The Buffalo Bills are heading into an AFC showdown with the Denver Broncos and things are not looking great at all for Buffalo’s offense. Josh Allen is still recovering from the hits he took against the Jaguars, and now the Bills have lost three wide receivers this past week.
Joshua Palmer was placed on the IR, and both Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers tore their ACLs. The Bills are down bad. Somehow, their wide receiver room looks worse than it did before.
In addition, James Cook did contribute much in the run game at Jacksonville, but then again the Jaguars were a huge threat to Buffalo’s rushing attack. That should hopefully change this weekend in Denver.
While this Denver defense has some weaknesses, Buffalo’s offense comes into this game with a bit of a mismatch because of the injuries. If Buffalo wants to punch their ticket to the AFC championship for a second consecutive year, these players have to deliver big time for the offense.
Bills players who must make an impact on offense vs. Broncos
RB James Cook
Buffalo finished the regular season with the best rushing attack in all of football. James Cook won the rushing title and without him, the offense wouldn’t have moved as well as they did. Against Jacksonville’s No. 1 run-defense, Cook was not a threat.
The good news is that Denver is a bit of a more favorable matchup for him so Joe Brady has to utilize him a lot. Heck, the Bills should be going into a jumbo set and just running it up and down the field considering the lack of wide receiver depth the Bills have.
Cook proved to be the best back in football this season, now it’s time to show it against the Broncos.
TE Dawson Knox
Obviously, the Bills won’t just run it. They are going to be put in passing situations, but they have to be strategic about it. Buffalo could very well run a lot of play-action to get the tight ends involved and I believe that is where someone like Dawson Knox could get more looks than he usually does.
You have Knox and Dalton Kincaid going out to the flat or midfield while Jackson Hawes provides protection off the edge. There is a case to be made that a non-WR will lead the Bills in receiving yards on Saturday.
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WR Keon Coleman
With all of the losses that the Bills have had at wide receiver, it’s now or never for Keon Coleman. He’s had a rough sophomore season with the lack of production and being a healthy scratch, but if he wants to show the Bills that they made the right choice to draft him then this is the game.
Eventually, Buffalo is going to have to push the ball down the field. The Bills drafted Coleman to be the big receiver down the field to catch those contested passes. There is only so much work that Brandin Cooks can do, so Coleman will have to take a huge step forward to help the Bills.
QB Josh Allen
At the end of the day, this game could come down to the one who keeps the Bills going. Josh Allen has put on the Superman cape in many games, and there won’t be any surprises if he has to do it again.
Whether it’s with his arm or his legs, Allen is going to have to be near-perfect if the Bills want any shot at taking down the top-seeded Broncos.