rushing yards in two of the last three games should win its share of battles.

But …

CFN Bowl Expert Picks: Dec 16-19 | Dec 20-27
NFL Expert Picks Week 15

Why Buffalo Bills Will Win

Miami lives on the big deep plays, and those might not happen.

It’s possible Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, and company will be able to take advantage of the conditions and go off – they know where they’re going and might have better footing – but the offense has to run to get this done. That’s a problem with an offense that runs it the second-fewest times in the NFL.

Buffalo doesn’t have to get crazy.

It’s got the rotation of backs to go along with Josh Allen keeping things moving, and slow and steady might be enough to win this race.

All that, and …

What’s Going To Happen

It’s Buffalo. It’s Buffalo weather. The Bills were able to get through it all against the Jets last week thanks to the defense, and the same thing should work again.

Don’t expect any consistency whatsoever offensively, but don’t assume Miami will whither up and die in the cold. The Buffalo defense will be good enough, the running attack will work, and three takeaways will help.

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills Prediction, Line

CFN Prediction: Buffalo 21, Miami 13
Line: Buffalo -7, o/u: 44
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills Must See Rating: 4

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Expert Picks: Bowl Games Dec 20-27
Ranking all 41 Bowls | Quick Analysis on Every Bowl

NFL Scoreboard, Predictions, Lines, How To Watch: Week 14

NFL predictions, schedule, game previews, lines, how to watch, and TV listings for Week 14 of the 2022 season

NFL predictions, schedule, lines, how to watch, and TV listings for Week 14 of the 2022 season highlighted by Dolphins at Chargers, Eagles at Giants, Vikings at Lions, Jets at Bills


NFL Schedule, Predictions, Lines, How To Watch: Week 14

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Results So Far
SU: 65-36-1, ATS: 53-46-3, Point Total: 63-38-1

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams

Prediction: Los Angeles 24, Las Vegas 23
Line: Raiders -6.5, o/u: 42.5
Final Score: Los Angeles Rams 17, Las Vegas 16

Expert Picks Week 14 NFL | Bowls 16-19

Saturday, December 11, 2022

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills

Prediction: Buffalo 24, New York Jets 17
Line: Buffalo -10, o/u: 43.5
Final Score: Buffalo 20, New York Jets 12

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals

Prediction: Cincinnati 26, Cleveland 20
Line: Cincinnati -5.5, o/u: 46.5
Final Score: Cincinnati 23, Cleveland 10

Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys

Prediction: Dallas 30, Houston 16
Line: Dallas -17, o/u: 44
Final Score: Dallas 27, Houston 23

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

Prediction: Minnesota 27, Detroit 24
Line: Detroit -2, o/u: 51.5
Final Score: Detroit 43, Minnesota 23

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans

Prediction: Tennessee 24, Jacksonville 17
Line: Tennessee -3.5, o/u: 41
Final Score: Jacksonville 36, Tennessee 22

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants

Prediction: Philadelphia 26, New York Giants 20
Line: Philadelphia -7, o/u: 45
Final Score: Philadelphia 48, New York Giants 22

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Prediction: Baltimore 16, Pittsburgh 13
Line: Pittsburgh -1.5, o/u: 36.5
Final Score: Baltimore 16, Pittsburgh 14

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos

Prediction: Kansas City 27, Denver 16
Line: Kansas City -9.5, o/u: 43.5
Final Score: Kansas City 34, Denver 28

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Francisco 49ers

Prediction: San Francisco 23, Tampa Bay 16
Line: San Francisco -3.5, o/u: 37
Final Score: San Francisco 35, Tampa Bay 7

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks

Prediction: Seattle 26, Carolina 20
Line: Seattle -3.5, o/u: 44.5
Final Score: Carolina 30, Seattle 24

Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Chargers

Prediction: Miami 30, Los Angeles 27
Line: Miami -3.5, o/u: 53.5
Final Score: Los Angeles Chargers 23, Miami 17

Monday, December 12, 2022

New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals

8:15 ESPN
Line: New England -1.5, o/u: 43.5
Final Score: COMING

NFL Teams on Bye: Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Washington

Expert Picks Week 14 NFL | Bowls 16-19

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CFN Predictions & Game Previews

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills Prediction Game Preview

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the game on Sunday, December 11

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch, Sunday, December 11


New York Jets at Buffalo Bills Prediction Game Preview

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Expert Picks: Bowl Games Dec 16-19
NFL Week 14 Expert Picks | 
Bowl Schedule, Predictions
Ranking all 41 Bowls | Quick Analysis on Every Bowl

New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills How To Watch

Date: Sunday, December 11
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY
How To Watch: CBS
Record: New York Jets (7-5), Buffalo Bills (9-3)
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Why New York Jets Will Win

The Jets continue to play some defense.

This isn’t a rock of a run defense, but the D held the Bills to 317 yards a few weeks ago in the 20-17 win – the fewest gained all year by Buffalo – forced two takeaways, and came up with the plays needed to hold on.

And unlike the first meeting, now it has a quarterback.

He’s wasn’t the second pick in the draft and he has the most bland name possible, but when Mike White plays, Mike White produces.

