It was a great dominant win for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, dominating the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 26-7 routing on their own turf. This win kept the Bills alive in the AFC playoff picture and their defense looked absolutely great against an average Steelers offense. However, the Bills’ defense was hit with an injury that could affect them in Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Edge rusher Joey Bosa started the turnaround for the Bills against Pittsburgh, sacking Aaron Rodgers to start off the second half and forcing a fumble in which Christian Benford picked it up and ran it back to give the Bills a 10-7 lead. Without that play from Bosa, who knows if the Bills would have went on their run that they did.
As the game went on, it was reported that Bosa suffered a hamstring injury and was questionable to return. Now, his status for this coming Sunday against the Bengals is up in the air. According to Sean McDermott per Sal Capaccio, McDermott mentioned that when it comes to Bosa's injury, the team will "see where that goes."
Joey Bosa may not play vs. Bengals in crucial AFC matchup
It’s one thing to beat down an offense that is very vanilla and hasn’t had a spark since the beginning of the season. It’s another to go up against an offense like Cincinnati and not have one of your best players making plays. Joe Burrow made his return on Thanksgiving and he helped the Bengals deliver a big beatdown to the Ravens.
Burrow is 2-1 against the Bills in his career, which includes a dominant 27-10 win in the playoffs in 2023. Cincinnati’s offense looks scary and Buffalo’s defense is just slowly starting to play somewhat good football. If they don’t have Bosa this Sunday, the pass rush for Buffalo could be very close to nonexistent.
Greg Rousseau has not been an effective pass rusher. He’s more of a run-stopping defender. A.J. Epenesa can make plays, but not at a consistent rate like Bosa. When it comes it hamstring injuries, it’s usually not a good sign for a player’s availability. Even if Bosa does suit up, it may not be at true strength.