We have an AFC clash between teams that are familiar with each other despite not being in the same division. It will be the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers that will battle for a late afternoon showdown that means to each team than fans may think. The Bills are coming in at 7-4 and the Steelers are right behind them at 6-5.
With the Baltimore Ravens losing on Thanksgiving, the Steelers have (for the moment), jumped up ahead of them in the AFC North. However, the Bills are currently the 7th seed in the conference and if they lose, there is a chance that they could be on the outside looking in.
The Bills received bad news this past Friday, as they will be going into this game without both of their starting tackles in Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, per Adam Schefter. That news alone could very well hurt Buffalo’s passing attack. In that case, the Bills want to rely heavily on the rushing attack that is led by James Cook.
James Cook has chance to be huge X-factor for Bills in Week 13
Cook is having himself yet another great season. He’s already got over 1,000 yards on the ground as well as 8 touchdowns. In six games this season, Cook has rushed for over 100 yards and the Bills are 5-1 when Cook reaches the century mark.
The Steelers are giving up over 100 yards per game on the ground, setting Cook up for hopefully another productive game where he might just keep climbing the franchise record books.
According to the Buffalo Bills’ PR X account, if Cook can get two rushing touchdowns against the Steelers, he will tie former fan-favorite running back Fred Jackson for the fifth-most rushing touchdowns in Bills history.
It took Jackson 8 seasons to reach 30 rushing touchdowns. With Cook set to tie him as soon as today, that just shows you how important Cook has been to this Bills offense since he took over as the starter (which was his second season in the league).
With the Bills missing both of their tackles in the trenches, they should strongly make their rushing attack their go-to against the Steelers. Yes, it won’t be the most exciting matchup as a lot of fans would rather see the ball go through the air. However at this point, the Bills just have to find what works for them to get their must-needed wins from here on out.