He stepped in and threw for 315 yards and three scores in the win over Chicago, and he came really, really close to pulling off the comeback in the loss to Minnesota with 369 yards. He’s not perfect, but if Buffalo’s O starts moving, the Jets have a better ability to keep up the pace this time around.

And …

Week 14 CFN NFL Expert Picks

Why Buffalo Bills Will Win

Mike White is hardly a runner.

For all of the good things the Jets are doing, they have problems when they don’t get the ground game moving. They got 174 yards on the Bills the first time around, and they’re now 5-0 when getting to 120 yards and 7-1 when running for 90 yards or more.

The Bill defense has been a bit hit-or-miss against the run, but it’s better when the other side is throwing to try keeping up the pace. The Bills are now 7-1 when keeping teams to under 100 yards.

But even more than that, it’s about keeping the turnovers to a minimum. The offense is always going to work and crank up the production, but Josh Allen can’t close out drives with mistakes. Those got cleaned up over the last few weeks, and all has been right with the world with just two turnovers in the last three games.

The Jets are 0-2 when they don’t take the ball away and 4-4 when they don’t come up with multiple takeaways.

What’s Going To Happen

Both teams are feeling it.

Buffalo found its groove again, the Jets are playing fixing glitches with a pattern of following a loss with a win over rate last six weeks – it’s due to be on the winning side this week.

Can the Bills hold up on the offensive front? It’s being held together by tape and a few prayers, but the passing game will get going early, the defense will come up with two interceptions, and the redemption will come after the last loss.

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills Prediction, Line

Buffalo 24, New York Jets 17
Line: Buffalo -10, o/u: 44
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
New York Jets at Buffalo Bills Must See Rating: 4

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Expert Picks: Bowl Games Dec 16-19
NFL Week 14 Expert Picks 
Bowl Schedule, Predictions
Ranking all 41 Bowls | Quick Analysis on Every Bowl

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots Prediction, Game Preview

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 13 game on Thursday, December 1

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 13, Thursday, December 1


Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots Game Preview Prediction

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Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots How To Watch

Date: Thursday, December 1
Game Time: 8:15 ET
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
How To Watch: Prime Video
Record: Buffalo Bills (8-3), New England Patriots (6-5)
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Why Buffalo Bills Will Win

Make it about moving the chains.

For all of the high-flying fun, and scoring, and big things from the offense, possibly the biggest key to it all is the ability to just keeping the offense on the field. The Bills are second in the NFL in third down conversions, New England is awful at them, and it could be as simple as that.

The Patriots don’t have the firepower to keep up, and they don’t have the running game to take over.

How did the Jets and Vikings beat the Bills? Takeaways – six between the two – but they also ran well. The Bill D clamped down on the Cleveland and Detroit ground games, and everything worked out okay.

Get up fast, grind the Patriots down, and …

Week 13 CFN NFL Expert Picks

Why New England Patriots Will Win

It’s all about the running game.

The Patriots ran well and lost against Green Bay and Baltimore, but overall they’re 5-2 when running or over 80 yards and 1-3 when they don’t.

The Buffalo defense might have been better over the last few games against decent backs, but it allowed 80 yards or more in each of the last five games.

The passing game perked up and was terrific against Minnesota, but the offense doesn’t need to win it around for 364 yards. It needs to be effective, the offense has to be balanced, and …

CFN Championship Week College Football Expert Picks

What’s Going To Happen

The Patriots have GOT to start taking the ball away again.

With just two in the last three games, the defense hasn’t made it easy on the offense, but giveaways have been a problem for the Bills.

They slowed down over the last two games with just one, but Josh Allen had a problem with strange picks and the wrong times, there have been key fumbles, and New England needs all of it.

Besides the continued mastery of the New York Jets, what’s New England’s best win? Cleveland?

The offense hasn’t been bad, and the defense overall has been great, but the team is 0-3 when allowing 390 yards or more of total offense and 1-4 when allowing more than 330.

The D will keep the rested Bills from going crazy, but they’ll get behind fast and won’t be able to make up for it.

Bowl Predictions

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots Prediction, Line

Buffalo 24, New England 17
Line: Buffalo -4, o/u: 43.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots Must See Rating: 3.5

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Bowl Projections | Rankings
Schedules For All 131 College Teams

Bills rookie CB Kaiir Elam is coming into his own

Buffalo Bills first-round pick Kaiir Elam is quickly becoming the shutdown corner they were hoping for

Back in April when the Buffalo Bills selected Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, they thought they were getting the big, physical corner they needed to play opposite Pro Bowler Tre’Davious White.

It’s starting to look like they got all that and more.

Through most of the season, Elam had been dealing with various injuries, and had a middling start to his career. That wasn’t ideal for the Bills, considering White was dealing with injuries of his own. But in his first game back from an ankle injury, Elam came up big, and has performed like a premier corner worthy of his high draft slot.

In the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, Elam had the opportunity to cover against one of the top offenses in the league, and showed up in a big way. Filling in for a limited White, who played just 16 total snaps, Elam blanketed his receivers. He was only thrown at once, and was able to force an incompletion. On tape, you could see he was quick and loose on the outside, and Lions quarterback Jared Goff looked him off more than once.

If Elam can continue to stay healthy, and build upon the glimpses of greatness that we’ve already seen from this ultra-talented corner, the sky is the limit for him and the rest of the Buffalo secondary.

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