Sammy Watkins was drafted to be the franchise wide receiver of the Buffalo Bills. The team gave up a lot to get him and fully expect Watkins to be the go-to guy for the quarterback. However, in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Watkins was left without a catch and was not even targeted until the fourth quarter. Instead, Tyrod Taylor and Percy Harvin showed off great chemistry while LeSean McCoy helped in the receiving game. While Watkins is happy with the win, he wants the catches.
"When we winning, it's not a problem," Watkins said, via Syracuse.com. "Now if we would have lost this game and I had zero yards and zero catches, it probably would have been a problem. For the most part, it's Week 1. We have 15, 16 more games and the playoffs. You can't really base it off yards. The only thing I can do is put everything on film. The coaches see I'm open. They saw. It's just how the game went and other guys had opportunities."
Watkins missed the entire preseason with a glute injury which took away time for him to begin gaining chemistry with Taylor. In the meantime, both Harvin and Robert Woods were working every day with the quarterback and the chemistry showed. Fantasy owners were likely not thrilled with Watkins getting such little attention even if the team won. Head coach Rex Ryan really did not buy into the idea that it was a real issue.
"I think sometimes it's going to be like that," Ryan said, via the Buffalo News. "Whatever the plan is. Quite honestly, we were trying to play keep away a little bit from Indianapolis and had some more underneath throws. He was open a couple times. Protection broke down. We could've had a 60- or 70-yard touchdown. Is it rare that Sammy went without a catch? Yeah, it'll probably happen once this season. Our focus is to win the game."
Will Watkins get more attention in Week 2? That is really unknown. With a dynamic back like McCoy and a quarterback that can make moves with his legs, the Bills have a lot more options than just throwing to the wide receiver every play. Anthony Dixon did not seem to mind the lack of involvement from other players. He made it clear that the Bills' win was a warning shot to other teams.
"That was a statement," Dixon said, via the Buffalo News. "We feel like a problem for the league. So, I guess, look out! Buffalo's on the way."
