The Buffalo Bills’ rollercoaster of a season continued last Sunday when the team unexpectedly, at least to outside observers, steamrolled the Pittsburgh Steelers en route to capturing a crucial 26-7 AFC victory in a hostile, late-November environment at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The win came just 10 days after the team had suffered an abysmal loss on the road to the Houston Texans (7-5 OVR, 4-1 AFCS) in what was then also a critical game in the playoff race.
The most recent victory over the Steelers (6-6 OVR, 2-1 AFCN), however, was much needed in terms of tie-breaker scenarios and current playoff seeding, and seeing the Bills pull together in the second half with a complete team effort to secure the precious win was a sight for sore eyes for those in the fanbase.
However, the same could be said about the team’s performance just two weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5 OVR, 2-0 NFCS) . . . and then the debacle in Texas turned into “Houston we have a problem.”
So, if media personalities or fans are at all skeptical about Buffalo’s latest performance — it’s entirely warranted.
The 2025 season has been a week-to-week paradigm shift in what type of product the Bills (8-4 OVR, 2-2 AFCE) have displayed on the field, and the trend is quite nauseating.
One week they’re up, and the next week their fall seems greater than ever before.
So, what is it going to take to put together back-to-back wins for head coach Sean McDermott and company heading into December?
“This is the NFL — people adjust. So, we got to get back at it this week . . . that’s the truth of the matter, and this is going to be a big challenge for our football team. This is a really good football team coming in here,” coach Sean McDermott said when speaking to the media on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we can afford to be inconsistent, not now. Not that you can ever be, don’t get me wrong, but you know our backs are against the wall. That’s the way it is, and that’s our mindset. So, you know, I think we’re all aware . . . there’s no time for that (up and down) right now. So, we got to go.”
The feat is something that Buffalo has failed to do since it posted consecutive wins in weeks 8 and 9 with victories over the Carolina Panthers (7-6 OVR, 2-1 NFCS) and Kansas City Chiefs (6-6 OVR, 1-2 AFCW), and, now with just five games remaining and their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, the team must figure out a way to string together a few in a row in the win column in order to secure their chance at a postseason run.
A win on Sunday at Highmark Stadium would greatly increase the odds of reaching that destination.
The Cincinnati Bengals (4-8 OVR, 3-1 AFCN) and quarterback Joe Burrow, however, aren’t going to roll over despite their measly playoff chances and current sub-.500 record.
Surging off a big AFC-North win of their own last week in Burrow’s return against the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving night, the Bengals will certainly come ready to play in Western New York on Sunday — it’ll be up to fellow quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills to match their energy from the start.
“I mean, anytime you have a chance to play against one of the premier quarterbacks in this league, you know you have to be ready for it. You have to put your best stuff out there, have a really good game-week of practice, and then go out there and execute on Sunday,” Allen said during his appearance with the media earlier in the week.
“(We’ve got to) continue to stick with the process of what we know works for us, have a good week of practice, and then again — go out there on Sunday and just go execute as best as you can. Put forth your best effort, and try to get a victory . . . you know, not worrying so much about the result, but more about the process of it and everything should take care of itself.”
While that is certainly easier said than done, something must give in terms of Buffalo’s current state of affairs.
With teams like the Texans, Chiefs, Steelers, and Bengals all within reach of the Bills’ playoff positioning, every game down the stretch will be crucial.
While the AFC East divisional title may be a tall task to ask of McDermott, Allen and company, their chances of obtaining a wildcard spot are just below 90% at the moment — that is, of course, if Buffalo is able to take care of business in its final five games, essentially needing at least three more wins to virtually lock up a playoff berth.
So, while a casual fan may look at Cincinnati’s record and chalk up Sunday’s game as an easy win for the Bills, the real truth is that the team has lost its previous two outings to the Bengals in recent years, and a third was seemingly on the way had safety Damar Hamlin’s unfortunate health scare not occurred in January of 2023.
Throw in the fact that Joe Burrow is 8-0 in his last eight starts overall since last season, and it’s clear to see that it’ll take an impressive outing from everyone involved if Buffalo is going to come out victorious.
In their efforts to do so, however, the team will seemingly be without the likes of wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle) and linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow) once again, while also being down defensive end Joey Bosa, who suffered a hamstring injury in the victory over the Steelers — a game in which his sack/forced fumble of Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the first drive of the third quarter led to a scoop-and-score touchdown by Christian Benford that opened the game wide open for Buffalo last week.
The injury will force Bosa, who is tied for a franchise-record with five forced fumbles this season and who also has five sacks, to miss his first game of the year for Buffalo, something which many thought in the offseason would be quite improbable given the defensive end’s history of ailments.
Still, though, the injury bug has finally caught up to the former Los Angeles Charger, and McDermott described the issue as “week-to-week”.
With that said, it’ll be up to fellow defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa, Gregory Rousseau, Javon Solomon, and likely practice squad call-up Morgan Fox to handle the duties in place of Bosa.
As for the offensive side of the ball, Buffalo will hope to get tight end Dalton Kincaid back in the mix as the former first-round pick has missed the past three games with a hamstring injury of his own. If Kincaid is able to push through and get back on the field, it’ll greatly boost the Bills’ chances of moving the ball against a susceptible Cincinnati defense that is currently ranked dead last in the league in yards allowed per game and touchdowns allowed with 410 yards/game and 45 touchdowns surrendered, respectively.
The Bengals are also ranked 31st in the league in rushing defense, allowing 153.3 yards per game and 14 total touchdowns on the ground this season according to FOX Sports.
In the end, regardless of what the recipe to success is, Buffalo’s offensive and defensive units will need to be sharp in order to go toe-to-toe with Burrow and the Bengals come Sunday afternoon.
“I mean, they got their franchise guy back, right? Burrow is one of those guys who could rip it anytime he wants to. He’s a smart quarterback. He can pull down and run. He has both his weapons (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) back, he has good tight ends, (and) he has a good running back, you know, so it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Bills’ veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson said on Wednesday.
“But, at the end of the day we got to go out there play (the) Buffalo Bills way.”
Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. on Sunday.
Editor’s babble: Many thanks for all the great contributions to our blog by John Green. You can also find John on Xwitter @JGreen_PRsports.
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