Devin Singletary, Zack Moss split work in Week 1 win over Rams

The Buffalo Bills open the season against the defending champion Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. The Bills have high hopes to take that crown from the Rams and win the franchise’s first championship this season. Buffalo has a very solid aerial attack with QB Josh Allen, but the ground game remains a question mark. Led by Devin Singletary, the Bills are also expected to use rookie RB James Cook and Zack Moss should also be in the mix in the backfield.

Here we’re going to track the performance of the Bills running backs in the opener vs. the Rams.

Bills RB usage in Week 1 vs. Rams

Final Snap Count

Devin Singletary — 34
Zack Moss — 22
James Cook — 3

Final update — Singletary and Moss appear to be in a clear split with the former getting the majority of the work. Moss has fumble issues and will likely lose touches to Allen and even Cook as the season progresses. The fumbles will hurt Moss and Cook, particularly the rookie. Singletary will get usage and the Bills offense will have more scoring opportunities and red zone situations throughout the season. Moss and Cook are trending down and could be worth dropping in a week or two depending on how things go.

Fourth quarter update — The Bills will almost certainly come away with the win in the opener. Singletary may have distanced himself as the RB1 by doing nothing. Both Cook and Moss have lost fumbles. Singletary should continue to pace the backfield moving forward. The issue is usage/touches. Allen leaches carries and the Bills’ have a great receiving core led by Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs. Singletary may be RB1 but it may not translate to many big fantasy performances.

Fourth quarter update — Allen is getting it going on the ground and got into the end zone. This could be a common theme this season; Allen scoring while the RBs take a back seat. Moss is up to five catches and is almost to double-digit fantasy points in PPR formats.

Third quarter update — The touches continue to be pretty close between Singletary and Moss in this game. Singletary should take over more of the pass-catching role while Moss gets short yardage.

Halftime update — So the split between Singletary and Moss continues. Neither has been very effective on the ground or in the passing game. Granted, Josh Allen has turned the ball over a few times. Still, it’s a tie game 10-10 at the half and we should see similar offensive strategies in the second half. Singletary should see goal line work and Moss could return big value based solely on receptions.

Second quarter update — We’ve got updated snap counts and Moss is gaining on Singletary. We should see Singletary get goal line work, but Moss getting all the targets in the passing game is encouraging for his stock this season.

Second quarter update — Cook got in for his first career NFL carry and it did not go well. He fumbled his first carry and we may not see the rookie the rest of the game. Moss caught another pass before the fumble. So it seem Singletary will be the early-down back and Moss will mix in on passing downs and 3rd down.

Opening drive — The Bills got out to a quick start with a TD for Gabe Davis on the opening drive of the season. In terms of RB split, it was similar to last season with Singletary and Moss. Singletary has nine yards on two carries and got a catch for six yards. Moss added one carry and also got work in the passing game with a catch for eight yards.