ORCHARD PARK — A Josh Allen-Joe Burrow matchup seems tantalizing on the surface. It seems like a game built for those who like high-scoring games.
The duo are among the best passers on the planet, both having a claim to the top spot alongside Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Throw in a Cincinnati Bengals defense that allows the most points and yards in the NFL and a Buffalo Bills defense that’s been erratic all season.
The Bills might drive a stake through the hearts of those eagerly anticipating the matchup.
Although they were down two starting offensive tackles, the Bills pounded away on the ground at a Pittsburgh Steelers defense ranking 28th in pass defense. They did the same to a Miami Dolphins defense riddled with secondary injuries during their Week 3 game.
The Bengals are allowing a league-worst 256.8 passing yards per game. So Allen is going to sling the ball around the field, right? Don’t be so sure.
Even if the Bills get Spencer Brown and Dion Dawkins back this week, they still might not throw it often. Because the best way to beat Burrow might be to keep him on the sideline and make it a matchup between the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense and the No. 1 passing offense.
“The fullback dive is my favorite run,” Bills coach Sean McDermott joked.
The Bills are 5-5 with Allen as the starter against the Chiefs and 3-2 against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Buffalo has beaten Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Baker Mayfield, Aaron Rodgers — you name them, the Allen-led Bills have probably beaten them.
Not Burrow.
The Bills are 0-2 against Burrow — one regular-season, one postseason — and haven’t found many ways to stop him. Burrow has thrown for 590 yards and four touchdowns on 67.5% completions, without throwing an interception and taking two sacks.
“He knows pretty much what you’re doing,” McDermott said. “From what I hear he’s very much into the process of preparing and he’s a hard guy to fool in terms of back-end disguises and all that type of stuff. And usually the good ones are.”
A passing game that has been discombobulated, even with Brown and Dawkins, is going to have to be sharp. The Bills may need to reconcile with the idea of the game being in the 30s like it was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But the Bills are going to try their hardest to insure that doesn’t happen by running James Cook and running him a lot. The Bills rank 27th in passing attempts, but third in rushing attempts this season.
The Bills are 3-2 when Allen throws for over 250 yards, but the Bills are 8-1 when Cook eclipses 100 scrimmage yards and 7-1 when he has over 100 yards on the ground.
“I always want our identity to be finding the way to win that game,” Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “I don’t want our identity to be only one thing because if you can only do one thing and they take that one thing away, are you going to be able to win the games not having that one thing?”
While the Bengals have gone bombs away no matter who their quarterback has been this year, ranking second in the league in passing attempts, Allen has struggled at times and turnovers are starting to pop up. After going the first three games without an interception, Allen has 10 on the season and six over the last four games.
It’s not just Allen, though. The Bills have had 11 turnovers in the last four games, including at least two in all of them. The Bengals have scored 35 points off 13 turnovers this season, including 12 off five Ravens turnovers last week.
But the Bills shouldn’t feel comfortable tempting Burrow a short field. It’s a game the Bills need to win to stay close to the New England Patriots in the AFC East and avoid falling out of the final playoff spot.
“They have a quarterback who’s one of the best in the league and gives them kind of a revamped life,” Allen said. “… This last game they had a bunch of turnovers and we have to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to limit those and keep the ball on our side, time of possession and making sure we score when we have those opportunities.”
NOTES: CB Christian Benford was named AFC Player of the Week. … The Bills claimed six-time Pro Bowl CB Darius Slay Jr. off waivers from the Steelers and released CB Ja’Marcus Ingram. … LB Terrel Bernard (elbow), DE Joey Bosa (hamstring) and WR Joshua Palmer (ankle/knee) did not practice Wednesday. … McDermott said Bosa is week-to-week, but they are hoping it’s one to two instead of four to five. … OT Spencer Brown (shoulder), OT Dion Dawkins (concussion) and TE Dalton Kincaid (hamstring/knee) were limited.