1 - McCoy on pace for best receiving season
Bills running back, LeSean McCoy, is on pace to rack up his most receiving yards in a single season. McCoy's numbers on the ground have been lower than usual, but he's boosted his catches out of the backfield in return.
Through five weeks McCoy has caught 27 passes for 189 yards. He leads the team in receptions. If this production continues, McCoy would finish the season with 604 receiving yards. That would be a season-high for the nine-year veteran.
McCoy's best receiving season came in 2010 with the Philadelphia Eagles. He reeled in 78 catches and posted 592 yards. Buffalo's RB will narrowly surpass those numbers this season if he continues to average 37.8 receiving yards per game.
McCoy has been Tyrod Taylor's go-to target almost every week. He has been the team's leader in receptions in four of the five games. In Week One he had five receptions, six in Week Two, seven in Week Three, and six in Week Five.
The targets should only go up for McCoy with Charles Clay and Jordan Matthews being out with injuries. The Pro Bowl RB is on his way to making 2017 a record-breaking season in receiving.
2- Buffalo's defense allows least points per game
The Bills burly defense has played lights out this year. Through five games they've allowed the least amount of points per game in the NFL. The consistency on the defensive side of the ball is a big reason Buffalo is in first place in the AFC East.
The Bills have only allowed a team to score 20 points once this season. It came in the 20-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. On average, teams only score 14.8 points per game against Buffalo. Almost two points better than the next best defense.
Head coach, Sean McDermott, loves how his defense keeps his team in games.
"The thing I love about that is the fact that we're in those games," he said. "We have a chance to win the game and that's what I mentioned to our team is [that] we sit, currently right now, in first place in the AFC East."
The defensive unit has been extremely reliable. When the offense is at a standstill they keep the game in manageable situations. In their two losses the team never lost by more than six points. The defense has allowed: 12, 3, 16, 17, and 20 points this season. Defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier, has gotten his group in a groove through five weeks.
Buffalo's next game is against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Era Field. The Bills shouldn't be blown away by their offense. The Buccaneers are 18th in the league with 18.3 points per game.
Take a look at some of the biggest Bills defensive plays from Weeks 1 -5 of the 2017 season.
3 - Dareus flashed skills in first sack of season
Bills defensive tackle, Marcell Dareus, earned his first sack of 2017 in Week Five. He flashed his Pro Bowl talent on his way to taking down Bengals quarterback, Andy Dalton.
NFL analyst, Andy Benoit, reviewed film on the game between the Bengals and Bills. He was impressed with what he saw from Dareus.
It was Dareus' first sack since Nov. 27, 2016. He had two against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It's reassuring to see Dareus dominate like he did to take down Dalton. The defense would love to see the All-Pro back to his old form. He has the fourth most sacks (35) among defensive tackles since 2011-2016.
Dareus hasn't played more than 60 percent of the defensive snaps in a game this season. He played: 59 percent in Week One, 26 percent in Week Two, 31 percent in Week Four, and 33 percent in Week Five. He didn't play in Week Three due to an injury.
Buffalo's bye week is coming to an end and the team is almost ready to get back to work. We'll see if the time off will result in more snaps for Dareus.
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