Bengals vs Bills Game Preview: Impact Players to Watch & Picks to Win | NFL Week 14

Bengals vs Bills Game Preview: Impact Players to Watch & Picks to Win | NFL Week 14

Welcome back to HQ Spotlight. You know, it’s been a roller coaster behind center in Cincinnati. It all stems around the quarterback spot. Joe Burrow has really just changed the landscape in Cincinnati for this team when he’s healthy. You see the numbers there, whether it’s the record, whether it’s points per game, yards per game. Joe has certainly been the catalyst for success for the Bengals. But, as I mentioned, health has been a concern. So, it’s no surprise that they come into this one kind of like an underdog. However, his top target, Jamar Chase, isn’t worried about any of that because he knows that Joe Burrow needs to be behind center. Here’s more. And I think Joe just doing what Captain America could do. Save us the day. You know what I’m saying? And um that’s what we need him to do as a quarterback, as a leader of the offense of the whole team. You know, we need him to step up and be be that guy. Has he been you like he’s always kind of been that where like when the challenge is placed in front of him where people say you can’t do something, it sort of brings another level out of him? 100%. I think that adds fire to him. Fires to his fuel all the time. And I think that’s what he likes. I think that’s really what makes his personality if I’m being honest. Whole lot of personality in that Bengals locker room. Whole lot of personality joining the spotlight today with the push in the pile crew. JP Aosta and Mike Rener. Guys, uh this is going to be an interesting one. We saw Joe Burrow return to the game last week against the Ravens. He got his win. Uh Cincinnati now 3 and 0 and their quarterback one is behind center. So it feels like a loaded question when we think about the playoff picture here. I believe last time I looked there’s like a 2.7% chance the Bengals can get in. Um but Rener, when Joe Burrow is in the game, it feels like we have these conversations every year. You can never count them out. So why is he so pivotal to what Cincinnati does? Because I mean one, he’s a top five quarterback in the NFL. If we know anything about like the upper echelon of quarterbacks, they have historically raised their levels of teams like consistently just into the playoff level. And two, the AFC North is terrible this year. like it is the worst division in the FC by far. It’s not even close. So even last year’s version of the Bengals, which was a really flawed team, you know, went nine and eight, they would be so far and away the best team in the AFC North this year. So I think with Burrow back and with the defense kind of resurgent of late, three straight games now, holding their opponent offenses to 20 points or less, I think this Bengals team is the best team in the SC North going forward. It’s just have they dug themselves too much of a hole? And I think with Joe Burrow on the field with the Bengals offense, he maximizes so much of what they can do. He makes the offensive line correct. A lot of times when they’re not really in sync together with the offensive line, Joe Burrow’s beating the blitz with his eyes, with his mind, or with his arm. And I think that’s something that you saw with Jake Browning, Joe Flacco in the game. Neither of those guys can do that at the level that Joe Burrow can. So, not only does he raise the ceiling of this Bengals offense, but he also raises the floor just by mitigating pressure, mitigating negative plays. And I think that ability to be a constant threat to score a touchdown on every single drive, I think it helps out the defense. So, Joe Burrow coming back and being healthy is really a force multiplier for the entire team. Burrow looking to make it nine straight wins across nine starts. Of course, we know he missed some time dealing with the toe injury. Um he’s also 2 and 0 against the Bills which means the guy on the other side is 0 and2 in these situations. Of course talking about Josh Allen fellas we know Josh is not necessarily motivated by the material right the revenge games all that stuff he just goes out and plays but JP how much does that hang on his mind especially when you think about this season for the Bills hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows either. I think it hangs on him a little bit, especially because like you said, the Bills this season among all the teams with the elite quarterbacks in the AFC. We said going into the season it was the Bengals, Ravens, Bills, and the Chiefs. I think all those teams have had their respective struggles, but the Bills have the widest margin for error given their run game. But it feels like Josh Allen in the passing game have been a little bit up and down. I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity in this game to really write the ship for them defensive against the Bengals defense. So, I think Joe Josh Allen’s going to come out of this game. He’s going to come out in this game and really try and be effective as a downfield passer. I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities for him to do that, especially given the state of this Bengals defense, which is still kind of awful. So, I think uh Josh Allen’s going to really come out of this game with a little bit more fire, a little bit more intensity, because they need every win they can get. I’ll say this though, I don’t think it’s the week 14 matchup that fuels Josh Allen, right? It’s those playoff losses to Joe Burrow, to Patrick Mahomes, to the other top quarterbacks in the AFC that really probably grind his gear. So, even a win here and against a Bengals team that’s 4 and8, it ain’t going to exercise those demons. That’s going to come playoff time. Yeah, it’s certainly context matters when we talk about these wins and losses, but both of these teams really need a win. So, to both of your points there, we’ll see how much it really plays a factor. I do want to get into an impact player here in this one. And we’ll start with Cincinnati. Of course, they’re coming off of that 3214 win against the Ravens on Thanksgiving. They entered that game allowing an NFL high 32.7 points per game. Both of you guys are targeting the defense in this one. So, Mike, I’ll I’ll start with you. Who’s going to help the defense continue uh to shrink that number as the rest of the season