When: 8:30 PM ET, Monday, January 2, 2023
Where: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
Two of the hottest teams in the NFL square off in a pre-playoff showdown when the Buffalo Bills visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
The Bills (12-3) currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC after winning their past six games, while the Bengals (11-4) are No. 3 after recording seven straight victories.
Of course, Cincinnati is the defending AFC champion after reaching the Super Bowl last season, but the Bengals must beat the Bills to have any chance of securing the top seed and the coveted first-round bye in the AFC playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs (12-3) currently sit at No. 2.
“Buffalo is the team in front of us,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said. “They’re the biggest obstacle we’ve got to get to where we need to go, and so our focus is going to be 100 percent on Buffalo.”
The Bills can clinch the top seed by beating the Bengals if the Denver Broncos upset the Chiefs on Sunday. Buffalo holds the tiebreaker edge due to beating the Chiefs in Kansas City on Oct. 16.
“I get there’s a lot of implications for that. That’s in the back of our mind,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said of the ramifications. “Trying to control what we can control.”
The NFC’s San Francisco 49ers own the longest active winning streak at eight games, but the Bills and Bengals are equally hot.
Buffalo has topped 30 points three times during its winning streak, including a 35-13 road win over the Chicago Bears on Dec. 24 in which they rushed for a season-best 254 yards.
Devin Singletary rushed for 106 yards and James Cook added 99 — both season-high outputs — in a punishing ground assault.
“It was awesome. They ran it so hard,” Allen said of the Bills’ backs. “And we’ve been hoping for a performance like that for a while and to get our O-line going like that and opening holes, and they were super excited and happy about that.”
Cincinnati has topped 30 points three times during its streak but looked a little out of sorts late in a 22-18 road win over the New England Patriots on Dec. 24. The Bengals held a 22-0 halftime lead before holding on.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow knows his club has to finish better in games down the stretch. But he also proclaimed that there is no club in the NFL that scares the Bengals.
“We’ve beaten everybody,” Burrow said. “We know we can play against everybody. We’ve done it in the biggest of moments. Like I said, we’re treating every game the same. We’ve played everybody the last two years.”
Burrow and Allen are on the short list of the NFL’s top quarterbacks. Burrow is second in the NFL in passing yardage (4,260) and touchdown passes (34), while Allen rates sixth with 4,029 yards and third with 32 passing scores.
One guy Allen will be highly aware of is Bengals star linebacker Logan Wilson (team-best 115 tackles), his former college teammate at Wyoming.
“He can recognize routes, he flies around, he makes plays,” Allen said of the third-year pro. “Off the field, he’s one of the best dudes you’ll ever meet.”
Wilson is looking forward to facing Allen, a player he wasn’t allowed to tackle during Wyoming practices from 2015-17.
“It’s like the ‘Wyoming Showdown,'” Wilson said of the matchup. “Wyoming loves Josh and rightfully so. He’s the highest draft pick (seventh overall) we’ve had in school history. He’s represented the state very well. The whole state loves him.”
Bills center Mitch Morse has cleared the concussion protocol and returned to practice on Thursday. It was the sixth documented concussion of his career. Morse indicated he plans to play Monday, but the club will observe him closely.
Star receiver Stefon Diggs (illness), safety Jordan Poyer (knee) and running back Taiwan Jones (hamstring) sat out Thursday’s practice.
The Bengals hope to have tight end Hayden Hurst (calf) back after a three-game absence. He was a full practice participant on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
