Just a few weeks ago, the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals seemed like a much more winnable game, even with the team’s inconsistencies lingering. But that all changed when Joe Burrow returned against the Baltimore Ravens and led his team to a victory that keeps their postseason hopes alive and well.
That puts a significant amount of pressure on the Bills in this game. Buffalo needs a lot to go its way to have a shot at winning the AFC East, so preserving their favorable positioning in the Wild Card race is a must.
Joe Burrow isn’t the only challenging aspect of the contest, though. He and other recent developments with the Bengals’ quick turnaround are what stand between the Bills picking up a critical win down the stretch or taking a serious hit in the AFC standings.
Buffalo Bills are confronting 3 serious issues that could swing Week 14 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow is back with a purpose
Burrow isn’t one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for no reason. If anyone can pull their team from 3-8 to a spot in the postseason, he’s on the shortlist of plausible candidates.
His return saw him throw for 246 yards and two scores. He connected with Ja’Marr Chase on seven of 14 targets for 110 yards despite not having Tee Higgins available. Higgins is expected back, and tight end Mike Gesicki made his return to the lineup last week as well, giving Burrow his full cast of pass-catchers.
Buffalo must ensure that the pressure to survive rests on the Bengals’ collective shoulders instead of keeping it for themselves. It’s a must-win game for both franchises, but it can’t be lost on either side that a loss for Cincinnati would be far more crippling than for Buffalo.
Without Joey Bosa, and potentially A.J. Epenesa as well, putting pressure on Burrow in the pocket, the Bills’ top-ranked passing defense will surely take a hit. It will be up to the secondary to step up and make plays on the ball while forcing Burow to throw into tight coverage.
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Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy are becoming a problem
The Bengals have the second-lowest sack total in the NFL, but that doesn’t tell the full story of the Bengals' pass rush. Yes, they’ll be without star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson yet again, but the two young bulls on the edge are starting to grow into their own.
In the past four games, Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy have combined for 34 pressures, 13 hurries, seven quarterback hits and four sacks. Ossai had a career day against Baltimore, picking up two sacks, including a strip-sack on Lamar Jackson.
Josh Allen wasn’t sacked against Pittsburgh despite missing both of his starting tackles. So far, it isn’t clear whether Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown will be back in their spot. But whether it’s the starters or Alec Anderson and Ryan Van Demark again, Buffalo cannot discredit the recent impact made by these two young pass rushers.
Bengals forced Ravens to ignore their own rushing attack
The Baltimore Ravens have the league’s fifth-ranked rushing offense, but outside of three garbage-time runs, they rushed just 19 times for 106 yards. Derrick Henry finished with only 10 carries for 60 yards, boosted by a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
The Bengals put the pressure on Baltimore to use their passing game to keep up, which didn’t play out well for the league’s 28th-ranked passing offense.
While Buffalo has a more consistent passing game compared to Baltimore this season, it’s not the offense’s primary strength at this point of the campaign. Buffalo cannot allow the Bengals to dictate the pace of the game and force a pass-happy shootout. The best way to combat that is by sticking with a rushing attack that just put together its best performance of the season.