ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five thoughts about the Buffalo Bills’ game Sunday night against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium:
1. It’s impossible to look at this game without thinking long and hard about the two previous times the Bills and Bengals shared a field.
The most obvious place to start is the Jan. 2 regular season encounter at Paycor. That was the night that had as profound an impact on sports, if not the entire nation, as any NFL game in recent memory. That was the night Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field, causing the game to be canceled and sparking national awareness of the vital importance of CPR training and the availability of AEDs in public places, especially high schools.
Hamlin’s survival makes the nightmare a bit easier to digest. His emerging role as an ambassador for life-saving conscientiousness even makes it possible to remember with a smile. Still, there no doubt will be some strange feelings for Hamlin and other Bills players, coaches and team officials who were there.
Then, there was the Bills’ 27-10 divisional-round loss against Bengals last January at Highmark Stadium. The Bills looked as ill-prepared to play as they have for any game since their Super Bowl window opened in earnest in 2020. Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ passing game shredded Buffalo’s defense. Cincinnati’s D had little problem rendering Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense ineffective.
2. Something’s got to give between these teams that have so far fallen short of lofty expectations.
Though the Bills have won two of their last three games, they have been in a tailspin. They played poorly enough to go 0-3 and are steadily losing whatever stature they held as a serious postseason contender. Legitimate questions have been raised about whether, at 5-3 and with all three losses in the AFC, they will even reach the playoffs.
The Bengals started the season slowly, losing three of their first four to become an even larger disappointment than the Bills. That was largely because their star quarterback, Joe Burrow, was dealing with the lingering effects of a calf injury he suffered in training camp.
It’s no coincidence that as Burrow’s health has steadily improved, so have the Bengals’ fortunes. Cincinnati has won three games in a row to improve to 4-3.
For both teams, a win would go a long way toward restoring elite status, while a loss would intensify doubts about belonging in the conversation about being among the AFC’s best.
3. Josh Allen must play a consistently strong game from start to finish.
He aggravated the injury he suffered to his right (throwing) shoulder in the Bills’ Oct. 15 victory against the New York Giants in the Oct. 26 Thursday win against Tampa Bay. Allen didn’t practice last Wednesday but did the rest of the week.
Assuming he’s fully healthy, Allen won’t have any excuse to be anything less than the top-level quarterback for which he’s being paid. Allen must come out ready to deliver big plays immediately. He must put the Bengals’ defense on notice that they’re in for a long day trying to cover Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and the rest of Allen’s targets.
This will be Cincinnati’s first exposure to rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid, who is starting his second game in place of injured Dawson Knox. Kincaid showed against the Bucs that he can be more of a game-changer than Knox with his superior speed, athleticism and precise route-running.
The Bills’ running game also must show up in a big way to help slow down the Bengals’ pass rush and keep their entire defense off-balance. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact newly acquired power back Leonard Fournette can make in his first game in a Buffalo uniform.
4. Joe Burrow looks as dangerous as ever.
Just before the start of the season, the Bengals gave him a contract extension making him the highest-paid player in the NFL. His injury made it tough for him to demonstrate the wisdom of the investment, but things have changed dramatically in the last few weeks.
Burrow has found his groove. He gets rid of the ball as quickly as any quarterback in the league and makes the most of his standout receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The Bills’ secondary has shown it does not match up well against the Bengals’ passing game.
How much that changes now that the Bills have acquired veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas and veteran defensive tackle Linval Joseph remains to be seen. Douglas came aboard Tuesday in a trade with Green Bay. He has only had a few days of practice with Buffalo but did start in all seven games he played with the Packers. Joseph arrived Thursday as a free agent. He last played in 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he spent eight regular-season games and the postseason.
5. There’s no underestimating the importance of this game for the Bills’ fortunes this season.
A victory would be massive, because it would help give them significant momentum entering a stretch that begins with winnable game against Denver and the New York Jets, then turns much more difficult with road games at Philadelphia and Kansas City (sandwiching a bye) and a home clash with Dallas. After that, the Bills travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers, take on New England at home and then finish the schedule at Miami.
A loss?
That would likely initiate plenty of talk about what the Bills need to fix after this season to get back to being a serious contender.