Allen headlines our five players to watch this week
The Buffalo Bills will host the New York Jets on Sunday in their final home game of the 2024 regular season. The Bills are guaranteed one playoff game at home in the postseason, and if they win against the Jets, they would make it so that Highmark Stadium would play host to another playoff game if Buffalo wins in the wild card round.
Even as the Jets stumble through another lost season, their fourteenth in a row without a playoff berth, the Bills can’t let up this week. Divisional games are always difficult no matter the records of the teams involved—see last week’s 24-21 victory over a New England Patriots team that has been at the bottom of the league’s standings since September for confirmation. Buffalo has to come out and play quality football this week.
We have plenty of options for our five players to watch this week, but we’ll start with the one who generates the most discussion.
QB Josh Allen
Here I am jumping into the MVP discussion. I hate to be a letdown, but I couldn’t possibly care less whether or not Allen is voted the league’s MVP. Only two players in Buffalo history have won the award—they were O.J. Simpson in 1973 and Thurman Thomas in 1991—and in both seasons, the Bills fell short of the ultimate goal, which is to win the Super Bowl. Allen could literally win the award every season. Whether voters choose to give it to him or not is another thing entirely.
This week, I’m looking for Allen to play against a defense that usually gives him trouble. The Jets have been a thorn in his side since he entered the league, as he’s been sacked 27 times in 12 games against them, which is the most he’s taken against any of Buffalo’s divisional foes. He’s also thrown 11 interceptions in those games against 14 touchdowns. That’s the most picks against a divisional opponent and the fewest touchdowns, as well. The Jets have been bad for Allen’s entire career, but their defense has been tough. Even as they play out the string of another lost season, they aren’t a foe to be trifled with. Allen needs to have a solid day, especially if he wants to claim the MVP hardware at season’s end.
RB James Cook
Jimbo missed the first meeting between these two squads, and while rookie Ray Davis was incredible in his place, I think it will be Cook seeing most of the touches out of the backfield this week. He’s tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns right now, and he trails O.J. Simpson by two scores in the race for the franchise-record total for rushing touchdowns in a single season. If the Bills can give him both of those scores this week, I see them trying to do it. They could then try to manufacture a scoring run for him next week to take sole possession of the franchise lead.
Maybe I’m overthinking it a little, but I think that offensive coordinator Joe Brady has to be aware of how close to the milestone Cook is, and even with the “everybody eats” mantra, ensuring an individual accolade like that one would be a special thing. Cook is a special player, as well, and he’s just 72 yards shy of his second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season. The Jets are a middle-of-the-pack rushing defense and Buffalo has run it on them before. I expect that they’ll look to establish Cook early and often on Sunday.
TE Dalton Kincaid
Injury issues notwithstanding, it’s been a really disappointing second season for Buffalo’s top tight end. After setting franchise records for receptions by a rookie and for a tight end in general last year, hauling in 73 of the 91 targets he saw, Kincaid has been largely an afterthought in the passing attack this season. He has just 42 receptions for 424 yards and two scores. He’s been targeted 73 times, so after catching 80% of his targets last season, that number has dipped to just 57.5% this year.
Now, as disappointing as those numbers are, he remains second on the team in targets and receptions, and third on the team in receiving yards. So, part of his downturn in production is absolutely a byproduct of the offensive philosophy. However, it would be encouraging to see Kincaid incorporated in the offense more heading into the postseason—bonus points if it’s something beyond those little slot swing passes that the team generally tries to throw to Khalil Shakir or Curtis Samuel. Perhaps throwing those to Kincaid last week was done to set up a slot wheel for the big guy from the same formation? Hopefully, I’m talking about checkers while Joe Brady is playing chess. Either way, Kincaid needs to be a bigger part of the game plan moving forward.
DE Von Miller
The future Hall of Fame edge rusher has looked spry over the last few weeks. He hasn’t notched a sack since Buffalo beat the Kansas City Chiefs, but he’s been dangerously close multiple times. Miller has been rushing the quarterback effectively, and he’s using all of his moves while looking good on the outside. I think he breaks the sack drought this week as he levels another future Hall of Fame player—and I’m not talking about Tyrod Taylor, who might play if Aaron Rodgers can’t. Miller needs to be on his A-game moving forward, and like the rest of Buffalo’s defensive linemen, he needs to bring that top-level effort consistently.
[Insert Safety Here]
Uh, who’s going to be healthy enough to play this week? Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin have sat the last two weeks thanks to injuries, so Cole Bishop and Cam Lewis have taken most of the reps at safety. Lewis is on the injury report this week thanks to a shoulder injury he suffered against the New England Patriots, and while he still managed to play all but one defensive snap, it’s still a concern that he’s dealing with an injury at a position that’s already paper-thin. Veteran Kareem Jackson will almost certainly be elevated from the practice squad once again, but there’s also a chance that veteran Micah Hyde is called up if the injury issues are worse than we know.