Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills are entering Sunday’s AFC showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals banged up on the defensive side of the ball.
Star pass rusher Joey Bosa is dealing with a hamstring injury and is expected to miss this week’s game. Veteran defensive end A.J. Epenesa popped up on the injury report on Thursday with a foot injury, making his status unclear for the game.
With several key pieces missing on defense, Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense may need to keep up with Joe Burrow and company in a shootout. Allen may be getting one of his top targets back from injury this week. Still, the circumstances around tight end Dalton Kincaid’s extended absence have created even more questions about how healthy he’ll be if he can play.
Kincaid has been limited in practice the past two days, and an added knee injury designation was added on the Wednesday injury report. The 26-year-old dealt with a serious knee injury last season but was only listed with a hamstring injury the past few weeks.
On Thursday, Kincaid was wearing a brace on his left knee during practice. He has a chance to return for Sunday’s game, but it’s worth wondering if he’ll be at 100%. The Bills are also without wide receiver Joshua Palmer, who hasn’t practiced this week because of an ankle injury.
The Bengals are one of the worst defenses in the NFL when it comes to defending against tight ends. Cincinnati has given up 13 touchdowns to tight ends this season – the most any team has allowed. Getting Kincaid back could be a massive boost for the Bills’ passing offense, which has amassed just 183 and 123 yards in their past two games.
Kincaid has had a breakout season in the games he’s been healthy enough to play. He leads the Bills with four touchdowns, and analysts have heavily praised him for his contributions. He’s trending in the direction of playing and the Bills could lesson his work load as they continue to rely on their run game. They set an Acrisure Stadium record with 249 rushing yards last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bengals run defense is the second-worst unit in the league, allowing .12 EPA per rush. The only team worse this season defending the run is the New York Giants. The Bills have also struggled to stop the run and they could be without two of their top edge defenders. That could mean even more snaps for rookie defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, who’s been playing some at defensive end because of the injuries.