After the Buffalo Bills bludgeoned the Pittsburgh Steelers with their rushing attack, it seemed reasonable to expect Joe Brady's offense to lean on James Cook more through December as the team pushes to clinch a spot in the postseason.
Cook had 18 carries for 80 yards and two catches for 31 yards against Cincinnati. A goal-line fumble in the third quarter wiped away a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ate up nearly seven-and-a-half minutes of game time. The Bengals responded with a similar drive of their own, only theirs ended with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo needed a spark from Christian Benford and a response from Josh Allen to pull out the comeback victory. Allen’s 40-yard touchdown dash through the snow and Benford’s subsequent 63-yard pick-six put Buffalo out in front for good.
It’s a tough way to win critical December games like last week’s, but they don’t count any less in the race to the postseason. With more challenges ahead to close out a turbulent 2025 campaign, the Bills are taking the outcome as a positive trend that the team can lean on.
Joe Brady points to adaptability as the Buffalo Bills’ biggest late-season strength
"We want to be able to show that we can win different ways and different styles of games," Offensive coordinator Joe Brady said on Monday. "Finding ways to win football games is the most important thing right now, and showing that we can do it in different ways, I think, is equally as important."
Granted, as Brady admits, it’s easier to find a way to win tight games when Allen puts on the cape for the Bills’ offense as he did last Sunday.
"When you have Josh Allen at quarterback, as long as there's time on the clock, you're going to be able to score points. The game's not over," Brady said.
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Brady is right, we’re at the point of the season where winning is all that matters. How you do it is secondary.
Of course, that’s not to completely discredit Buffalo’s weaknesses. Buffalo found success in the passing game by utilizing their tight ends effectively, though Cincinnati’s defense has been the league’s worst at defending the position. Otherwise, their wide receivers were hardly productive against Cincinnati beyond Khalil Shakir’s wild touchdown catch. No receiver saw more than three targets, none had more than two catches, and none had more than 21 yards.
It’s a credit to the collective effort of Brady’s offense and certainly the talents of Josh Allen to win despite so many reasons pointing to the contrary. Certainly, they’ll need more of that as the season comes to a close and the pressure begins to ramp up even more.