goes on? I’m going to be watching Barrett Carter, the Bengals linebacker. Early on this season, like the first half of the season, the Bengals had the worst linebacking core in the NFL. It was one of the worst linebacks truly I’ve ever seen. That’s just kind of how it goes when you’re starting two rookies at that position. But I think Carter has come on a little bit of late. He was top 10 in the NFL missed tackles, but the past two weeks he hasn’t missed one. Um I think he is the guy that the second level defenders in this game are going to be who gets targeted by this Bill’s rushing attack, by their play action attack. So he needs to have a good game if the Bengals are going to try to overcome and shut down this Bill’s offense. I’m going with defensive end Miles Murphy. I think with Trey Hendrickson out, somebody has to step up on that defensive line in the pass rush department. And since week 11, Miles Murphy has a 15.2% pressure rate. He’s been getting after the quarterback. I think he’s really starting to grow into the player that they thought they were getting out of Clemson. So, because this Bills team might still be without Spencer Brown, it still might be a little bit up and down for them on the offensive line given all their injuries. I think Miles Murphy has the body type to really stack guys in the run game. But as a pass rusher, I think getting after Josh Allen and forcing him to make some uncomfortable decisions is going to really help this Bengals defense. So Miles Murphy has to have a big game. All right, let’s talk about the Bills because both of you guys are looking at guys that we’ve seen be impact players all season long. We had Christian Benford with some big defensive plays against Pittsburgh. JP, how does he keep it rolling? Well, when you think about the Bengals, you think about Jamar Chase T. Higgins who was coming back from a concussion in this game. Christian Benford is going to have to be at his best. I think he’s very quietly been incredibly effective as a run defender in this season for the Bills with as much cover too as they play. They try and get him into action as a run defender making tackles near the line of scrimmage and he also makes plays on the ball. He is a very well-rounded corner but in this game he’s going to have to be at his best in coverage because you have a major problem with T. Higgins and Jamar Chase on the field. You can’t just travel and shadow Jamar Chase with Benford. So I think he’s going to have to be impactful and shutting down one side of the field. So, uh, Buffalo can really start shifting their coverage and clouding to one side of the field so Benford can play one-on-one. I’m going to be looking at the offensive side of the ball and specifically running back James Cook for two big reasons. One is it should be snowing on Sunday. The forecast calls for flurries that should feature the ground game. And two, this Bills team has quietly been a much different offense from last season. They are much more runheavy than they’ve ever been. James Cook is six carries away from his career high and we’re in week 14 here. We got five more games left and he’s about to break that. So last week he had 32 carries in bad weather up in Buffalo. I think he could get that number or more, especially against a Bengals rushing defense this year. That is dead last against under center runs in terms of yards allowed. Bills, they’re number one in the NFL in that category. That’s a mismatch. And and it’s you got to look at what they were able to do against Pittsburgh, too. I mean, that was a historic performance in terms of the in terms of the rush yards. James Cook there, 144 yards on 32 carries. So, we’re keeping our eye on that record there. But you guys know what time it is. It is game prediction time. I mentioned it earlier. Josh Allen 0 and2 against Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow trying to stay unbeaten in 2025. Mike, I will give you first word here. Give me your game prediction. I’m going with the Bills. There’s too many matchups that favor him with that running game that I just alluded to, but also they’re the number one defense in the NFL this year in passing yards allowed. That’s really where the Bengals want to make their money. They’re 31st in rushing attempts this season. So, they don’t even try to run the football. So, given the bad weather, I think that really favors the Buffalo Bills in this one. I’m also going to go with the Bills here. And again, given the weather, given the snow flurries, this feels like a game that the Bills should really lean on the strength of their team, which is the offensive line and the run game, like Mike said, James Cook is having a career year. Use Josh Allen as sort of your battering ram in this game. You can really shorten the game and and help your defense out by not giving Joe Burr as many chance as many chances to really affect the game as a passer. to try and make them play from behind because when this team plays from a lead, when the Bills have a lead, they are still one of the most effective rushing offenses in the NFL. So dynamic, so physical up front. So I think with that physicality and the fact that the Bengals still aren’t very trustworthy defending the run this season, I’m going to go with the Bills at home in the snow, it feels like a real like real Buffalo Bills type of game. It feels like the Cincinnati Bengals are going to win this game. I don’t know why. Don’t tell me the science behind it. I just that’s what I’m feeling in my in my soul here. Um fellas, appreciate the time. I know you’re sticking around to talk more football. Uh before we get there though, I want to point your attention to our Sundays here at CBS Sports HQ. Uh come hang without come hang out with us postgame 8:20 Eastern. Damen Harris, Pete Prrisco, Ran Carth, and myself. Uh breaking down the latest headlines, reacting to all the craziness that happens on Sundays.

Mike Renner and J.P. Acosta join CBS Sports HQ to preview the Week 14 NFL matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills.

[00:00:00] How Joe Burrow keeps Bengals in playoff contention
[00:03:09] Can Josh Allen get his first win vs Joe Burrow?
[00:04:45] Bengals Impact Players to Watch
[00:06:20] Bills Impact Players to Watch
[00:08:10] Picks to Win

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#nfl #gamepreview #bengals #bills #joeburrow #joshallen