Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals: Three Keys to the Game
By Dennis Moody
Can the Bills secondary shut down A.J. Green?
Last year when the Bills faced the Bengals in Cincinnati, Buffalo escaped with a 16 to 12 victory. They were fortunate that A.J. Green hurt his right hamstring on the first pass, and did not return to the game.
If Green was able to play, he could have swung the balance of the game in favor of the Bengals. To be fair to Buffalo, their team was already banged up going into that game and they lost LeSean McCoy to a thumb injury during the game so they weren’t at full strength either.
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Buffalo’s defensive backs did well last week against Julio Jones who is as tough as any wide receiver to cover. They limited him to 30 yards receiving on 3 receptions in one half of play before he left the game with a hip flexor injury.
Like Jones, Green is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL and will present a huge problem for the Bills secondary this Sunday. Green’s quickness and size make him a challenge unlike almost any other receiver in the league.
Buffalo will need to limit his effectiveness, otherwise, his success will force the defense to commit extra men to him thus opening up opportunities for other Bengals players to make more of an impact.
Cincinnati could shift Green to the slot for a more favorable matchup like Atlanta did with Jones last week since the Bills don’t normally change up their coverage based on where the receivers of their opponents line up.
If Buffalo can limit Green, the Bengals offense could be in for a long day since their running game has struggled this year averaging only 88.8 yards per game as a team.