The Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals are two teams that can’t get away from each other in their quest for a Super Bowl. They’ll meet for the third time this year, including last year’s “Monday Night Football” game, which was eventually canceled due to safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest.
While Hamlin’s story revolves around Sunday night’s meeting, there are other topics of discussion concerning these two teams. Tim Graham and Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic’s Bills team break it down.
The Bills and Bengals are two teams vying for the elusive Super Bowl, and they have to go through each other to do so. What worries you the most about the Bengals’ game on Sunday night?
Graham: Last season, Joe Burrow lit up Buffalo. He moved the ball downfield with ease before the regular-season game was canceled, and he made tackle football look easy in the playoffs at Highmark Stadium. He appears to be back after struggling for a month to find consistency this year. Burrow had two touchdown passes and two interceptions in four games. Since then, he has eight touchdowns and two interceptions, including games against tough defenses in San Francisco and Seattle. Perhaps most concerning for the Bills is his relationship with Tee Higgins. Prior to last week, only 38.9% of Burrow’s throws to Higgins were caught. Higgins caught five of six targets for 69 yards against San Francisco. Last week, Burrow reminded everyone that he can run. He ran five times for 44 yards. Cincy’s defense has only allowed 18.6 points while winning four of five games. However, Josh Allen will be the best quarterback the Bengals have faced in a long time.
Buscaglia: The Bills’ ability to slow down the Bengals’ now-rising passing attack. While they did just acquire Rasul Douglas, there is no word on whether he will be ready to start, or even be active, for the Sunday night game.
If he’s ready, that’s a well-oiled Bengals passing game with two extreme wide receiver talents going up against a player who just arrived on the team a few days ago and is still learning the nuances of their play calls. If Douglas does not play, Dane Jackson, who has been targeted by pass-heavy teams in the past, will get another start. All of this means that the Bills offense needs to put up some points if they want to win on the road.
Dalton Kincaid’s first touchdown catch puts him on the board. Is this the beginning of the rookie TE’s involvement in the offense?
Graham: I’m still skeptical of rookie tight ends producing consistently week in and week out. However, Kincaid’s performance last week was outstanding. Remember, he was the Bills’ only tight end last week due to the injuries to Dawson Knox and Quintin Morris, and it was a short week against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that blitzed 37% of the time. Despite this, Kincaid ran routes all night. Sunday night could be Kincaid’s third busy game in a row. The Bengals’ defense has been kind to tight ends this season, allowing a touchdown in four of their seven games. Last week, George Kittle did not score but did have nine catches for 149 yards.
Buscaglia: Kincaid’s stock is skyrocketing, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he replaces Dawson Knox as Josh Allen’s second-most targeted pass catcher while he recovers from wrist surgery. Allen’s faith in the rookie tight end is palpable, as are his natural route running and pass-catching abilities. The Bills even attempted a Travis Kelce-style pitch play from inside the 5-yard line for a touchdown, demonstrating how much they trust him in their offense. Kincaid played on 84 percent of the offensive snaps last week, but that figure could have been inflated because he was the game’s only active tight end.
His snap count may be reduced slightly now that backup Quintin Morris is expected to return from a two-game injury absence, but Allen should continue to look his way — especially if Stefon Diggs is unavailable.
