In a matchup of two teams trending in the wrong direction the Buffalo Bills head to Cincinnati to take on Andy Dalton and the Bengals. The Bills come into this one sitting at 4-5 for third in the AFC East. Fresh off a bye week the Bills have gone on to lose their previous three games after rattling off a season-high four game win streak. The Bengals, on the other hand, have not been much better as they are 3-5-1 and have lost three of their last five games with one tie in between leaving them at third in the AFC North. The Bengals will be coming in on a short week after falling on Monday Night Football to the New York Giants. These are two teams looking to regain their form that desperately can use a victory to stay relevant.
Following their much-needed bye week, the Buffalo Bills have looked to shake things up personnel wise. The bye week allowed the Bills to heal up from the numerous injuries they have been dealing with in the first half of the season as LeSean McCoy looks to be healthy once again with Marcel Dareus and Robert Woods returning to form. Most notably wide receiver Sammy Watkins is slowly making his way back from injury and could see himself practicing in the upcoming week. As far as shaking things up cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman has been benched in favor of rookie Kevon Seymour. “What makes a big difference is teams aren’t fearing throwing the ball vertically against us, and I think that’s kind of what, when you look at why we’re not as good or whatever, I think that’s the biggest issue. You got to be able to make plays down the field and when people are throwing jump balls out there, the biggest difference is they’re making plays and we’re not,” said Bills head coach Rex Ryan. “We’re going to give (Kevon) Seymour opportunities at the nickel, we’re going to give different players opportunity at safety because we have to play better. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. We have to play better, get more production at the backend than we’re getting.”
Against a prolific Bengals offense that ranks in the top ten in most offensive categories the Bills secondary can have their hands full, specifically with pro-bowl receiver A.J. Green. Green needs only 36-yards receiving to surpass 1,000 yards on the season yet again, and the return of Tyler Eifert to the lineup should only help him get the open looks he needs. On the other hand, the Bengals defense has been a sore spot for them all season as they have ranked near the bottom in the league in most categories, an unlikely stat for a Marvin Lewis team. Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor explained, “those guys know each other like the back of their hands and they’ve been playing at a high level for a while. They have a great rush, some tall guys up front and even inside with Geno Atkins. You’ve got back men that have been playing at a high level for a while and the corner and a younger athletic guy on the other side. Like I said, they’re just a veteran group that plays well together and we definitely have to execute.”
Offensively the Bills are coming off a matchup on Monday night two weeks ago against the Seattle Seahawks that was arguably their best of the season. The Bills ran for over 150-yards in the game while Taylor threw for 289 yards and caught the eyes of those around the league, especially his own coaches. “I’ve been a big supporter of Tyrod’s, you know, and I think he’s a heck of a player. I think the fact that, you know we had our receivers fairly healthy, I think that was a big part of that. Of why he looked impressive. You know it’s tough to play when you’ve got four, five of your receivers out. But I think that was it. But I’m not dismissing the fact that we went against a really good defense and were able to control the game. 480 yards of offense against the Seattle defense. I don’t think that’s been done very often. 30 first downs, was a great game by Tyrod,” said Rex Ryan.
In this one, the Bills offense needs to pick up where they left off and take advantage of a lackluster Bengals defense who has not played up to their potential. Defensively the Bills will look to continue to ride their dominant passing attack that leads the league in sacks with the hopes to see improvements from their secondary. The recently signed James Ihedigbo looks to be a veteran presence the Bills need especially in the absence of Aaron Williams from injury. The Bills and Bengals currently sit at 11th and 13th respectively in the current wild-card standings and a win for either squad would drastically improve their chances moving forward. A loss could potentially end either of these teams seasons entirely as it would give them to much ground to make up.
