Cardinals vs Bills Preview

The Arizona Cardinals travel to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday - get to know both sides of the matchup here.

Aug 10, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) against the New Orleans Saints during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals begin their 2024 season on the road against the Buffalo Bills.

It's the dawn of a new season, and with so much unknown, the Cardinals could very well march into Orchard Park tomorrow and steal a win.

That won't be easy against Josh Allen and co. - however - and despite suffering a few losses on the roster, the Bills still find themselves as one of the best teams in the AFC.

For Buffalo's perspective on the matchup, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kyle Silagyi of Buffalo BIlls on SI to see where the Bills are at ahead of Week 1:

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Q: Everybody seems to be focused on the Buffalo Bills not having Stefon Diggs. In your opinion, how do you foresee the offense without Diggs?

A: I don’t mean to take the political approach here, but I could honestly foresee it going several different ways. Ultimately, I think Josh Allen is far too talented a quarterback and general player to let the offense fall by the wayside. He has a lot of talented weapons returning despite the offseason offensive revamp, and free agent signee Curtis Samuel and rookie Keon Coleman have each shown promise throughout the summer.

Now full-time offensive coordinator Joe Brady has oft-spoken about his ‘everyone eats’ offensive philosophy that will ask Allen to disperse the ball (relatively) evenly amongst his targets as opposed to funneling production through one receiver, so if all of the team’s weapons buy in, there’s an avenue for Buffalo’s offense being better—or at least more consistent—than it's been in recent years this fall.

Q: How does everybody in Buffalo view the Cardinals in general ahead of 2024? 

A: There’s a large number of Buffalo fans who are worried about this weekend’s clash—perhaps because Bills fans are never anything more than cautiously optimistic, but also because the Cardinals, on paper, aren’t a team to look past. Everyone knows what Kyler Murray is capable of, and though Buffalo’s defense figures to be stout this year, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride are going to give every team problems.

I think the general consensus around Western New York regarding the Cardinals is that they’re a team that could surprise folks this season with their offensive potential—we just hope they don’t surprise the Bills this weekend.

Q: At least around here, it feels like a good time for Arizona to upset the Bills with it being the first week of the season and all the unknowns that come with it. How likely do you think that could happen?

A: As I alluded to in my last answer, there’s a portion of the Buffalo faithful that’s on pins and needles as the team prepares for Week 1. Arizona is a talented team, and the Bills have stumbled out of the gate in Week 1 before (in 2021 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and just last year against the New York Jets). That said, there’s been too much negative press and too many doomsayers looming over Orchard Park this summer for the team to come out and lay an egg in the season opener.

I expect to see Buffalo eager to prove doubters wrong this weekend, and though they won’t roll over the Cardinals, I’m expecting a Bills victory.

Q: Give me one underrated name fans should be aware of that will make a difference on Sunday for the Bills. 

A: I’m not sure if Khalil Shakir hype has made it to Arizona, but it’s been buzzing in Buffalo throughout the entire summer. The second-year wideout flashed throughout the 2023 season, particularly coming on after Joe Brady took over as interim offensive coordinator in Week 11. He’s the only wide receiver currently on the Bills’ roster who has caught a pass from Allen in a regular season game, with his rapport with his signal-caller and seemingly innate ability to simply get open making him a player who could surprise many with his production this fall.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of Allen’s go-to targets this weekend given their demonstrated connection.

Q: Final predictions? 

A: For this week, I’ll take Buffalo 31-21. For the season, I’ll take the Bills finishing 11-6 for the second straight year.

Please check Kyle out on Twitter/X for more Bills insight, news, analysis and more.

To check out our perspective on the matchup, you can read here.

Make sure to bookmark Cardinals On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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