Cincinnati, Ohio (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills will be looking for their seventh-straight win in order to maintain the top seed in the AFC when they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Monday night.
To get the win, here are my three keys to the game, plus notes and stats:
1.) Defend ‘em all
The Bengals have weapons everywhere, and are especially incredibly deep at wide receiver. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd all already have over 700 yards on the season.
On top of those guys, Cincinnati also has Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine out of the backfield, and Hayden Hurst at tight end.
Quarterback Joe Burrow can pick matchups he wants on almost every play. The Bills will have to defend every inch of the field to make sure they don’t give him easy looks throughout the night, and force him to have to keep looking to find someone open.
The more the Bills defense can do that, the better chance they’ll have to get to Burrow, or at least force him to throw the ball where he doesn’t want to.
2.) Keep it rolling
The Bills have been terrific running the ball lately. James Cook has stepped up and turned it into a viable one-two punch with Devin Singletary in the backfield. Quarterback Josh Allen is, of course, also a weapon with his legs.
Buffalo now ranks first in the NFL in rushing yards per-play (5.29) and seventh in yards per-game (142.8).
It won’t be easy, because the Bengals rank seventh in yards per-game and 10th in yards per-play (4.28) allowed on the ground. Despite that, Buffalo will want to keep their strong run game going so they can not only control the game on offense, but also help keep the Bengals’ offense on the sidelines.
3.) Red zone mania
This game features two of the best red zone teams on both sides of the ball. That's pretty remarkable to think about for the Bills, considering they were ranked 23rd in red zone offense just over a month ago.
Now, the Bills are ninth in the league scoring touchdowns once inside the opponents’ 20-yard line (60.71%), while the Bengals are fifth in the NFL (66.67%).
Defensively, the Bengals are ninth in the NFL, allowing touchdowns on only 53.19% of possessions inside their 20-yard line. The Bills are the stingiest defense in the NFL in the red zone, ranking first overall and allowing touchdowns only 44.44% of the time.
Whichever team can figure out how to turn more of those trips into touchdowns and not field goals may decide this game.
NOTES AND STATS:
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